Scala Native - Convert Array[Byte] to Ptr[Byte]

Question

I'm trying to pass a Scala array to native code and need to do the conversion. How to convert Array[Byte] to Ptr[Byte] in Scala Native?

Answer 1

My best solution so far is this:

def makeNativeArray(input: Array[Byte])(using z: Zone): Ptr[Byte] =
  val rawSize = input.length
  val buffer = alloc[Byte](rawSize)
  for i <- 0 until rawSize
  do
    buffer(i) = input(i)
  buffer

Answer 2

This is now built-in (since Scala Native 0.4.8):

import scala.scalanative.unsafe.*
val arr: scala.Array[Byte] = new Array[Byte](1024)
val ptr: Ptr[Byte] = arr.at(0)

No Zone required, but I would assume the array won't be copied, so the pointer will only be valid as long as the array doesn't get GCed.