AravisSharp — Cross-Platform .NET Bindings for Aravis

AravisSharp is a C# binding for the Aravis industrial camera library, targeting the stable Aravis 0.8.36 / libaravis-0.8 ABI and supporting USB3 Vision and GigE Vision cameras on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Think of it as an open-source alternative to vendor SDKs like Basler Pylon — one library, any GenICam camera.

Platform Support

Platform	Runtime ID	Status	Tested Camera
Linux x64	linux-x64	✅ Full support	Basler acA720-520um
Linux ARM64	linux-arm64	✅ Compatible	—
Windows x64	win-x64	✅ Full support	Basler acA720-520um
macOS x64/ARM	osx-x64	⚠️ Untested	—

Quick Start

1. Install Dependencies

🐧 Linux (Ubuntu / Debian)

Option A — System package (easiest for development):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y libaravis-0.8-0

Option B — NuGet runtime package (no system install needed):

dotnet add package AravisSharp.runtime.linux-x64

Option C — Build Aravis 0.8.36 from source:

./build_aravis_linux_nuget.sh

Verify all runtime deps are present:

./check-setup.sh

The following shared libraries are required at runtime (most are pre-installed on desktop Ubuntu):

Library	Package (apt)
libaravis-0.8.so.0	libaravis-0.8-0 or NuGet
libglib-2.0.so.0	libglib2.0-0
libgobject-2.0.so.0	libglib2.0-0
libgio-2.0.so.0	libglib2.0-0
libgmodule-2.0.so.0	libglib2.0-0
libxml2.so	libxml2
libusb-1.0.so.0	libusb-1.0-0
libz.so	zlib1g

USB3 Vision cameras — udev permissions:

./setup-usb-permissions.sh
# Log out and back in for group changes to take effect

🪟 Windows

dotnet add package AravisSharp.runtime.win-x64

The NuGet package bundles all required native DLLs (libaravis-0.8-0.dll, GLib, GObject, libxml2, libusb, zlib, …) — no system-wide install necessary.

USB3 Vision cameras require the WinUSB driver (one-time setup via Zadig). GigE cameras work without driver changes. See WINDOWS_SETUP.md for step-by-step instructions.

🍎 macOS

brew install aravis

2. Build & Run

cd AravisSharp
dotnet run

Example Code

using AravisSharp;
using AravisSharp.Native;

// Register the cross-platform native library resolver (call once at startup)
AravisLibrary.RegisterResolver();

// Discover cameras
CameraDiscovery.UpdateDeviceList();
var cameras = CameraDiscovery.DiscoverCameras();
foreach (var cam in cameras)
    Console.WriteLine(cam);

// Open the first camera
using var camera = new Camera();

// Read device info
Console.WriteLine(camera.GetVendorName());
Console.WriteLine(camera.GetModelName());

// Configure
camera.SetExposureTime(10000);   // 10 ms
camera.SetGain(5.0);
camera.SetRegion(0, 0, 640, 480);

// Access GenICam features via the NodeMap
var device = camera.GetDevice();
var nodeMap = device.NodeMap;
nodeMap.SetStringFeature("PixelFormat", "Mono8");
long width = nodeMap.GetIntegerFeature("Width");

// Acquire a single frame
camera.StartAcquisition();
using var buffer = camera.AcquireImage(timeout: 5000);
if (buffer?.Status == ArvBufferStatus.Success)
{
    var data = buffer.GetDataSpan();   // zero-copy
    Console.WriteLine($"Frame {buffer.FrameId}: {buffer.Width}x{buffer.Height}, {data.Length} bytes");
}
camera.StopAcquisition();

Architecture

AravisSharp/
├── Native/
│   ├── AravisNative.cs        # Audited hand-written P/Invoke bindings (aravis-0.8)
│   ├── GLibNative.cs          # GLib / GObject P/Invoke (gobject-2.0, glib-2.0)
│   ├── AravisLibrary.cs       # Cross-platform DllImportResolver
│   └── GErrorStructure.cs     # GError marshalling
├── GenICam/
│   ├── NodeMap.cs             # GenICam feature access (read/write/browse)
│   ├── GenICamNode.cs         # Individual node wrapper
│   ├── FeatureDetails.cs      # Feature introspection (type, range, choices)
│   └── FeatureAccessMode.cs   # RO / RW / WO / NA enums
├── Camera.cs                  # High-level camera wrapper
├── CameraDiscovery.cs         # Device enumeration
├── Stream.cs                  # Video stream management
├── Buffer.cs                  # Image buffer (zero-copy via Span<byte>)
├── Device.cs                  # Low-level GenICam device access
├── AravisException.cs         # Aravis-specific exceptions
├── Utilities/
│   ├── ImageHelper.cs         # Image format helpers (save PGM / raw)
│   └── AcquisitionStats.cs    # Real-time FPS & throughput monitor
└── Examples/                  # Interactive demo examples

Native Library Resolution

AravisSharp uses a NativeLibrary.SetDllImportResolver to map logical library names to platform-specific files at runtime:

Logical Name	Windows	Linux	macOS
aravis-0.8	libaravis-0.8-0.dll	libaravis-0.8.so.0	libaravis-0.8.dylib
gobject-2.0	libgobject-2.0-0.dll	libgobject-2.0.so.0	libgobject-2.0.dylib
glib-2.0	libglib-2.0-0.dll	libglib-2.0.so.0	libglib-2.0.dylib

The resolver probes system paths first, then falls back to runtimes/{rid}/native/ (NuGet layout).

NuGet Packages

Package	Contents
AravisSharp	Managed library (Camera, Stream, Buffer, NodeMap, …)
AravisSharp.runtime.win-x64	libaravis-0.8-0.dll + all transitive DLLs (GLib, libxml2, …)
AravisSharp.runtime.linux-x64	libaravis-0.8.so.0 (GLib etc. come from OS packages)

On Windows, the runtime package includes every dependency. On Linux, only libaravis is bundled — GLib / libxml2 / libusb / zlib are expected from the OS package manager.

Versioning

AravisSharp package versions intentionally start with the target native Aravis release. A package or tag named v0.8.36 targets Aravis 0.8.36 / libaravis-0.8; same-native fixes use a fourth component such as v0.8.36.1.

Use v0.8.36.N for managed binding fixes, bundled dependency updates, or native security backports that keep the public Aravis target at 0.8.36. If a security issue affects every supported native line, release one patched package per supported line, for example v0.8.36.1 and v0.8.35.2, so consumers can update without changing native ABI expectations. When the upstream Aravis version changes, start a new line such as v0.8.37.

Features

• Camera discovery — enumerate USB3 Vision and GigE Vision devices
• High-level API — Camera, Stream, Buffer with IDisposable and proper GObject ref-counting
• GenICam feature browser — introspect features with type, access mode, range, and enumeration choices
• Audited native surface — high-value 0.8.36 calls are hand checked; broad GIR generation is kept out of the public API until regenerated safely
• 80 hand-crafted bindings — curated, documented, with correct error handling
• Zero-copy image access — ReadOnlySpan<byte> via buffer.GetDataSpan()
• Image export — PNG / JPEG via SixLabors.ImageSharp, raw / PGM via ImageHelper
• Performance monitoring — AcquisitionStats for real-time FPS and throughput
• Cross-platform — single codebase, platform-specific loading at runtime

Documentation

Guide	Description
QUICKSTART.md	Install, connect, capture — quick reference
WINDOWS_SETUP.md	Windows installation + WinUSB driver setup
CROSS_PLATFORM_GUIDE.md	NuGet packaging, Docker, distribution strategies
FEATURE_BROWSER_GUIDE.md	GenICam feature introspection & interactive browser
PROJECT_SUMMARY.md	Project architecture and status

Build Requirements

Requirement	Version
.NET SDK	10.0
Aravis	0.8.36 target (libaravis-0.8; compatible with the 0.8 ABI)
SixLabors.ImageSharp	3.1.12 (NuGet)

License

Aravis is licensed under LGPL-2.1-or-later, which permits use in proprietary applications as long as the LGPL library can be replaced by the end user. AravisSharp license TBD.