How to handle value types when embedding IronPython in C#?
- by kloffy
There is a well known issue when it comes to using .NET value types in IronPython. This has recently caused me a headache when trying to use Python as an embedded scripting language in C#. The problem can be summed up as follows:
Given a C# struct such as:
struct Vector {
public float x;
public float y;
}
And a C# class such as:
class Object {
public Vector position;
}
The following will happen in IronPython:
obj = Object()
print obj.position.x # prints ‘0’
obj.position.x = 1
print obj.position.x # still prints ‘0’
As the article states, this means that value types are mostly immutable. However, this is a problem as I was planning on using a vector library that is implemented as seen above. Are there any workarounds for working with existing libraries that rely on value types? Modifying the library would be the very last resort, but I'd rather avoid that.
