Use

To use the bindings create a C# project and just add the corresponding nuget packages.

There are a lot of sample projects available to get you started. Extensive API documentation is provided and the original documentation can also be referenced.

The gir.core project is not providing the actual C libraries but only the C# bindings. Please ensure that the corresponding packages are installed on your system otherwise the binding will not find a target to bind to during runtime.

In case the packages are not installed on your system please refer to the documentation of your systems package manager.

Running on Linux

In most distributions the needed packages should already be installed. In case something is missing use the package manager of your distribution to install the missing dependencies.

Running on MacOS

Use the Homebrew package database to find and install any needed packages.

Running on Windows

The easiest way to get started on Windows is by installing the packages through msys2. The MSYS2 Package Database can be searched for matching packages.

  1. Download msys2 from the official website.
  2. Run pacman -Syu to update the package database.
  3. Run pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-XXX to install a package named XXX.
  4. Add the directory C:/msys64/mingw64/bin to the front of the PATH.

Troubleshooting

Common problems which can come up during development.

DLL not found Exception

If the binaries are installed on the system but are not found during runtime a DllNotFoundException is raised. In this case the names of the installed libraries probably don't match the expected names.

The gir.core nuget packages are build against 3 different package sources:

  1. Gnome SDK (Linux)
  2. MSYS2 (Windows)
  3. Homebrew (MacOS)

Each of those sources defines the names of the binaries which must be available to call into them. If a custom build binary is used, the resulting name of the binary can differ from the one specified by the package source, thus resulting in a DllNotFoundException.

In case of a custom build C binary it is recommended to use a custom gir.core build, too. Please follow the build instructions to get started. It is important to update the gir-files with the corresponding custom build gir-files.

This allows projects with custom build C binaries to create matching C# binaries without being dependent on one of the package sources.

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