Platform Invoke Data Types

Article
2013-02-01

The following table lists data types used in the Win32 API (listed in Wtypes.h) and C-style functions. Many unmanaged libraries contain functions that pass these data types as parameters and return values. The third column lists the corresponding .NET Framework built-in value type or class that you use in managed code. In some cases, you can substitute a type of the same size for the type listed in the table.

Unmanaged type in Wtypes.h	Unmanaged C language type	Managed class name	Description
HANDLE	void*	System.IntPtr	32 bits on 32-bit Windows operating systems, 64 bits on 64-bit Windows operating systems.
BYTE	unsigned char	System.Byte	8 bits
SHORT	short	System.Int16	16 bits
WORD	unsigned short	System.UInt16	16 bits
INT	int	System.Int32	32 bits
UINT	unsigned int	System.UInt32	32 bits
LONG	long	System.Int32	32 bits
BOOL	long	System.Int32	32 bits
DWORD	unsigned long	System.UInt32	32 bits
ULONG	unsigned long	System.UInt32	32 bits
CHAR	char	System.Char	Decorate with ANSI.
WCHAR	wchar_t	System.Char	Decorate with Unicode.
LPSTR	char*	System.String or System.Text.StringBuilder	Decorate with ANSI.
LPCSTR	Const char*	System.String or System.Text.StringBuilder	Decorate with ANSI.
LPWSTR	wchar_t*	System.String or System.Text.StringBuilder	Decorate with Unicode.
LPCWSTR	Const wchar_t*	System.String or System.Text.StringBuilder	Decorate with Unicode.
FLOAT	Float	System.Single	32 bits
DOUBLE	Double	System.Double	64 bits

For corresponding types in Visual Basic 2005, C#, and C++, see the Introduction to the .NET Framework Class Library.

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