How to convert a structure to a byte array in C#?

Question

How do I convert a structure to a byte array in C#?

I have defined a structure like this:

public struct CIFSPacket
{
    public uint protocolIdentifi         


        

Answer 1

Variant of the code of Vicent with one less memory allocation:

public static byte[] GetBytes(T str)
{
    int size = Marshal.SizeOf(str);

    byte[] arr = new byte[size];

    GCHandle h = default(GCHandle);

    try
    {
        h = GCHandle.Alloc(arr, GCHandleType.Pinned);

        Marshal.StructureToPtr(str, h.AddrOfPinnedObject(), false);
    }
    finally
    {
        if (h.IsAllocated)
        {
            h.Free();
        }
    }

    return arr;
}

public static T FromBytes(byte[] arr) where T : struct
{
    T str = default(T);

    GCHandle h = default(GCHandle);

    try
    {
        h = GCHandle.Alloc(arr, GCHandleType.Pinned);

        str = Marshal.PtrToStructure(h.AddrOfPinnedObject());

    }
    finally
    {
        if (h.IsAllocated)
        {
            h.Free();
        }
    }

    return str;
}

I use GCHandle to "pin" the memory and then I use directly its address with h.AddrOfPinnedObject().