Pointers (VB6/VC6++)

I figure i may aswell explain exactly what im trying to do

I want to create an api that i can call from visual basic which will basically

send to c++ several pointers to several byte arrays (or can be strings if really needed)

these pointers will be linked to

character frames like their byte data (captured with dibits)

and the screen its self

c++ will also receieve a list of the locations that c++ needs to draw to (copying the frame data to the screen array)

im thinking of doing it by reference however if its 2 slow then i will have a temporary array (suggested in previous post) do all the modifcations there

then send a pointer to visual basic so it may copy the data from the array to the screen array and then be drwan by dibits ^_^

2 MBytes of data, suppose at 100 times per second, is about 2 GigaBits/second of data movement.

This is a non-trivial fraction of the memory bandwidth availiable on a half-decent modern PC.

Modern PCs range from 5 to 20 GBits/second of read/modify/write bandwidth. So 2 MBytes @ 100 HRz uses up between 10% and 40% of the system's memory bandwidth, assuming the computer is doing nothing else.

In other words, this is a heck of alot of data to be throwing around on a per-frame basis, especially within visual basic.

Quote:

Original post by NotAYakk 2 MBytes of data, suppose at 100 times per second, is about 2 GigaBits/second of data movement. This is a non-trivial fraction of the memory bandwidth availiable on a half-decent modern PC. Modern PCs range from 5 to 20 GBits/second of read/modify/write bandwidth. So 2 MBytes @ 100 HRz uses up between 10% and 40% of the system's memory bandwidth, assuming the computer is doing nothing else. In other words, this is a heck of alot of data to be throwing around on a per-frame basis, especially within visual basic.

well it is for a game ^_^ what im not sure about is why 2MB be alot to copy where i can write upto 800MB a second worth of data

not exactly 800MB just writing 19KB to random spots within a 2MB array 40,000 times a second and yeah

the game will (preferably) be capped at 30 FPS so really only 60MB of the bandwidth should be used per second

However i am aiming at low end machines so is there any alternative to doing what i want? (c++ creates byte array - vb draws the byte array)

Why are you copying the data back and forth? Just pass the pointer to C++ and it can directly access the data.

It's been a while since I've programmed in VB, but I believe this is basically what you should do. If I'm wrong about this, just disregard..

In VB code:

Dim a(2000000) as Byte

SomeCallToTheDLL(VarPtr(a(0)))

In C++:

void SomeCallToTheDLL(Char *a) {
a[56354] = 'h';
// more stuff here
}

Quote:

Original post by tendifo Why are you copying the data back and forth? Just pass the pointer to C++ and it can directly access the data. It's been a while since I've programmed in VB, but I believe this is basically what you should do. If I'm wrong about this, just disregard.. In VB code: Dim a(2000000) as Byte SomeCallToTheDLL(VarPtr(a(0))) In C++: void SomeCallToTheDLL(Char *a) { a[56354] = 'h'; // more stuff here }

ok ty ill give it ago the problem that stopped me doing this last time was that it was incredible slow i think vb was interacting with the data everytime i changed it but i probly did something wrong ty ^_^

ill let you all know how it goes

Thank you tendifo it works flawlessly it is able to modify 2MB worth of data 600 Times a second which is beyond what i need (30) 20 times more power can't hurt :D for those interest this is the visual basic code i've used

Private Declare Function GetNumberEX Lib "GraphicsEX.dll" (ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long, ByVal Data As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function GetTickCount Lib "kernel32" () As Long

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim a(1 To 2000000) As Byte
s = GetTickCount

For x = 1 To 600
GetNumberEX 0, 0, VarPtr(a(1))
Next x

e = GetTickCount
MsgBox e - s
End Sub


also the code in c++ (i'll only post the part doing any work)

for (long xx=0;xx<=1999999;xx++)
{
a[xx] = 255;
}

im going to install several functions that being the 1 to clear the screen ^_^

so yeah ty very much ill check back with any troubles i have