[Gdal-dev] C# Bindings

[Frank Warmerdam]

Simon Perkins wrote:
> So how does this work? i.e. where does the unmanaged buffer that 
> GDALRasterIO initially reads into get allocated? In C code somewhere? Or 
> is there some way of getting an IntPtr pointing to an allocated buffer 
> in C#? And then you copy it into a C# array in some CS code? And then 
> switch back to C to free the unmanaged memory? And you can do all this 
> without using the unsafe keyword? Guess it'll be easier to visualize it 
> when you've written it.

Simon,

Tamas just did "IntPtr buf = bitmapData.Scan0".  I assumed Scan0 was
a buffer in the bitmapData object, and that it was previously allocated.
So there is no apparent copying of the buffer, or allocation within
the rasterio.  I could be missing lots of stuff though.

>> How about supporting ReadBlock/WriteBlock? Would it be required?
> 
> I think this is a pretty low priority.

Calling ReadBlock and WriteBlock is now also discouraged for C
and C++ applications.  I don't see any need to binding them in
the swig wrapped languages.

> For convenience, it would be nice to have overloads that assume default 
> values for the last three parameters (bufferOffset, pixelSpace and 
> lineSpace) for the common case where we're not dealing with packed 
> buffers. In these cases, bufferOffset = 0, pixelSpace = 
> sizeof(datatype), and lineSpace = bufXSize * pixelSpace.

The default should be all zeros and then values are computed internally.
This should already be documented in the rasterio docs.

By the way, if there is a way of doing pointer arithmetic with the
IntPtr, then I think you should avoid this BufOffset idea. It seems
like a hack to me.

PS. I'm very excited by the progress on the c# bindings!  I made a
feeble attempt at this some time ago and failed because I didn't
know enough about c# and swig typemaps.

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
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and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org