Buffer Protocol and NumPy Arrays

CSnakes supports the Python Buffer Protocol for bytes and bytearray types. The Buffer Protocol is a low-level interface for reading and writing raw bytes from Python objects. The IPyBuffer interface is used to represent Python objects that support the Buffer Protocol. It has methods for accessing the raw data of the buffer in a Read-Only or Read-Write Span.

Since NumPy ndarrays also support the Buffer Protocol, you can use the IPyBuffer interface to efficiently read and write data from NumPy arrays.

typing.Buffer (collections.abc.Buffer) was introduced in Python 3.12, but for older versions you can import Buffer from the typing_extensions package on PyPi.

For example:

try:
    from collections.abc import Buffer
except ImportError:
    from typing_extensions import Buffer

import numpy as np

def example_array() -> Buffer:
    return np.array([True, False, True, False, False], dtype=np.bool_)

In this example, the example_array function returns a NumPy array of boolean values. The Buffer type hint indicates that the function returns an object that supports the Buffer Protocol.

From C#, CSnakes will return an CSnakes.Runtime.Python.IPyBuffer that provides access to the data as a Span.

For example:

// Where testModule is a Python module that contains the example_array function
var bufferObject = testModule.ExampleArray();

// check if the buffer is scalar (single dimensional)
if (bufferObject.IsScalar) {

// Get the buffer contents as a Span of bool
    Span<bool> result = bufferObject.AsBoolSpan();
    Console.WriteLine(result[0]); // True
    Console.WriteLine(result[4]); // False
}

Danger

Span is writeable so you can also modify the buffer contents from C# and the changes will be reflected in the Python object. If you have want a read-only view of the buffer, you can use the As[T]ReadOnly method to get a read-only Span. We recommend using the read-only methods when you don't need to modify the buffer contents.

If you want a read-only view of the buffer, you can use the As[T]ReadOnly method to get a read-only Span.

Span<bool> result = bufferObject.AsBoolReadOnlySpan();

Two-Dimensional Buffers

The IPyBuffer interface also provides methods for working with two-dimensional buffers. You can use the As[T]Span2D and As[T]ReadOnlySpan2D methods to get a two-dimensional Span of the buffer contents.

You can use the Dimensions property to get the dimensions of the buffer. The As[T]Span2D method will throw an exception if the buffer is not two-dimensional.

For example:

def example_array_2d() -> Buffer:
    return np.array([[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]], dtype=np.int32)

From .NET you can access the buffer as a two-dimensional Span:

// Where testModule is a Python module that contains the example_array_2d function
var result = testModule.ExampleArray2D();

// Get the buffer contents as a two-dimensional Span of int
Span2D<int> result2D = result.AsIntSpan2D();
Console.WriteLine(result2D[0, 0]); // 1
Console.WriteLine(result2D[2, 3]); // 6

N-dimensional Buffers (.NET 9)

In .NET 9, the IPyBuffer interface also provides methods for working with N-dimensional buffers using the Experimental System.Numerics.TensorSpan type. You can use the AsTensorSpan and AsReadOnlyTensorSpan methods to get a N-dimensional TensorSpan of the buffer contents.

For example:

def example_tensor() -> Buffer:
    arr = np.zeros((2, 3, 4, 5), dtype=np.int32)
    arr[0, 0, 0, 0] = 1
    arr[1, 2, 3, 4] = 3
    return arr

From .NET you can access the buffer as a N-dimensional TensorSpan:

// Where testModule is a Python module that contains the example_tensor function
var result = testModule.ExampleTensor();

// Get the buffer contents as a N-dimensional TensorSpan of int
TensorSpan<int> resultTensor = result.AsTensorSpan<int>(); // or AsInt32ReadOnlyTensorSpan
Console.WriteLine(resultTensor[0, 0, 0, 0]); // 1
Console.WriteLine(resultTensor[1, 2, 3, 4]); // 3

NumPy Type Conversion

The Numpy dtypes are mapped to C# types as follows:

NumPy dtype	C# Type	Span Method	ReadOnly Span Method	Span2D Method	ReadOnly Span2D Method
`bool`	`bool`	`AsBoolSpan`	`AsBoolReadOnlySpan`	`AsBoolSpan2D`	`AsBoolReadOnlySpan2D`
`int8`	`sbyte`	`AsSByteSpan`	`AsSByteReadOnlySpan`	`AsSByteSpan2D`	`AsSByteReadOnlySpan2D`
`int16`	`short`	`AsShortSpan`	`AsShortReadOnlySpan`	`AsShortSpan2D`	`AsShortReadOnlySpan2D`
`int32`	`int`	`AsIntSpan`	`AsIntReadOnlySpan`	`AsIntSpan2D`	`AsIntReadOnlySpan2D`
`int64`	`long`	`AsLongSpan`	`AsLongReadOnlySpan`	`AsLongSpan2D`	`AsLongReadOnlySpan2D`
`uint8`	`byte`	`AsByteSpan`	`AsByteReadOnlySpan`	`AsByteSpan2D`	`AsByteReadOnlySpan2D`
`uint16`	`ushort`	`AsUShortSpan`	`AsUShortReadOnlySpan`	`AsUShortSpan2D`	`AsUShortReadOnlySpan2D`
`uint32`	`uint`	`AsUIntSpan`	`AsUIntReadOnlySpan`	`AsUIntSpan2D`	`AsUIntReadOnlySpan2D`
`uint64`	`ulong`	`AsULongSpan`	`AsULongReadOnlySpan`	`AsULongSpan2D`	`AsULongReadOnlySpan2D`
`float32`	`float`	`AsFloatSpan`	`AsFloatReadOnlySpan`	`AsFloatSpan2D`	`AsFloatReadOnlySpan2D`
`float64`	`double`	`AsDoubleSpan`	`AsDoubleReadOnlySpan`	`AsDoubleSpan2D`	`AsDoubleReadOnlySpan2D`

The GetItemType() method can be used to get the C# type of the buffer contents.

Bytes objects as buffers

In addition to NumPy arrays, you can also use bytes and bytearray objects as buffers. The Buffer type hint can be used to indicate that a function returns a bytes or bytearray object that supports the Buffer Protocol.

The Buffer Protocol is an efficient way to read and write bytes between C# and Python. Use AsByteSpan and AsByteReadOnlySpan to access the raw bytes of the buffer.

Handing non-contiguous arrays

If the NumPy array is not C-contiguous, the Buffer conversion throw an exception. This will happen for example when you transpose a NumPy array.

To convert a Fortran-contiguous array to a C-contiguous array, you can use the np.ascontiguousarray() function in Python before returning the array to C#.