typedreference

Is there a way to marshal a structure (possibly stored in a TypedReference ) to unmanaged memory without actually boxing it? The type of the structure isn't known at runtime, so I can't use the generic overload of StructureToPtr (.NET 4.5.1). I can get a MethodInfo of the StructureToPtr overload, but there doesn't seem to be a way to invoke it passing a generic reference or a TypedReference . Edit: The generic StructureToPtr still boxes the structure, so trying to invoke it is useless. I've finally found the answer, the SafeBuffer class. It contains exactly what I wanted - structure with

Are there any practical uses of the TypedReference struct that you would actually use in real code? EDIT : The .Net framework uses them in overloads of Console.WriteLine and String.Concat which build an array from an __arglist parameter and pass it to the normal params overload. Why do these overloads exist? Eric Lippert Are there any practical uses of the TypedReference struct that you would actually use in real code? Yes. I'd use them if I needed interoperability with C-style variadic methods. Why do these overloads exist? They exist for interoperability with callers who like to use C-style

Warning: This question is a bit heretical... religious programmers always abiding by good practices, please don't read it. :) Does anyone know why the use of TypedReference is so discouraged (implicitly, by lack of documentation)? I've found great uses for it, such as when passing generic parameters through functions that shouldn't be generic (when using an object might be overkill or slow, if you need a value type), for when you need an opaque pointer, or for when you need to access an element of an array quickly, whose specs you find at runtime (using Array.InternalGetReference ). Since the