C# unsafe value type array to byte array conversions

Question

I use an extension method to convert float arrays into byte arrays:

public static unsafe byte[] ToByteArray(this float[] floatArray, int count)
{
    int arrayLength = floatArray.Length > count ? count : floatArray.Length;
    byte[] byteArray = new byte[4 * arrayLength];
    fixed (float* floatPointer = floatArray)
    {
        fixed (byte* bytePointer = byteArray)
        {
            float* read = floatPointer;
            float* write = (float*)bytePointer;
            for (int i = 0; i < arrayLength; i++)
            {
                *write++ = *read++;
            }
        }
    }
    return byteArray;
}

I understand that an array is a pointer to memory associated with information on the type and number of elements. Also, it seems to me that there is no way of doing a conversion from and to a byte array without copying the data as above.

Have I understood this? Would it even be impossible to write IL to create an array from a pointer, type and length without copying data?

EDIT: Thanks for the answers, I learned some fundamentals and got to try out new tricks!

After initially accepting Davy Landman's answer I found out that while his brilliant StructLayout hack does convert byte arrays into float arrays, it does not work the other way around. To demonstrate:

[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
struct UnionArray
{
    [FieldOffset(0)]
    public Byte[] Bytes;

    [FieldOffset(0)]
    public float[] Floats;
}

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    // From bytes to floats - works
    byte[] bytes = { 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 };
    UnionArray arry = new UnionArray { Bytes = bytes };
    for (int i = 0; i < arry.Bytes.Length / 4; i++)
        Console.WriteLine(arry.Floats[i]);

    // From floats to bytes - index out of range
    float[] floats = { 0.1f, 0.2f, 0.3f };
    arry = new UnionArray { Floats = floats };
    for (int i = 0; i < arry.Floats.Length * 4; i++)
        Console.WriteLine(arry.Bytes[i]);
}

It seems that the CLR sees both arrays as having the same length. If the struct is created from float data, the byte array's length is just too short.

Answer 1

You can use a really ugly hack to temporary change your array to byte[] using memory manipulation.

This is really fast and efficient as it doesn't require cloning the data and iterating on it.

I tested this hack in both 32 & 64 bit OS, so it should be portable.

The source + sample usage is maintained at https://gist.github.com/1050703 , but for your convenience I'll paste it here as well:

public static unsafe class FastArraySerializer
{
    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
    private struct Union
    {
        [FieldOffset(0)] public byte[] bytes;
        [FieldOffset(0)] public float[] floats;
    }

    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
    private struct ArrayHeader
    {
        public UIntPtr type;
        public UIntPtr length;
    }

    private static readonly UIntPtr BYTE_ARRAY_TYPE;
    private static readonly UIntPtr FLOAT_ARRAY_TYPE;

    static FastArraySerializer()
    {
        fixed (void* pBytes = new byte[1])
        fixed (void* pFloats = new float[1])
        {
            BYTE_ARRAY_TYPE = getHeader(pBytes)->type;
            FLOAT_ARRAY_TYPE = getHeader(pFloats)->type;
        }
    }

    public static void AsByteArray(this float[] floats, Action<byte[]> action)
    {
        if (floats.handleNullOrEmptyArray(action)) 
            return;

        var union = new Union {floats = floats};
        union.floats.toByteArray();
        try
        {
            action(union.bytes);
        }
        finally
        {
            union.bytes.toFloatArray();
        }
    }

    public static void AsFloatArray(this byte[] bytes, Action<float[]> action)
    {
        if (bytes.handleNullOrEmptyArray(action)) 
            return;

        var union = new Union {bytes = bytes};
        union.bytes.toFloatArray();
        try
        {
            action(union.floats);
        }
        finally
        {
            union.floats.toByteArray();
        }
    }

    public static bool handleNullOrEmptyArray<TSrc,TDst>(this TSrc[] array, Action<TDst[]> action)
    {
        if (array == null)
        {
            action(null);
            return true;
        }

        if (array.Length == 0)
        {
            action(new TDst[0]);
            return true;
        }

        return false;
    }

    private static ArrayHeader* getHeader(void* pBytes)
    {
        return (ArrayHeader*)pBytes - 1;
    }

    private static void toFloatArray(this byte[] bytes)
    {
        fixed (void* pArray = bytes)
        {
            var pHeader = getHeader(pArray);

            pHeader->type = FLOAT_ARRAY_TYPE;
            pHeader->length = (UIntPtr)(bytes.Length / sizeof(float));
        }
    }

    private static void toByteArray(this float[] floats)
    {
        fixed(void* pArray = floats)
        {
            var pHeader = getHeader(pArray);

            pHeader->type = BYTE_ARRAY_TYPE;
            pHeader->length = (UIntPtr)(floats.Length * sizeof(float));
        }
    }
}

And the usage is:

var floats = new float[] {0, 1, 0, 1};
floats.AsByteArray(bytes =>
{
    foreach (var b in bytes)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(b);
    }
});

Answer 2

Yes, the type information and data is in the same memory block, so that is impossible unless you overwrite the type information in a float array to fool the system that it's byte array. That would be a really ugly hack, and could easily blow up...

Here's how you can convert the floats without unsafe code if you like:

public static byte[] ToByteArray(this float[] floatArray) {
    int len = floatArray.Length * 4;
    byte[] byteArray = new byte[len];
    int pos = 0;
    foreach (float f in floatArray) {
        byte[] data = BitConverter.GetBytes(f);
        Array.Copy(data, 0, byteArray, pos, 4);
        pos += 4;
    }
    return byteArray;
}