C# unsafe value type array to byte array conversions

Question

I use an extension method to convert float arrays into byte arrays:

public static unsafe byte[] ToByteArray(this float[] floatArray, int count)
{
    int arr         


        

Answer 1

You can use a really ugly hack to temporary change your array to byte[] using memory manipulation.

This is really fast and efficient as it doesn't require cloning the data and iterating on it.

I tested this hack in both 32 & 64 bit OS, so it should be portable.

The source + sample usage is maintained at https://gist.github.com/1050703 , but for your convenience I'll paste it here as well:

public static unsafe class FastArraySerializer
{
    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
    private struct Union
    {
        [FieldOffset(0)] public byte[] bytes;
        [FieldOffset(0)] public float[] floats;
    }

    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
    private struct ArrayHeader
    {
        public UIntPtr type;
        public UIntPtr length;
    }

    private static readonly UIntPtr BYTE_ARRAY_TYPE;
    private static readonly UIntPtr FLOAT_ARRAY_TYPE;

    static FastArraySerializer()
    {
        fixed (void* pBytes = new byte[1])
        fixed (void* pFloats = new float[1])
        {
            BYTE_ARRAY_TYPE = getHeader(pBytes)->type;
            FLOAT_ARRAY_TYPE = getHeader(pFloats)->type;
        }
    }

    public static void AsByteArray(this float[] floats, Action action)
    {
        if (floats.handleNullOrEmptyArray(action)) 
            return;

        var union = new Union {floats = floats};
        union.floats.toByteArray();
        try
        {
            action(union.bytes);
        }
        finally
        {
            union.bytes.toFloatArray();
        }
    }

    public static void AsFloatArray(this byte[] bytes, Action action)
    {
        if (bytes.handleNullOrEmptyArray(action)) 
            return;

        var union = new Union {bytes = bytes};
        union.bytes.toFloatArray();
        try
        {
            action(union.floats);
        }
        finally
        {
            union.floats.toByteArray();
        }
    }

    public static bool handleNullOrEmptyArray(this TSrc[] array, Action action)
    {
        if (array == null)
        {
            action(null);
            return true;
        }

        if (array.Length == 0)
        {
            action(new TDst[0]);
            return true;
        }

        return false;
    }

    private static ArrayHeader* getHeader(void* pBytes)
    {
        return (ArrayHeader*)pBytes - 1;
    }

    private static void toFloatArray(this byte[] bytes)
    {
        fixed (void* pArray = bytes)
        {
            var pHeader = getHeader(pArray);

            pHeader->type = FLOAT_ARRAY_TYPE;
            pHeader->length = (UIntPtr)(bytes.Length / sizeof(float));
        }
    }

    private static void toByteArray(this float[] floats)
    {
        fixed(void* pArray = floats)
        {
            var pHeader = getHeader(pArray);

            pHeader->type = BYTE_ARRAY_TYPE;
            pHeader->length = (UIntPtr)(floats.Length * sizeof(float));
        }
    }
}

And the usage is:

var floats = new float[] {0, 1, 0, 1};
floats.AsByteArray(bytes =>
{
    foreach (var b in bytes)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(b);
    }
});