Question

Is there a way of mapping data collected on a stream or array to a data structure or vice-versa? In C++ this would simply be a matter of casting a pointer to the stream as a data type I want to use (or vice-versa for the reverse).

e.g in C++:

Mystruct * pMyStrct = (Mystruct*)&SomeDataStream; pMyStrct->Item1 = 25;  int iReadData = pMyStrct->Item2; 

obviously, the C++ way is pretty unsafe unless you are sure of the quality of the stream data when reading incoming data, but for outgoing data is super quick and easy.

Answer 1

Most people use .NET serialization (there is faster binary and slower XML formatter, they both depend on reflection and are version tolerant to certain degree)

However, if you want the fastest (unsafe) way – why not:

Writing:

YourStruct o = new YourStruct(); byte[] buffer = new byte[Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(YourStruct))]; GCHandle handle = GCHandle.Alloc(buffer, GCHandleType.Pinned); Marshal.StructureToPtr(o, handle.AddrOfPinnedObject(), false); handle.Free(); 

Reading:

handle = GCHandle.Alloc(buffer, GCHandleType.Pinned); o = (YourStruct)Marshal.PtrToStructure(handle.AddrOfPinnedObject(), typeof(YourStruct)); handle.Free();