Reverse P/Invoke tutorial ?

Question

I've a old C/C++ class that i want to refactor and access from .net using PInvoke

All P/Invoke tutorials refers to call win32 api but i haven't found anything to code the other side

Any tips/ideas ? my c/c++ experience is pretty rusty :(

UPDATE - this is for wrapping existing C/C++ code so it can called from .net using P/Invoke

How do i define the C function so from .net i can get the value using ref/out strings

Answer 1

I believe C++/CLI is the preferred bridge between native and CLR code in the way you describe. P/Invoke is specifically intended for calling win32 apis.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd315414.aspx

Answer 2

The simplest way in my experience is to make your C++ class into a COM class (or create a helper class for this purpose) and then add a reference to it in your .NET project.

If you want to access the .NET object from C++ then the opposite is true, mark it as ComVisible and use tlbexp to create a TLB for the native code to import (then you can use it as a regular COM object).

Answer 3

Here you find help
C++ Interop
Walkthrough: Porting an Existing Native C++ Application to Interoperate with .NET Framework Components
Use Our ManWrap Library to Get the Best of .NET in Native C++ Code
How to call C++ code from Managed, and vice versa (Interop)