How do I share a constant between C# and C++ code?

Question

I'm writing two processes using C# and WCF for one and C++ and WWSAPI for the second. I want to be able to define the address being used for communication between the two in a single place and have both C# and C++ use it. Is this possible?

The closest I've come is defining the constant in an IDL, then using MIDL and TLBIMP to get it into a DLL that can be consumed by C#. However this doesn't seem to expose the constant, or at least I can't figure out how to make it do so. Maybe it is limited to type definitions only.

Any other suggestions?

Answer 1

C# and C++ have differing models for constants. Typically, the constant won't even be emitted in the resulting C++ binary -- it's automatically replaced where it is needed most of the time.

Rather than using the constant, make a function which returns the constant, which you can P/Invoke from C#.

Thus,

#include <iostream>
const double ACCELERATION_DUE_TO_GRAVITY = 9.8;
int main()
{
     std::cout << "Acceleration due to gravity is: " << 
         ACCELERATION_DUE_TO_GRAVITY;
}

becomes

#include <iostream>
extern "C" double AccelerationDueToGravity()
{
    return 9.8;
}
int main()
{
     std::cout << "Acceleration due to gravity is: " << 
         AccelerationDueToGravity();
}

which you should be able to P/Invoke from C#.

Answer 2

You can create a separate C++/CLI project and define all your constants in a .h file. For example, create C++/CLI Class Library project called "ConstantBridge" and a C# project called "CSharpProgram":

Constants.h

namespace Constants
{
    const int MAGIC_NUMBER = 42;
}

// String literals must be defined as macros
#define MAGIC_PHRASE "Hello World"

// Since stirngs must be macros it's arguably more consistent 
// to use `define` throughout. This is for demonstration purpose.

ConstantBridge.h

#include "Constants.h"

namespace ConstantBridge { public ref class ConstantBridge {
public:
    // The use of the `literal` keyword is important
    // `static const` will not work
    literal int kMagicNumber = Constants::MAGIC_NUMBER;
    literal String ^ kMagicPhrase = MAGIC_PHRASE;
};}

CSharpProgram.cs

Console.WriteLine(ConstantBridge.kMagicNumber); // "42"
Console.WriteLine(ConstantBridge.kMagicPhrase); // "Hello World"

Now, have the "CSharpProgram" project reference the "ConstantBridge" project. Your other native C++ projects can simply #include "Constants.h".

As long as you reference only literals from the ConstantBridge project, a runtime dependency will not be generated. You can verify using ILSpy or ILdasm. const in C# and literal in C++/CLI are copied "literally" to the call site during compilation.

Answer 3

Wasn't happy with the other solutions for my use case so coded up a slightly hacky solution that seems to fit the original request better; a constant in one file that can be built into both a C# and a C++ project...

1. Version information in a .cs file, in a common location.

Like this:

// Version.cs
public static class MyAppVersion
{
    //build
    public static string Number = "1.0";
    public static string Phase = "Alpha";

    //configuration (these are the build constants I use, substitute your own)
#if BUILD_SHIPPING
    public static string Configuration = "Shipping";
#elif BUILD_DEVELOPMENT
    public static string Configuration = "Development";
#elif BUILD_DEBUG
    public static string Configuration = "Debug";
#else
    "build type not defined"
#endif
}

2. Include in C# project using Add Existing Item... [Add As Link]
3. Include in C++ project (in a .cpp file) with a #include

Like this:

//include version information into a .cpp
#define class namespace
#define public
#define static
#define string const char*
#include "..\..\Version.cs" //or to where-ever your file is
;
#undef class
#undef public
#undef static
#undef string

4. Reference in C# with: MyAppVersion.Number
5. Reference in C++ with: MyAppVersion::Number

Answer 4

When I've had to do that stuff in the past, I've simply added an extra pre-compilation step to the build process which automagically creates one file from another.

Since your constants will probably be within a class in C#, you can use that as the source file:

MyClass.cs:
    class MyClass {
        public const int NUM_MONTHS = 12;    //COMMON
        public const int YEAR_BASE = 1900;   //COMMON
    }

grep '//COMMON' MyClass.cs
    | sed -e 's/^ *public const [a-z][a-z]*/#define/'
          -e 's/ *= */ /'
          -e 's/;.*$//'
    >MyClass.h
grep '//COMMON' MyClass.cs | sed -e 's/ *public //' -e 's/;.*$/;/' >MyClass.hpp

This will give you:

MyClass.h:
    #define NUM_MONTHS 12
    #define YEAR_BASE 1900

MyClass.hpp:
    const int NUM_MONTHS = 12;
    const int YEAR_BASE = 1900;

Now, getting Visual Studio to perform that step is not something I know how to do. You'll have to investigate whether or not it's even possible. The UNIXy text processing tools are really worth downloading. I have CygWin installed on a few boxes but, for something this localised, you could get away with individual GnuWin32 packages.

You could probably do a similar job in PowerShell but I'm not really well versed in that.

---

Now that's a bit of a kludge so may I suggest a possibly better way for you particular question. Don't use a constant at all. Put the address into a configuration file and have your C# and C++ code read it at startup.

That way, you get to share the value painlessly and it's configurable in case you ever want to change it in future.

Answer 5

An easier alternative to a method for each constant may be a class containing the constants as instance properties. You could create it in C# and expose it via COM interfaces to C++. That's easier and less error-prone than P/Invoke, since you don't have to worry about getting all the types and names right - it's all done for you by the compiler.

Note: I have not tried this, I'm only speculating that it should work.