In VC++.NET 2005 Beta 2, if you create a new .NET console app project (now aptly called a CLR console app in the wizard), you’ll see that the generated main() function is prototyped thus :-
int main(array<System::String ^> ^args)
That’s rather neat – considering that we are using .NET, it makes sense to have a String array passed to us rather than an array of char*s or a char** (whichever way you like to look at it).
Test out the following code :-
int main(array<System::String ^> ^args)
{
Console::WriteLine("Number of args {0}", args->Length);
int count = 0;
for each(String^ s in args)
{
Console::WriteLine("Argument {0} = {1}",count++,s);
}
return 0;
}
Run it following the output shown below :-
>B2_Properties.exe interesting Number of args 1 Argument 0 = interesting >B2_Properties.exe hello world Number of args 2 Argument 0 = hello Argument 1 = world >B2_Properties.exe Number of args 0
Hmmm, a slight difference from the way our traditional main(int argc, char** argv) behaved. The filename is not counted as an argument, so an app run without parameters has zero arguments passed and the String array is empty. I suppose they had to do it this way to be compatible with C# (which I believe does it this way).
How bizarre – that breaks a precendent set, what, thirty years ago?
Yeah, but you can still use the older
mainprototypes. They are not obsoleted or anything 🙂When you are writing a CLR Console application I assume – since I don’t have VSTS B2 yet, just the express editions of C# and VWD – the change was made so that by default you got a verifiable application.
The definition of the entry point is also that defined by the CLI and not C# nor VB.NET, the
int main( array<System::String^> ^args )prototype is just the C++/CLI version of the standard entry point for a .NET application.I’m sure if you were to use the C++ standard
mainfunction then the app would no longer be verifiable…Though I would feel better if someone would test that to be sure.Hey Jambo
You cannot use the regular C++
mainfunction with the/clr:safecompiler option as it won’t allow pointers.Does this new entry point produce 100 % managed code (like C# or VB.NET) ?main method
There is a good reason the filename is not counted as an argument. This information can easily be obtained from Environment::CommandLine or the Process class (I believe). The filename is really not important to most applications nor is it technically an argument.