Sharing data array between two applications in Delphi

Question

I want to share array data between two applications. In my mind, first program create the array and the second program can read the array from already allocated memory area.

Answer 1

A Named File Mapping would be the easiest solution, here is some short example code. In this sample there is a main program that writes some data and reader(s) that only read from it.

Main:

type
  TSharedData = record
    Handle: THandle;
  end;
  PSharedData = ^TSharedData;

const
  BUF_SIZE = 256;
var
  SharedData: PSharedData;
  hFileMapping: THandle;  // Don't forget to close when you're done

function CreateNamedFileMapping(const Name: String): THandle;
begin
  Result := CreateFileMapping(INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE, nil, PAGE_READWRITE, 0,
    BUF_SIZE, PChar(Name));

  Win32Check(Result > 0);

  SharedData := MapViewOfFile(Result, FILE_MAP_ALL_ACCESS, 0, 0, BUF_SIZE);

  Win32Check(Assigned(SharedData));
end;

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  hFileMapping := CreateNamedFileMapping('MySharedMemory');
  Win32Check(hFileMapping > 0);
  SharedData^.Handle := CreateHiddenWindow;
end;

reader:

var
  hMapFile: THandle;   // Don't forget to close

function GetSharedData: PSharedData;
begin
  hMapFile := OpenFileMapping(FILE_MAP_ALL_ACCESS, False, 'MySharedMemory');
  Win32Check(hMapFile > 0);

  Result := MapViewOfFile(hMapFile, FILE_MAP_ALL_ACCESS, 0, 0, BUF_SIZE);

  Win32Check(Assigned(Result));
end;

Answer 2

Scratched my head thinking of what a short-but-complete example of sharing memory between two applications might be. The only option is a console application, GUI applications require a minimum of 3 files (DPR + PAS + DFM). So I cooked up a small example where one integers array is shared using a memory mapped file (backed by the page file so I don't need to have a phisical file on disk for this to work). The console application responds to 3 commands:

• EXIT
• SET NUM VALUE Changes the value at index NUM in the array to VALUE
• DUMP NUM displays the value in the array at index NUM
• DUMP ALL displays the whole array

Of course, the command processing code takes up about 80% of the whole application. To test this compile the following console application, find the executable and start it twice. Go to the first window and enter:

SET 1 100
SET 2 50

Go to the second console and enter this:

DUMP 1
DUMP 2
DUMP 3
SET 1 150

Go to the first console and enter this:

DUMP 1

There you have it, you've just witnessed sharing memory between two applications.

program Project2;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  SysUtils, Windows, Classes;

type
  TSharedArray = array[0..10] of Integer;
  PSharedArray = ^TSharedArray;

var
  hFileMapping: THandle; // Mapping handle obtained using CreateFileMapping
  SharedArray: PSharedArray; // Pointer to the shared array
  cmd, s: string;
  num, value, i: Integer;
  L_CMD: TStringList;

function ReadNextCommand: string;
begin
  WriteLn('Please enter command (one of EXIT, SET NUM VALUE, DUMP NUM, DUMP ALL)');
  WriteLn;
  ReadLn(Result);
end;

begin
  try
    hFileMapping := CreateFileMapping(0, nil, PAGE_READWRITE, 0, SizeOf(TSharedArray), '{C616DDE6-23E2-425C-B871-9E0DA54D96DF}');
    if hFileMapping = 0 then
      RaiseLastOSError
    else
      try
        SharedArray := MapViewOfFile(hFileMapping, FILE_MAP_READ or FILE_MAP_WRITE, 0, 0, SizeOf(TSharedArray));
        if SharedArray = nil then
          RaiseLastOSError
        else
          try
            WriteLn('Connected to the shared view of the file.');

            cmd := ReadNextCommand;
            while UpperCase(cmd) <> 'EXIT' do
            begin
              L_CMD := TStringList.Create;
              try
                L_CMD.DelimitedText := cmd;
                for i:=0 to L_CMD.Count-1 do
                  L_CMD[i] := UpperCase(L_CMD[i]);

                if (L_CMD.Count = 2) and (L_CMD[0] = 'DUMP') and TryStrToInt(L_CMD[1], num) then
                  WriteLn('SharedArray[', num, ']=', SharedArray^[num])
                else if (L_CMD.Count = 2) and (L_CMD[0] = 'DUMP') and (L_CMD[1] = 'ALL') then
                  begin
                    for i:= Low(SharedArray^) to High(SharedArray^) do
                      WriteLn('SharedArray[', i, ']=', SharedArray^[i]);
                  end
                else if (L_CMD.Count = 3) and (L_CMD[0] = 'SET') and TryStrToInt(L_CMD[1], num) and TryStrToInt(L_CMD[2], value) then
                  begin
                    SharedArray^[num] := Value;
                    WriteLn('SharedArray[', num, ']=', SharedArray^[num]);
                  end
                else
                   WriteLn('Error processing command: ' + cmd);

              finally L_CMD.Free;
              end;

              // Requst next command
              cmd := ReadNextCommand;
            end;


          finally UnmapViewOfFile(SharedArray);
          end;
      finally CloseHandle(hFileMapping);
      end;
  except
    on E: Exception do
      Writeln(E.ClassName, ': ', E.Message);
  end;
end.