Question

In my Visual Studio solution I have UI implemented in C# and some code implemented in native C++.

I use BackgroundWorker class to implemenent reporting progress of execution long operation.

How can I use BackgroundWorker to report progress from my native C++ code?

In other words, how can I rewrite the C# code below to native C++ and call obtained C++ code from C#?
If it is not possible to rewrite the code below directly, it could be good to know about other equivalent solutions. Thanks.

class MyClass 
{
    public void Calculate(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
    {
        BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;

        for (int i = 0; i < StepCount; i++)
        {
            if (worker.CancellationPending)
            {
                e.Cancel = true;
                break;
            }

            // code which handles current iteration here

            worker.ReportProgress((i + 1) * 100 / StepCount, 
                "Report progress message");
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Example follows.
It was tested on x86 C# and native Visual C++:

CppLayer.h:

    #ifdef CPPLAYER_EXPORTS
    #define CPPLAYER_API __declspec(dllexport)
    #else
    #define CPPLAYER_API __declspec(dllimport)
    #endif

    extern "C" {
        typedef void (__stdcall *ReportProgressCallback)(int, char *);
        typedef bool (__stdcall *CancellationPendingCallback)();

        struct CPPLAYER_API WorkProgressInteropNegotiator 
        {
            ReportProgressCallback progressCallback;
            CancellationPendingCallback cancellationPending;
            bool cancel;
        };

        CPPLAYER_API void __stdcall CppLongFunction(WorkProgressInteropNegotiator& negotiator);
    }

CppLayer.cpp:

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "CppLayer.h"

#include <iostream>

extern "C"
{
    // This is an example of an exported function.
    CPPLAYER_API void __stdcall CppLongFunction(WorkProgressInteropNegotiator& negotiator)
    {
        const int STEP_COUNT = 12;

        char * messages[3] = {"ONE", "TWO", "THREE"};

        for (int i = 0; i < STEP_COUNT; i++)
        {
            Sleep(100);

            if (negotiator.cancellationPending()) {
                negotiator.cancel = true; 
                break;
            }

            std::cout << "Calculate " << i << std::endl;
            negotiator.progressCallback((i + 1) * 100 / STEP_COUNT, messages[i % 3]);
        }
    }

};

C# class which interoperate with C++ code:

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

namespace CSharpLayer
{
    class SandboxCppProgress
    {
        public delegate void ReportProgressCallback(int percentage, string message);

        public delegate bool CancellationPendingCallback();

        [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
        public class WorkProgressInteropNegotiator
        {
            public ReportProgressCallback reportProgress;
            public CancellationPendingCallback cancellationPending;

#pragma warning disable 0649
            // C# does not see this member is set up in native code, we disable warning to avoid it.
            public bool cancel;
#pragma warning restore 0649
        }

        [DllImport("CppLayer.dll")]
        public static extern void CppLongFunction([In, Out] WorkProgressInteropNegotiator negotiator);

        static void CSharpLongFunctionWrapper(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
        {
            BackgroundWorker bw = sender as BackgroundWorker;

            WorkProgressInteropNegotiator negotiator = new WorkProgressInteropNegotiator();

            negotiator.reportProgress = new ReportProgressCallback(bw.ReportProgress);
            negotiator.cancellationPending = new CancellationPendingCallback(() => bw.CancellationPending);

            // Refer for details to
            // "How to: Marshal Callbacks and Delegates Using C++ Interop" 
            // http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/367eeye0%28v=vs.100%29.aspx
            GCHandle gch = GCHandle.Alloc(negotiator);

            CppLongFunction(negotiator);

            gch.Free();

            e.Cancel = negotiator.cancel;
        }

        static EventWaitHandle resetEvent = null;

        static void CSharpReportProgressStatus(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            string message = e.UserState as string;
            Console.WriteLine("Report {0:00}% with message '{1}'", e.ProgressPercentage, message);

            BackgroundWorker bw = sender as BackgroundWorker;
            if (e.ProgressPercentage > 50)
                bw.CancelAsync();
        }

        static void CSharpReportComplete(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
        {
            if (e.Cancelled)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Long operation canceled!");
            }
            else if (e.Error != null)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Long operation error: {0}", e.Error.Message);
            }
            else
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Long operation complete!");
            }
            resetEvent.Set();
        }

        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            BackgroundWorker bw = new BackgroundWorker();
            bw.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
            bw.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
            bw.ProgressChanged += CSharpReportProgressStatus;
            bw.DoWork += CSharpLongFunctionWrapper;
            bw.RunWorkerCompleted += CSharpReportComplete;

            resetEvent = new AutoResetEvent(false);

            bw.RunWorkerAsync();

            resetEvent.WaitOne();
        }
    }
}

Following links might be useful:

• Interop with Native Libraries (Mono)
• How to: Marshal Callbacks and Delegates Using C++ Interop
• How to: Marshal Function Pointers Using PInvoke