Is it possible to create an array of structs using ref-struct and ref-array?

Question

I'm using node-ffi to call a function that takes an out-param as a pointer-to-a-pointer-to-an-array-of-structs. Is there a way to use ref-struct and ref-array for me to access the array that I get out?

struct = require("ref-struct");
var rect_type = struct({
    'x': 'int',
    'y': 'int',
    'width': 'int',
    'height': 'int',
});
var rotation_type = struct({
    'yaw': 'short',
    'pitch': 'short',
    'roll': 'short'
});
var face_type = struct({
    'rect' : rect_type,
    'rotation' : rotation_type,
    'confidence' : 'double'
});

I'm able to get the first struct, out from the pointer after the function call but I'm unable to get the rest of the array:

var mylib = ffi.Library('lib/libN', {
    'GetFaces' : [ 'int', [ 'pointer' ] ]
});

var pface_type = ref.refType(face_type);
var ppface = ref.alloc(pface_type);

result = mylib.GetFaces(ppface);

face = ppface.deref().deref();

console.log("X:" + face.rect.x + " Y:" + face.rect.y);

Is there a way to declare the parameter as an array of structs? I've tried this but it doesn't work:

var array = require("ref-array");
var face_array = array(face_type)
var p_face_array = ref.refType(face_array);
var ppface = ref.alloc(p_face_array);
result = mylib.GetFaces(ppface);

Not really what you ask for, but maybe it could provide a hint for others who find this question on Google, since I myself spent a long time trying to figure it out. We have structs with a pointer and a length as arrays in our C library, and we also have structs with pointers to other structs and a length. Here's how I managed to retrieve it as a javascript array: pixomania.net/programming/complex-data-structures-with-node-ffi — galaxyAbstractor
– galaxyAbstractor, Commented Apr 14, 2015 at 7:24

dragonx · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-26 20:44:50Z

For reference I did eventually solve this without using ref-array.

The trick/hack is to know that in C, an 'array' is pretty much the same as a pointer to the first element. So in ffi, we simply pass a pointer to the first element, and be very careful to not overstep our bounds.

var pface_type = ref.refType(face_type);
var mylib = ffi.Library('lib/libN', {
    'GetFaces' : [ 'int', [ ref.refType('int'), pface_type ] ]
});

var ppface = ref.alloc(pface_type);
var face_count = ref.alloc('int');

result = mylib.GetFaces(face_count, ppface);

var faces = [];
var count = faceCount.deref();

if(count > 0)
{
    var face_array = ppface.readPointer(0, count * face_type.size);
    var i = 0;
    for(i = 0; i < count; i++)
    {
        var face = ref.get(face_array, i * face_type.size, face_type)
        console.log("X:" + face.rect.x + " Y:" + face.rect.y);        
    }
}

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