C# Plugin for ARM64
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Hello,
The situation
My Plugin SQLinForm (SQL Formatter) is written in C# and is available for x86 and x64. It thanksfully uses the template NotepadPlusPlusPluginPack.Net from Kasper B. Graversen (kbilsted).
Now I was able to produce a ARM64 based Version for the Plugin ( https://www.sqlinform.com/download-free-notepad-plugin/ ). But it needs as a prereq that the user has .net8 installed. Unlike .NET Framework 4.8, it is not automatically available with Windows11. I have 2 options:- include .net 8 in a “self-contained zip” but this would increase the size of the zip file up to 50 MB which is huge for a plugin.
- require as pre-req to install .net8.
My question
I wonder how to publish the ARM64 plugin:
- publish a Plugin for N++ and to add as a prereq that .net8 is to be installed
- or should i produce a self-contained zip conatint .net 8 runtime with around 50 MB size?
- or should I just allow to install it manually?
More Details about the migration to ARM64
Building ARM64 Notepad++ Plugins in C# with DNNE
The Problem
The classic approach for building Notepad++ plugins in C# relies on NppPlugin.DllExport (or the older UnmanagedExports by Robert Giesecke) to generate native exports from a .NET Framework assembly. These tools only support x86 and x64 — there is no ARM64 support, and .NET Framework itself doesn’t run on ARM64.
With Windows on ARM becoming mainstream (Snapdragon X, Apple Silicon via Parallels), Notepad++ now ships an ARM64 build — but the existing C# plugin ecosystem can’t follow.The Solution
DNNE (Dot-Net Native Exports) is a modern NuGet package that generates a native C wrapper DLL around your .NET 8 assembly. It uses [UnmanagedCallersOnly] attributes to define exports and supports ARM64 natively.
The architecture becomes:
Notepad++ (ARM64)
↓ LoadLibrary
SQLinFormNpp.dll ← Native C wrapper (generated by DNNE)
↓ loads .NET runtime
SQLinFormNppLib.dll ← managed C# code
