Boxed Value Types

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Guest

What has been changed in version 2.0 ?

I read this article :
http://msdn.microsoft.com/security/.../library/en-us/dnnetsec/html/seccodeguide.asp

and there is a section named Boxed Value Types. I checked an example from
this article and I noticed that described problem exists only in Framework
1.1.

class bug
{
public object m_Property;
public Object Property
{
get { return m_Property; }
}

public static void m1(ref int j)
{
j = Int32.MaxValue;
}

public static void m2(ref ArrayList j)
{
j = new ArrayList();
}
}

public static void Main(String [] args)
{
{
bug b = new bug();
b.m_Property = 4;
Object[] objArr = new Object[] { b.Property };
Object[] objArr = new Object[] { b.Property };
typeof(bug).GetMethod("m1").Invoke(null, objArr);
Console.WriteLine(b.m_Property);
Console.WriteLine(objArr[0]);

}
{
bug b = new bug();
ArrayList al = new ArrayList();
al.Add("element");
b.m_Property = al;
Object[] objArr = new Object[] { b.Property };
Console.WriteLine( ((ArrayList)(b.m_Property)).Count);
typeof(bug).GetMethod("m2").Invoke(null, objArr);
Console.WriteLine( ((ArrayList)(b.m_Property)).Count);
Console.WriteLine( ((ArrayList)(objArr[0])).Count);
}

Output from .NET 1.1:
4
2147483647
2147483647
1
1
0

Output form .NET 2.0

4
4 <- !!
2147483647
1
1
0

What is the difference in boxing between vesion 1.1 and 2.0 of Framework?
 
Darek said:
What has been changed in version 2.0 ?

I read this article :
http://msdn.microsoft.com/security/securecode/bestpractices/
default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/dnnetsec/html/seccodeguide.asp

and there is a section named Boxed Value Types. I checked an example from
this article and I noticed that described problem exists only in Framework
1.1.
Click to expand...

<snip>

The code you've written doesn't quite compile. However, it's an
interesting problem.

Here's a smaller short but complete example which demonstrates the
problem (getting rid of the ArrayList stuff which isn't needed):

using System;

class Bug
{
public static void SetRefParameter(ref int j)
{
j = int.MaxValue;
}

public static void Main(String [] args)
{
{
object o = 4;

object[] parameters = new Object[] { o };
typeof(Bug).GetMethod("SetRefParameter")
.Invoke(null, parameters);
Console.WriteLine(o);
Console.WriteLine(parameters[0]);
}
}
}

Under 1.1, that produces
2147483647
2147483647

Under 2.0, it produces
4
2147483647

What's happening is that the boxed value is being treated as a
reference parameter, and under 1.1, when the new value is being
assigned, it's changing the boxed value rather than creating a new
boxed value.

This will only happen (I believe) when using reflection, but it is a
potentially tricky to track down change.

I've posted a bug report (because if nothing else, it should be listed
in the breaking changes page). You can follow it at

http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/ProductFeedback/viewFeedback.aspx?
feedbackId=FDBK42857
 
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