Memory alignment of struct variables for p/invoke - Strings lose the last character

Question

I am trying to read records from a Btrieve (v6.15) database by using btrieve API from C# code via P/Invoke.

I have managed to read records, however last character of strings are cropped while reading. If I increase the string size in my data struct then the string is read properly but this time the next variable is not read correctly.

What might be wrong here?

Btrieve function declaration:

        [DllImport("WBTRV32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
    static extern short BTRCALL(ushort operation,
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeConst = 128)] byte[] posBlk,
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Struct, SizeConst = 255)] 
        ref RecordBuffer databuffer, 
        ref int dataLength, 
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeConst = 255)] char[] keyBffer, 
        ushort keyLength, ushort keyNum);

My structure definition:

    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
    public struct RecordBuffer
    {
        public short docType;
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 15)]
        public string docDescPlural;
        public short sorting;
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 15)]
        public string docDescSingle;
        public short copyOtherThanSrc;
        public double defaultNotebookNo;
    }

These are the sizes for the columns, from Btreive database manager:

signed int, 2 bytes
string, 15 bytes
signed int, 2 bytes
string, 15 bytes
signed int, 2 bytes
float, 8 bytes

The code:

    private void PopulateAllRecords(string fileName)
    {
        byte[] positionBlock = new byte[128];
        char[] fileNameArray = fileName.ToCharArray();

        // Open file
        RecordBuffer dataBuffer = new RecordBuffer();
        int bufferLength = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.SizeOf(dataBuffer);
        BReturnCodes status = (BReturnCodes) BTRCALL(
            BOPEN, positionBlock, ref dataBuffer, ref bufferLength, fileNameArray, 0, 0);

        if (status == BReturnCodes.NO_ERROR)
        {
            // Get first record
            dataBuffer = new RecordBuffer();
            status = (BReturnCodes) BTRCALL(
                BGETFIRST, positionBlock, ref dataBuffer, ref bufferLength, fileNameArray, 0, 0);

            if (status == BReturnCodes.NO_ERROR)
            {
                AddListViewItem(dataBuffer);
            }

            // Get subsequent records
            while (status == BReturnCodes.NO_ERROR) // BReturnCodes.END_OF_FILE or an error will occur
            {
                dataBuffer = new RecordBuffer();
                status = (BReturnCodes)BTRCALL(
                    BGETNEXT, positionBlock, ref dataBuffer, ref bufferLength, fileNameArray, 0, 0);

                if (status == BReturnCodes.NO_ERROR)
                {
                    AddListViewItem(dataBuffer);                        
                }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            MessageBox.Show("Error occured while opening file: " + status.ToString());
        }
    }

    private void AddListViewItem(RecordBuffer buffer)
    {
        ListViewItem item = new ListViewItem(buffer.docType.ToString());
        item.SubItems.Add(buffer.docDescPlural);
        item.SubItems.Add(buffer.sorting.ToString());
        item.SubItems.Add(buffer.docDescSingle);
        item.SubItems.Add(buffer.copyOtherThanSrc.ToString());
        item.SubItems.Add(buffer.defaultNotebookNo.ToString());
        listView.Items.Add(item);
    }

Edit: Changing the string to char array (thanks to weismat's answer) resolved the problem. Happy!

    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
    public struct RecordBuffer
    {
        public short docType;
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 15)]
        public char[] docDescPlural;
        public short sorting;
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 15)]
        public char[] docDescSingle;
        public short copyOtherThanSrc;
        public double defaultNotebookNo;
    }

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 10 '12 at 10:22

1

I would asume that the issue comes from the \0 which is expected when using a C# string with p/invoke.
I have no experience with Btrieve, but it is pretty likely there is no \0.
Could you post the original c structure? Otherwise you need to use a byte array with a fixed length of 15 and convert it into a string afterwards.
Furthermore I would use the sizeof operator to compare the size of the structure on both ends.

answered May 10 '12 at 10:22

weismat

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Thanks! That seems to be the problem indeed. Changing the string to char array solved the problem. – Eren May 10 '12 at 10:46

Memory alignment of struct variables for p/invoke - Strings lose the last character

1 Answers1