[Media_api] Using PortMIDI in C# (.NET 2.0)

[Roger Dannenberg]

I don't know much about C#, but here are some thoughts:

The ONLY purpose of the pm_dll DLL is to attempt to close open MIDI 
input ports when the program exits. (DLL's get control when a program 
exits normally, where "normal" includes calling exit() and typing 
control-C, but "normal" does not include instruction-level traps such as 
attempting to read data through a NULL pointer.)

You can eliminate this additional protection using a compile option so 
that PortMidi will not need or initialize the DLL.

There might be other mechanisms in C# to install handlers for runtime 
errors and exit clean-up. If so, it might be desirable to use them 
instead of pm_dll.

If a program leaves a MIDI input port open under Win32, the operating 
system is likely to crash (!), so this is a serious operating system 
bug. The "correct" solution is for MS to fix the gaping hole in Win32 
security, but meanwhile, anything we can do to protect the system is 
worth some attention, hence the clumsy but often effective pm_dll.

-Roger