VarPtr in .NET

[pranava]

Hi
I have got this problem while developing an AddIn for Outlook. I have a code that is developed in VB 6.0. Now, I want to use that code in my VSTO project. But, as we know .NET dont support pointer, this application got many errors.
I have searched, googled, explored for the code like anything for a week. At last, I got this somewhere in the net.
Now, I am keeping it here for those who are in need of this!
Thanks to Mr.Vaibhav Gaikwad who has provided us this code in his blog.

When you do a call to external function inside a native dll through .NET code; one problem which is faced by programmers is marshalling the data type and use of VarPtr. Heres the code which provides the functionality as VarPtr does.

//C# code

static int VarPtr(object o)
{
    System.Runtime.InteropServices.GCHandle GC =
    System.Runtime.InteropServices.GCHandle.Alloc(o,
    System.Runtime.InteropServices.GCHandleType.Pinned);
    int ret = GC.AddrOfPinnedObject().ToInt32();

    return ret;
}

VB code

Public Shared Function VarPtr(ByVal o as Object) As Integer
    Dim GC as System.Runtime.InteropServices.GCHandle = System.Runtime.InteropServices.GCHandle.Alloc(o, System.Runtime.InteropServices.GCHandleType.Pinned)
    Return GC.AddrOfPinnedObject.ToInt32
End Function