Read a C++ struct written to a file with C# code

Question

The system we will be modifying consists of a bunch of applications that communicate via files (some write fils, others read them and so on). The applications are written in C++, one of them is now to be rewritten to C#. The problem is that this new app needs to read a file that contains a C++ struct written to it by another app using C++ fwrite. I have a C++ library that contains this struct and I guess I can reference it within my C# code but I have no control over the application producing the file.

Will it be possible, and if yes with how big an effort, to read a known C++ struct with a C# code?

Answer 1

How many structs and how big? It may be easier, and probably more robust, to just write your own code to read them, something like

static ReadFoo (BinaryReader reader)
{
    Foo foo = new Foo();
    foo.thing = reader.ReadInt32();
    ...
    return foo;
}