Table of Contents

API reference

Use this section when you already know which class or method you need and want its exact signature, parameters, return value, or exceptions. If you are still choosing an approach, start with Choose the right API. That guide compares whole-object parsing, reading one field, mapping to a C# type, writing, and updating.

Most programs begin with CStruct. A CStruct holds a checked and prepared layout definition. You can reuse that object to:

  • parse a complete value;
  • read one value selected by a path;
  • map a value to a C# type;
  • serialize a new value; or
  • update a field in an existing stream.

The option classes are grouped by operation:

Types such as Pointer, UnionValue, and EnumValueResult preserve details that a plain C# number or object would lose. The task guides explain when those result types appear and how to use them.

The optional WebAssembly adapter for JavaScript has its own independently versioned browser interface. You do not need that page when using CStructSharp from an ordinary .NET application.

The namespaces group the public surface by role:

Namespace Contents
CStructSharp CStruct; the option types on its methods and their enums (CStructCompilationOptions, ReadOptions, WriteOptions, UpdateOptions, BitfieldAllocation, BitfieldPacking, PointerAddressingMode, UnknownMemberPolicy); FieldAccessor<T> and StructView for reading the same members many times; CStructLayoutAttribute, CStructMappedAttribute, and CStructMemberAttribute for the source generator; ICStructMapped<T>, ICStructFixedMapped<T>, and ICStructGenerated<T> that mapped and generated classes implement; MappedTypes; and StaticHelpers, small conversion helpers
CStructSharp.Values What reads return and writes accept: StructValue, UnionValue, EnumValueResult, FlagValueResult, Pointer, PrimitiveArray<T>; the debug outcomes ParseResult and ReadResult; and ReadAttempt<T>, the result of TryReadValueAsync<T>
CStructSharp.Introspection LayoutInfo and the records that describe a compiled layout's declarations, fields, and constants
CStructSharp.Diagnostics The exception family, CStructErrorCode, and DebugData
CStructSharp.Codecs ICustomCodec, the extension point for caller-defined primitive types
CStructSharp.Generated The support the code emitted by the [CStructLayout] generator calls: Codec (the byte-level rules, shared with the runtime reader and writer), ReadCursor/WriteCursor (the runtime's accounting and diagnostics over spans), CompositeCursor (field placement: alignment and bitfield packing) with BitfieldSlot, Pointer<T>, Expressions (the layout expression operators), TerminatedTextEncoding, and RecordSequence over a RecordReader<T> (the record-sequence rules shared by the generated Records and ParseMany). Application code reads through a generated layout class or CStruct instead
CStructSharp.Memory and .Memory.Metadata Address spaces, metadata import, sessions, traversal, and offline patches for memory images

Where this reference comes from

DocFX generates these pages from the Release/net10.0 core assembly and its XML comments. The compatibility checks also compare the public signatures produced for .NET 8 and .NET 10.

The reviewed signature list is stored under contracts/api/managed. An API baseline is a saved description of the public surface. It lets maintainers notice a changed method, default value, nullability annotation, or attribute during review instead of after packaging.

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