Is there any way to get native pointers to Unity's C++ objects?

I'm rewriting parts of my project to be able to utilize the DOTS framework (e.g. storing object data as ECS components, changing how objects are defined and processed), but as the DOTS framework is still quite feature-incomplete, I have to use GameObjects and other managed objects (Rigidbody2D, AudioSource, SpriteRenderer components).

So i'm asking - is there any way to get a native pointer / unmanaged reference to GameObjects and Components? I'm currently using a weak-referenced GCHandle, but it feels somewhat cumbersome.

 

Use it at your own risk. You'll have to map the native structures yourself and there are no guarantees the data won't move. it's generally going to be a bad idea

Code (CSharp):

1. public static unsafe class UnityObjectExtensions
2. {
3.     private static MethodInfo _methodInfo;
4.  
5.     static UnityObjectExtensions()
6.     {
7.         _methodInfo = typeof(UnityEngine.Object).GetMethod("GetCachedPtr", BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
8.     }
9.  
10.     public static TDelegate CreateDelegate<TDelegate>(UnityEngine.Object unityObject) where TDelegate : Delegate
11.     {
12.         return (TDelegate)Delegate.CreateDelegate(typeof(TDelegate), unityObject, _methodInfo);
13.     }
14.  
15.     public static ref T GetUnsafeRef<T>(this UnityEngine.Object unityObject) where T : struct
16.     {
17.         return ref UnsafeUtilityEx.AsRef<T>((void*)CreateDelegate<Func<IntPtr>>(unityObject).Invoke());
18.     }
19.  
20.     public static T* GetUnsafePtr<T>(this UnityEngine.Object unityObject) where T : unmanaged
21.     {
22.         return (T*)CreateDelegate<Func<IntPtr>>(unityObject).Invoke();
23.     }
24. }

 

Use companions workflow instead?