PointerToolkit 1.0.0-preview3

This is a prerelease version of PointerToolkit.
There is a newer version of this package available.
See the version list below for details.
dotnet add package PointerToolkit --version 1.0.0-preview3                
NuGet\Install-Package PointerToolkit -Version 1.0.0-preview3                
This command is intended to be used within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio, as it uses the NuGet module's version of Install-Package.
<PackageReference Include="PointerToolkit" Version="1.0.0-preview3" />                
For projects that support PackageReference, copy this XML node into the project file to reference the package.
paket add PointerToolkit --version 1.0.0-preview3                
#r "nuget: PointerToolkit, 1.0.0-preview3"                
#r directive can be used in F# Interactive and Polyglot Notebooks. Copy this into the interactive tool or source code of the script to reference the package.
// Install PointerToolkit as a Cake Addin
#addin nuget:?package=PointerToolkit&version=1.0.0-preview3&prerelease

// Install PointerToolkit as a Cake Tool
#tool nuget:?package=PointerToolkit&version=1.0.0-preview3&prerelease                

PointerToolkit

Provides structs that wrap pointers, as well as Unsafe, Interlocked, and Volatile operations on ref pointers.

Even using the built-in System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe class, you cannot reinterpret refs to raw pointers for use in calls to methods such as Interlocked.Exchange() or Volatile.Read().

Pointers up to 3 levels of indirection are supported, e.g. void*** and T***. The helper classes UnsafePtr, InterlockedPtr, and VolatilePtr are provided.

We may get this in .NET itself someday, if https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/issues/62342 is approved and landed. Until then, you can use this.

CastPtr<...> is also provided, which can be used to generate static __cast() "method operators." This solves the problem where you have (e.g.) an ID2D1SolidColorBrush* that you need to pass to a method that takes a pointer to a base interface, such as ID2D1Brush*. Instead of forcing a pointer cast with (ID2D1Brush*), which denies the compiler a chance to verify that the cast is safe, you can use __cast(p) (along with an appropriate using static declaration). A temporary CastPtr<ID2D1SolidColorBrush, ID2D1Brush, ID2D1Resource, IUnknown> will be created which will implicitly cast to pointers of all the base interface pointer types. (Note that "interface" in this case refers to a COM interface, not a managed interface.) The generation of these __cast() operators is not yet provided by this package, but is currently prototyped in the Paint.NET codebase to help with my use of TerraFX.Interop.Windows.

namespace PointerToolkit;

public static unsafe class UnsafePtr
{
    public static ref T As<T>(ref void* source)
        where T : unmanaged;

    public static ref U As<T, U>(ref T* source)
        where T : unmanaged
        where U : unmanaged;

    // etc.
}

public static unsafe class InterlockedPtr
{
    public static void* Exchange(ref void* location1, void* value);

    public static T* Exchange<T>(ref T* location1, T* value)
        where T : unmanaged;

    // etc.
}

public static unsafe class VolatilePtr
{
    public static void* Read(ref void* location);

    public static T* Read<T>(ref T* location)
        where T : unmanaged;

    public static void Write(ref void* location, void* value);

    public static void Write<T>(ref T* location, T* value)
        where T : unmanaged;

    // etc.
}
Product Compatible and additional computed target framework versions.
.NET net6.0 is compatible.  net6.0-android was computed.  net6.0-ios was computed.  net6.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net6.0-macos was computed.  net6.0-tvos was computed.  net6.0-windows was computed.  net7.0 was computed.  net7.0-android was computed.  net7.0-ios was computed.  net7.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net7.0-macos was computed.  net7.0-tvos was computed.  net7.0-windows was computed.  net8.0 was computed.  net8.0-android was computed.  net8.0-browser was computed.  net8.0-ios was computed.  net8.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net8.0-macos was computed.  net8.0-tvos was computed.  net8.0-windows was computed. 
Compatible target framework(s)
Included target framework(s) (in package)
Learn more about Target Frameworks and .NET Standard.
  • net6.0

    • No dependencies.

NuGet packages

This package is not used by any NuGet packages.

GitHub repositories

This package is not used by any popular GitHub repositories.

Version Downloads Last updated
1.0.1 278 12/30/2023
1.0.0 452 11/29/2022
1.0.0-preview8 159 11/9/2022
1.0.0-preview7 233 1/26/2022
1.0.0-preview6 178 1/3/2022
1.0.0-preview5 168 12/7/2021
1.0.0-preview4 187 12/7/2021
1.0.0-preview3 462 12/4/2021
1.0.0-preview2 420 12/4/2021
1.0.0-preview1 420 12/4/2021