The effect of "^"

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maxim
  • Start date Start date
M

Maxim

Hi, All!

What is the effect of using ^ with the managed type? I'm trying to create a
class library in managed c++. There is a class:

public ref class MyClass

{

public:

IntPtr^ WindowHandle;

int^ SomeNumber;

};

When I use this class in another project (C#) it is shown as

public class MyClass

{

public ValueType SomeNumber;

public ValueType WindowHandle;

public MyClass();

}

When I use type declarations without "^" the imported class becomes

public class MyClass

{

public int SomeNumber;

public IntPtr WindowHandle;

public MyClass();

}

I thought that I should always use ^ with managed classes. Could somebody
explain me that? Sorry for such a stupid question, but I'm new to Managed
C++.

Thanks in advance.
 
The normal use of "^" is with reference types, not value types, so you would
normally not use it with 'int' for example, but you would use it with
'System::String' for instance.
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David Anton
www.tangiblesoftwaresolutions.com
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Maxim said:
Hi, All!

What is the effect of using ^ with the managed type? I'm trying to create
a class library in managed c++. There is a class:

public ref class MyClass

{

public:

IntPtr^ WindowHandle;

int^ SomeNumber;

};

When I use this class in another project (C#) it is shown as

public class MyClass

{

public ValueType SomeNumber;

public ValueType WindowHandle;

public MyClass();

}

When I use type declarations without "^" the imported class becomes

public class MyClass

{

public int SomeNumber;

public IntPtr WindowHandle;

public MyClass();

}

I thought that I should always use ^ with managed classes. Could somebody
explain me that? Sorry for such a stupid question, but I'm new to Managed
C++.
Click to expand...

Yes, you should always use ^ with managed *classes* (that is, reference
types, which are written "class" in C#). The problem is that both IntPtr and
int are value types ("struct" or primitive type in C#). They are therefore
created on the stack (as opposed to the managed heap) and don't require the
caret.

Arnaud
MVP - VC
 
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