Use a native windows dll in Linux

_notes.txt

Say you have a native Windows library called libfoo.dll that you'd like to use in Linux. The following instructions describe how to wrap it in a .NET application and use Wine to run it.

1) Generate bindings

      Using Visual Studio:
        Use BindingGenerator (below) to generate C# bindings to the DLL.
        The output folder will contain libfoo.cs

2) Write a wrapper program

      Write a program which uses libfoo.cs
      
      If required, instantiate objects using the Foo.cs example below

      Compile the program as follows:
        Right-click the Project
        Publish -> Folder

        Show all settings
          Configuration: Release
          Target framework: net8.0
          Deployment mode: Self-contained
          Target Runtime: win-x64

          Produce single file: Tick

        Once published, copy the required DLLs into the output folder
		
3) Run the program on Linux

      apt-get update
      apt install wine -y

      wine app.exe

BindingGenerator.cs

using CppSharp;
using CppSharp.AST;
using CppSharp.Generators;
using CppSharp.Parser;

namespace BindingGenerator
{
    public class BindingGenerator : ILibrary
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            ConsoleDriver.Run(new BindingGenerator());
        }

        // Setup the driver options and module information.
        public void Setup(Driver driver)
        {
            var options = driver.Options;
            options.GeneratorKind = GeneratorKind.CSharp;

            var parserOptions = driver.ParserOptions;
            parserOptions.LanguageVersion = LanguageVersion.C99;
            parserOptions.MicrosoftMode = true;




            // Define the module containing your C++ library details
            var module = options.AddModule("libfoo");

            module.IncludeDirs.Add(@"D:\libfoo\headers");
            module.Headers.Add("interface.h");

            module.LibraryDirs.Add(@"D:\libfoo");
            module.Libraries.Add("libfoo.dll");

            options.OutputDir = Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "GeneratedBindings");

            // Optional: Configure specific calling conventions if necessary
            // options.CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl; 
        }

        public void SetupPasses(Driver driver)
        {
            // Passes can be added here to customize the AST (Abstract Syntax Tree)
            // before generation (e.g., to rename specific functions or ignore some declarations).
        }

        public void Preprocess(Driver driver, ASTContext ctx)
        {
            // Preprocessing step: filter out unwanted declarations.
            // For example, you can ignore specific functions or classes here.
        }

        public void Postprocess(Driver driver, ASTContext ctx)
        {
            // Postprocessing step: make final adjustments to the generated bindings.
        }
    }
}

Foo.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using libfoo;
using static DemoFoo.Utilities.Utils;

namespace libfoo
{
    public unsafe partial class FooInputs
    {
        public FooInputs()
        {
            __Instance = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(sizeof(__Internal));
            MemoryManagement.RtlZeroMemory(__Instance, sizeof(__Internal));
        }
    }

    public unsafe partial class FooOutputs
    {
        public FooOutputs()
        {
            __Instance = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(sizeof(__Internal));
            MemoryManagement.RtlZeroMemory(__Instance, sizeof(__Internal));
        }
    }
}

Utils.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace DemoFoo.Utilities
{
    public static class Utils
    {
        public static class MemoryManagement
        {
            [DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
            public static extern void RtlZeroMemory(IntPtr dst, int length);
        }
    }
}