Use multi-dimensional .NET DLL arrays in Java app

This article provides an introduction to cross-technology handling of multidimensional arrays. Data structures are one of the essential aspects of every piece of software. Any application constantly process various information, that very often require specific grouping and access strategies. This aspect is addressed by arrays and more advanced collection types. By using the Javonet framework, users gain ability to easily and effectively work with data structures originating from .NET DLL. Every array from .NET DLL is treated as reference.

Javonet allows you to reference and use modules or packages written in (Java/Kotlin/Groovy/Clojure, C#/VB.NET, Ruby, Perl, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript) like they were created in your technology. If have not yet created your first project check Javonet overview and quick start guides for your technology.
ith Javonet you can interact with arrays from .NET DLL like they were available in Java but invocation must be performed through Javonet SDK API.

Custom .NET DLL with arrays handling

With Javonet it is possible to reference any custom .NET DLL and interact with arrays declared on types defined within that module almost the same as with any other Java library.

Snippet below represents the sample code from .NET DLL that has methods which return or process the arrays:

namespace TestClass
{
	public class TestClass
	{
		public TestClass() { }

        public string[] Get1DArray()
        {
        	return new string[] { "one", "two", "three", "four", "five" };
        }
        
        public string[,] Get2DArray()
        {
        	return new string[,] { { "S00", "S01" }, { "S10", "S11" } };
        }
        
        public double AddArrayElementsAndMultiply(double[] myArray, double myValue)
        {
        	double sum = 0;
        	foreach (double element in myArray)
        	{
        		sum += element;
        	}
        
        	return sum * myValue;
        }
	}
}
public string[] Get1DArray()
{
	return new string[] { "one", "two", "three", "four", "five" };
}

public string[,] Get2DArray()
{
	return new string[,] { { "S00", "S01" }, { "S10", "S11" } };
}

public double AddArrayElementsAndMultiply(double[] myArray, double myValue)
{
	double sum = 0;
	foreach (double element in myArray)
	{
		sum += element;
	}

	return sum * myValue;
}

Javonet SDK contains various methods to interact with arrays and consume the results in Java:

Get element from .NET DLL 2D array in Java application

import com.javonet.sdk.*;

public class SampleProgram {

    private static final String resourcesDirectory = ".";
    public static void main(String []args) {

        // use activate only once in your app
        Javonet.activate("your-license-key");
        
        // create called runtime context
        RuntimeContext calledRuntime = Javonet.inMemory().netcore();
        
        // set up variables
        String libraryPath = resourcesDirectory + "/TestClass.dll";
        String className = "TestClass.TestClass";
        
        // load custom library
        calledRuntime.loadLibrary(libraryPath);
        
        // get type from runtime
        InvocationContext calledRuntimeType = calledRuntime.getType(className).execute();
        
        // create type's instance
        InvocationContext instance = calledRuntimeType.createInstance().execute();
        
        // invoke instance's method
        InvocationContext array = instance.invokeInstanceMethod("Get2DArray").execute();
        
        // two ways to get index from array
        InvocationContext response1 = array.getIndex(1, 1).execute();
        InvocationContext response2 = array.getIndex((Object) new Integer[] { 0, 1 }).execute();
        
        // get value from response
        String result1 = (String) response1.getValue();
        String result2 = (String) response2.getValue();
        
        // write result to console
        System.out.println(result1);
        System.out.println(result2);
     }
}namespace TestClass
{
	public class TestClass
	{
		public TestClass() { }

        public string[] Get1DArray()
        {
        	return new string[] { "one", "two", "three", "four", "five" };
        }
        
        public string[,] Get2DArray()
        {
        	return new string[,] { { "S00", "S01" }, { "S10", "S11" } };
        }
        
        public double AddArrayElementsAndMultiply(double[] myArray, double myValue)
        {
        	double sum = 0;
        	foreach (double element in myArray)
        	{
        		sum += element;
        	}
        
        	return sum * myValue;
        }
	}
}
// use activate only once in your app
Javonet.activate("your-license-key");

// create called runtime context
RuntimeContext calledRuntime = Javonet.inMemory().netcore();

// set up variables
String libraryPath = resourcesDirectory + "/TestClass.dll";
String className = "TestClass.TestClass";

// load custom library
calledRuntime.loadLibrary(libraryPath);

// get type from runtime
InvocationContext calledRuntimeType = calledRuntime.getType(className).execute();

// create type's instance
InvocationContext instance = calledRuntimeType.createInstance().execute();

// invoke instance's method
InvocationContext array = instance.invokeInstanceMethod("Get2DArray").execute();

// two ways to get index from array
InvocationContext response1 = array.getIndex(1, 1).execute();
InvocationContext response2 = array.getIndex((Object) new Integer[] { 0, 1 }).execute();

// get value from response
String result1 = (String) response1.getValue();
String result2 = (String) response2.getValue();

// write result to console
System.out.println(result1);
System.out.println(result2);

In the snippet above, get2DArray method is used to get reference to 2D array from .NET DLL. Method getIndex is used to get element from the array. Depending on calling technology there is one or more ways to get element from array.

Set element from .NET DLL 2D array in Java application

import com.javonet.sdk.*;

public class SampleProgram {

    private static final String resourcesDirectory = ".";
    public static void main(String []args) {

        // use activate only once in your app
        Javonet.activate("your-license-key");
        
        // create called runtime context
        RuntimeContext calledRuntime = Javonet.inMemory().netcore();
        
        // set up variables
        String libraryPath = resourcesDirectory + "/TestClass.dll";
        String className = "TestClass.TestClass";
        
        // load custom library
        calledRuntime.loadLibrary(libraryPath);
        
        // get type from runtime
        InvocationContext calledRuntimeType = calledRuntime.getType(className).execute();
        
        // create type's instance
        InvocationContext instance = calledRuntimeType.createInstance().execute();
        
        // invoke instance's method
        InvocationContext array = instance.invokeInstanceMethod("Get2DArray").execute();
        
        // set index in array
        array.setIndex(new Integer[] { 0, 1 }, "new value").execute();
        
        // get index from array
        InvocationContext response = array.getIndex(0, 1).execute();
        
        // get value from response
        String result = (String) response.getValue();
        
        // write result to console
        System.out.println(result);
     }
}namespace TestClass
{
	public class TestClass
	{
		public TestClass() { }

        public string[] Get1DArray()
        {
        	return new string[] { "one", "two", "three", "four", "five" };
        }
        
        public string[,] Get2DArray()
        {
        	return new string[,] { { "S00", "S01" }, { "S10", "S11" } };
        }
        
        public double AddArrayElementsAndMultiply(double[] myArray, double myValue)
        {
        	double sum = 0;
        	foreach (double element in myArray)
        	{
        		sum += element;
        	}
        
        	return sum * myValue;
        }
	}
}
// use activate only once in your app
Javonet.activate("your-license-key");

// create called runtime context
RuntimeContext calledRuntime = Javonet.inMemory().netcore();

// set up variables
String libraryPath = resourcesDirectory + "/TestClass.dll";
String className = "TestClass.TestClass";

// load custom library
calledRuntime.loadLibrary(libraryPath);

// get type from runtime
InvocationContext calledRuntimeType = calledRuntime.getType(className).execute();

// create type's instance
InvocationContext instance = calledRuntimeType.createInstance().execute();

// invoke instance's method
InvocationContext array = instance.invokeInstanceMethod("Get2DArray").execute();

// set index in array
array.setIndex(new Integer[] { 0, 1 }, "new value").execute();

// get index from array
InvocationContext response = array.getIndex(0, 1).execute();

// get value from response
String result = (String) response.getValue();

// write result to console
System.out.println(result);

In the snippet above, get2DArray method is used to get reference to 2D array from .NET DLL. Method setIndex is used to set element of the array.

Get size and rank of .NET DLL 2D array in Java application

import com.javonet.sdk.*;

public class SampleProgram {

    private static final String resourcesDirectory = ".";
    public static void main(String []args) {

        // use activate only once in your app
        Javonet.activate("your-license-key");
        
        // create called runtime context
        RuntimeContext calledRuntime = Javonet.inMemory().netcore();
        
        // set up variables
        String libraryPath = resourcesDirectory + "/TestClass.dll";
        String className = "TestClass.TestClass";
        
        // load custom library
        calledRuntime.loadLibrary(libraryPath);
        
        // get type from runtime
        InvocationContext calledRuntimeType = calledRuntime.getType(className).execute();
        
        // create type's instance
        InvocationContext instance = calledRuntimeType.createInstance().execute();
        
        // invoke instance's method
        InvocationContext array = instance.invokeInstanceMethod("Get2DArray").execute();
        
        // get array's size
        Integer size = (Integer) array.getSize().execute().getValue();
        
        // get array's rank
        Integer rank = (Integer) array.getRank().execute().getValue();
        
        // write result to console
        System.out.println("Size: " + size);
        System.out.println("Rank: " + rank);
     }
}namespace TestClass
{
	public class TestClass
	{
		public TestClass() { }

        public string[] Get1DArray()
        {
        	return new string[] { "one", "two", "three", "four", "five" };
        }
        
        public string[,] Get2DArray()
        {
        	return new string[,] { { "S00", "S01" }, { "S10", "S11" } };
        }
        
        public double AddArrayElementsAndMultiply(double[] myArray, double myValue)
        {
        	double sum = 0;
        	foreach (double element in myArray)
        	{
        		sum += element;
        	}
        
        	return sum * myValue;
        }
	}
}
// use activate only once in your app
Javonet.activate("your-license-key");

// create called runtime context
RuntimeContext calledRuntime = Javonet.inMemory().netcore();

// set up variables
String libraryPath = resourcesDirectory + "/TestClass.dll";
String className = "TestClass.TestClass";

// load custom library
calledRuntime.loadLibrary(libraryPath);

// get type from runtime
InvocationContext calledRuntimeType = calledRuntime.getType(className).execute();

// create type's instance
InvocationContext instance = calledRuntimeType.createInstance().execute();

// invoke instance's method
InvocationContext array = instance.invokeInstanceMethod("Get2DArray").execute();

// get array's size
Integer size = (Integer) array.getSize().execute().getValue();

// get array's rank
Integer rank = (Integer) array.getRank().execute().getValue();

// write result to console
System.out.println("Size: " + size);
System.out.println("Rank: " + rank);

In the snippet above, get2DArray method is used to get reference to 2D array from .NET DLL. Method getSize is used to get number of elements of the array.
Method getRank is used to get number of dimensions of the array.

The same operation can be performed remotely by just changing the new Runtime Context invocation from in memory to tcp that will create and interact with your .NET DLL objects on any remote node, container or service that hosts Javonet Code Gateway. This way you can preserve the same logic in your application and instantly switch between monolithic and microservices architecture without the need to implement the integration layer based on web services or other remote invocation methods.

Read more about use cases and software architecture scenarios where Javonet runtime bridging technology can support your development process.

Use multi-dimensional .NET DLL arrays in Java app

Custom .NET DLL with arrays handling

Get element from .NET DLL 2D array in Java application

Set element from .NET DLL 2D array in Java application

Get size and rank of .NET DLL 2D array in Java application

Additional references