C++/ CLI in Action

by Sivakumar, Nishant

• ISBN13: 9781932394818
• ISBN10: 1932394818
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-04-01
• Publisher: Manning Pubns Co

Summary

C++/CLI connects standard C++ applications to the world of .NET. With C++/CLI, a developer can take a C++ program he's been using for years and give it a snazzy new interface using Windows Presentation Foundation. He can make old business applications talk to new ones using Windows Communication Foundation. C++/CLI in Action shows readers how to bridge the gap between their existing C++ code and the .NET platform. Designed for the huge numbers of developers who already know C++, this book starts by teaching the unique aspects of the C++/CLI language. After a quick tour through the basics, readers work through examples integrating standard C++ into .NET-based applications and learn to build programs that mix C++ and .NET code for maximum performance and efficiency.

Author Biography

Nishant Sivakumar has been programming since 19909, and has extensive experience with Visual C++, MFC, C#, and the .NET Framework. Nish has been a Microsoft Visual C++ MVP since 2002, and maintains an MVP tips and tricks website (www.voidnish.com) along with a Microsoft Technology blog (blog.voidnish.com). He works for The Code Project and is in charge of the MFC libraries Ultimate Toolbox, Ultimate Grid and Ultimate TCP/IP products sold through The Code Project Storefront. Nish has been working with Microsoft Technologies since the DOS days and is currently exploring .NET 3.0 technologies such as WPF and WCF. Nish loves reading Science Fiction, P G Wodehouse and Agatha Christie. In addition to C++/CLI in Action, Nish has authored Extending MFC applications with the .NET Framework as well as Summer Love and Some More Cricket, a romantic comedy. Presently, he lives in Toronto with his loving wife Smitha.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xv
Ac1nowledgments	p. xvii
About this book	p. xix
The C++/CLI Language	p. 1
Introduction to C++/CLI	p. 3
The role of C++/CLI	p. 4
What C++/CLI can do for you	p. 6
The rationale behind the new syntax	p. 8
Hello World in C++/CLI	p. 13
The /clr compiler option	p. 15
Using VC++ 2005 to create a /clr application	p. 16
Declaring CLR types	p. 18
Class modifiers	p. 20
CLI types and inheritance	p. 22
Handles: the CLI equivalent to pointers	p. 24
Syntax for using handles	p. 24
Tracking references	p. 26
Instantiating CLI classes	p. 28
The gcnew operator	p. 28
Constructors	p. 31
Copy constructors	p. 33
Assignment operators	p. 36
Boxing and unboxing	p. 38
Implicit boxing in the new syntax	p. 38
Boxing and type-safety	p. 40
Implementation at the MSIL level	p. 41
Assigning null to a boxed value type	p. 43
Summary	p. 45
Getting into the CLI: properties, delegates and arrays	p. 46
Properties	p. 47
Scalar Properties	p. 48
Indexed properties	p. 55
Delegates and events	p. 58
Delegates	p. 59
Events	p. 64
CLI Arrays	p. 68
Basic CLI array concepts	p. 69
Single-dimensional arrays	p. 70
Multidimensional arrays	p. 71
Jagged arrays	p. 72
Arrays as function arguments	p. 74
Returning arrays from functions	p. 75
Parameter arrays	p. 76
Using System::Array methods	p. 77
Array covariance	p. 80
Arrays of non-CLI objects	p. 81
Directly accessing CLI arrays using native pointers	p. 83
Summary	p. 84
More C++/CLI: stack semantics, function overriding, and generic programming	p. 86
Stack semantics and deterministic destruction	p. 87
The new destructor and finalizer syntaxes	p. 88
Stack semantics	p. 96
Guidelines for using destructors and stack semantics	p. 101
Function overriding	p. 102
Explicit overriding	p. 103
Renamed overriding	p. 104
Multiple overriding	p. 105
Sealed and abstract functions	p. 106
Generics and managed templates	p. 108
Why have parameterized types?	p. 108
Generics syntax for classes and functions	p. 110
Constraint mechanism	p. 113
Issues with the constraint mechanism and simple types	p. 116
Comparison with templates	p. 120
Managed templates	p. 124
Summary	p. 129
Mixing Managed and Native Code	p. 131
Introduction to mixed-mode programming	p. 133
Using interior and pinning pointers	p. 135
Interior pointers	p. 136
Pinning pointers	p. 141
Working with interop mechanisms	p. 147
Accessing a managed library from native code	p. 148
Accessing a native library from managed code	p. 156
Using mixed types	p. 162
Native types with managed members	p. 162
Managed types with native members	p. 166
Function pointers and delegates: bridging the gap	p. 173
Using GetFuctionPointerForDelegate	p. 173
Using GetDelegateForFunctionPointer	p. 175
Summary	p. 177
Interoping with native libraries from managed applications	p. 179
Converting between managed and native types	p. 181
Marshalling native strings	p. 181
Marshalling arrays	p. 184
Simulating a native static array with managed code	p. 185
Double thunking in mixed-mode function calls	p. 186
Wrapping a native API and exposing a CLI interface	p. 190
Overview of the native API	p. 191
Writing the CLI wrapper	p. 193
Exposing an MFC extension DLL to .NET	p. 206
Overview of the MFC extension DLL	p. 207
Writing the managed regular MFC DLL wrapper	p. 208
Accessing a COM object via a custom RCW	p. 212
The COM object to interop with	p. 212
Writing the custom RCW	p. 215
Using the custom RCW	p. 218
Writing a single mixed-mode DLL for both managed and native clients	p. 218
Wrapping the System::Object class	p. 220
Writing derived class wrappers	p. 223
Summary	p. 227
Using Managed Frameworks from Native Applications	p. 229
Interoping Windows Forms with MFC	p. 231
A simple Windows Forms application	p. 233
Hosting a Windows Forms control in an MFC dialog	p. 235
Hosting a Windows Forms control as an MFC view	p. 239
Giving your MFC apps an Office 2003 style UI	p. 249
Using a Windows Forms control as an MFC dialog	p. 261
Using an MFC control in a Windows Forms form	p. 267
The custom MFC control	p. 268
Hosting the MFC control from WinForms	p. 271
Using the wrapped control from a WinForms app	p. 273
Summary	p. 274
Using C++/CLI to target Windows Presentation Foundation applications	p. 276
What is WPF?	p. 278
Overview of XAML	p. 280
Anatomy of a simple WPF application	p. 283
Using C ++/CLI to write a WPF application	p. 288
Creating a new C++/CLI Avalon project	p. 289
Using procedural code	p. 289
Dynamically loading XAML	p. 294
Deriving from a class in a C# DLL	p. 297
A brief look at some WPF Graphics features	p. 300
Using brushes and shapes	p. 300
Transformations	p. 304
Hosting a WPF control in a native C++ application	p. 310
Using a mixed-mode extension DLL	p. 310
Using a mixed-mode application	p. 319
Hosting a native control in a WPF application	p. 326
Summary	p. 331
Accessing the Windows Communication Foundation with C++/CLI	p. 332
Hello World with the Windows Communication Foundation	p. 334
Duplex communication in WCF	p. 338
Creating the service	p. 340
Creating the client	p. 342
Migrating a native DCOM application to WCF	p. 344
The example DCOM server	p. 346
The native MFC client	p. 348
Writing a WCF proxy service	p. 351
Modifying the MFC client to use WCF	p. 356
Writing a pure WCF service	p. 359
Comparison of the two migration methods	p. 362
Hosting a WCF service in an IIS server	p. 362
Summary	p. 366
A concise introduction to the .NET Framework	p. 368
Index	p. 385
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.