Metal.NET 1.0.3

Metal.NET

C# bindings for Apple's Metal graphics API, auto-generated from metal-cpp headers.

Project Structure

Metal.NET.slnx
├── Metal.NET/                            ← Binding library (targets .NET 10, macOS 15+)
│   ├── Common/
│   │   ├── NativeObject.cs               ← Abstract base wrapper; releases ObjC refcount on dispose
│   │   ├── ObjectiveCRuntime.cs          ← P/Invoke to libobjc.dylib (objc_msgSend)
│   │   ├── Selector.cs                   ← ObjC selector with implicit string conversion
│   │   ├── Bool8.cs                      ← ObjC BOOL mapped to a single byte
│   │   └── MTLStructs.cs                ← Blittable structs (MTLOrigin, MTLSize, etc.)
│   ├── Foundation/                       ← Hand-written Foundation types
│   │   ├── NSString.cs                   ← Bidirectional string conversion
│   │   ├── NSError.cs                    ← Error wrapper with LocalizedDescription
│   │   ├── NSArray.cs                    ← Generic array access via ObjectAtIndex<T>
│   │   └── NSURL.cs                      ← File URL creation
│   ├── Metal/                            ← Auto-generated Metal API (352 files)
│   ├── MetalFX/                          ← Auto-generated MetalFX (18 files)
│   └── QuartzCore/                       ← Auto-generated QuartzCore (2 files)
│
└── Metal.NET.Generator/                  ← Offline code generator
    ├── Program.cs                        ← Entry point
    ├── Generator.cs                      ← Orchestrator (parser → emitter pipeline)
    ├── CppParser.cs                      ← Regex-based metal-cpp header parser
    ├── CSharpEmitter.cs                  ← C# source code emitter
    ├── TypeMapper.cs                     ← C++ → C# type mapping and naming
    ├── GeneratorContext.cs               ← Shared state between parser and emitter
    ├── Models.cs                         ← Data models (EnumDef, ClassDef, MethodInfo, etc.)
    └── metal-cpp/                        ← metal-cpp headers (generation source)

Generated Code Patterns

Classes

All ObjC wrappers inherit from NativeObject, which holds a raw Objective-C pointer and decrements its reference count (release) on dispose. Classes use C# 14.0 primary constructors and the field keyword for cached nullable properties:

public class MTLCommandQueue(nint nativePtr) : NativeObject(nativePtr)
{
    public MTLDevice? Device
    {
        get => GetProperty(ref field, MTLCommandQueueBindings.Device);
    }

    public MTLCommandBuffer? CommandBuffer()
    {
        nint nativePtr = ObjectiveCRuntime.MsgSendPtr(NativePtr, MTLCommandQueueBindings.CommandBuffer);

        return nativePtr is not 0 ? new(nativePtr) : null;
    }
}

Free C Functions

C functions are placed as static methods in their corresponding class:

using MTLDevice device = MTLDevice.CreateSystemDefaultDevice();

Updating Bindings

1. Download the latest metal-cpp archive
2. Replace Metal.NET.Generator/metal-cpp/ contents
3. Run the generator:

dotnet run --project Metal.NET.Generator

4. Build:

dotnet build Metal.NET

Disclaimer

This library was built with AI assistance. It has undergone preliminary testing to verify basic usability, but has not been exhaustively validated in production scenarios. If you plan to use it in a real project, please ensure it meets your requirements through thorough testing.

Alternatives

If you are looking for more mature or alternative Metal bindings for .NET, consider:

• SharpMetal — A community-maintained C# Metal binding library.
• .NET net-macos / net-ios TFM — Apple platform targets shipped with .NET that include official Metal API bindings via dotnet/macios.

Trademarks

"Metal" is a trademark of Apple Inc. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple Inc.

Third-Party Notices

See THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md for details on third-party components used in this project.