Unmanaged Exports ( .NET DllExport )

Copyright (c) 2009  Robert Giesecke
Copyright (c) 2016  Denis Kuzmin <[email protected]>

[DllExport("Init", CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
public static int entrypoint(IntPtr L)
{
    // ... should be called by lua script

    Lua.lua_pushcclosure(L, onProc, 0);
    Lua.lua_setglobal(L, "onKeyDown");

    return 0;
}

• for work with unmanaged code (binding between .net and C/C++ etc.), see Conari
• for convenient work with Lua, see LunaRoad

[DllExport("Init", CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
// __cdecl is the default calling convention for our library as and for C and C++ programs
[DllExport(CallingConvention.StdCall)]
[DllExport("MyFunc")]
[DllExport]

Where to look ? v1.2+ provides Dynamic definitions of namespaces (ddNS feature), thus you can use what you want ! details here

    Via Cecil or direct modification:

    Offset(h) 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F

    000005B0                 00 C4 7B 01 00 00 00 2F 00 12 05       .Ä{..../...
    000005C0  00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 26 00  ..............&.
    000005D0  20 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 49 2E 77 61 6E 74 2E   ........I.want.   <<<-
    000005E0  74 6F 2E 66 6C 79 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  to.fly..........  <<<-
    000005F0  00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................

Initially the original tool UnmanagedExports was distributed by Robert Giesecke as an closed-source tool under the MIT License:

• Official page - posted Jul 9, 2009 [ updated Dec 19, 2012 ]
• Official NuGet Packages

Now, we will be more open ! all details here

It still under the MIT License (MIT) - be a free and open

Current features was been implemented through ILDasm & ILAsm that does the all required steps via .export directive.

What inside ? or how works the .export directive ?

Read about format PE32/PE32+ and start with grammar of asmparse here:

...
{ if(PASM->m_pCurMethod->m_dwExportOrdinal == 0xFFFFFFFF)
  {
    PASM->m_pCurMethod->m_dwExportOrdinal = $3;
    PASM->m_pCurMethod->m_szExportAlias = $6;
    if(PASM->m_pCurMethod->m_wVTEntry == 0) PASM->m_pCurMethod->m_wVTEntry = 1;
    if(PASM->m_pCurMethod->m_wVTSlot  == 0) PASM->m_pCurMethod->m_wVTSlot = $3 + 0x8000;
  }
...
}
...
EATEntry*   pEATE = new EATEntry;
pEATE->dwOrdinal = pMD->m_dwExportOrdinal;
pEATE->szAlias = pMD->m_szExportAlias ? pMD->m_szExportAlias : pMD->m_szName;
pEATE->dwStubRVA = EmitExportStub(pGlobalLabel->m_GlobalOffset+dwDelta);
m_EATList.PUSH(pEATE);
...

or read my short explanations from here: DllMain & the export-table; .exp & .lib; ordinals ...

Available variants:

• NuGet PM: Install-Package DllExport
• GetNuTool: msbuild gnt.core /p:ngpackages="DllExport" or gnt /p:ngpackages="DllExport"
• NuGet Commandline: nuget install DllExport
• /releases ( latest )
• Nightly builds (/artifacts page). But remember: It can be unstable or not work at all. Use this for tests of latest changes.

No requires additional steps for you, just build as you need.

Use build.bat if you need final NuGet package as a DllExport.<version>.nupkg etc.

• You do not need to do anything inside IDE if you have installed this plugin.

For example, find the DllExport.MSBuild project in solution:

• Properties > Debug:
  • Start Action: set as Start External program
    • Add full path to msbuild.exe, for example: C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Bin\MSBuild.exe
  • Start Options > Command line arguments write for example:

"<path_to_SolutionFile_for_debugging>.sln" /t:Build /p:Configuration=<Configuration>

use additional Diagnostic key to msbuild if you need details from .targets

"<path_to_SolutionFile_for_debugging>.sln" /verbosity:Diagnostic /t:Rebuild /p:Configuration=<Configuration>

Go to Start Debugging. Now you can debug at runtime.