Using the ZED C# API on Windows

This section explains how to use the ZED SDK in C# on Windows platform.

Getting Started

These packages let you use the ZED stereo camera in C#. The C# API is a wrapper around the ZED SDK which is written in C++ optimized code.

To start using the ZED SDK in C#, you will need to install the following dependencies on your system:

Visual Studio 2017 with C# extensions
CMake 3.8 at least (Support of C#)
ZED SDK (see Installation section)

The C# API uses two libraries that are published to Nuget.org into a single package.

Package	Description	Link
StereoLabs.zed	Contains the C wrapper of the ZED SDK and a .NET interface that imports the functions from the wrapper in C#

In our tutorials and samples, these packages are automatically downloaded when building the program. However, it can be manually added to any C# project within Visual Studio. See the Nuget documentation.

Building a sample

We will build a simple tutorial application Hello ZED using the ZED SDK and CMake. CMake is a cross-platform project generation tool. It provides an easy way to build project files that can be used in the compiler environment of your choice. For example, a CMake script can produce Visual Studio project and solution files.

Download the ZED Examples sample code available on our GitHub page. You can also browse our GitHub for additional plugins and sample codes.
Open cmake-gui.
In “Where is the source code“, enter the path of the project folder where the CMakeLists.txt is located.
In “Where to build the binaries“, enter the previous path and add: /build.
Click on [Configure].

A dialog window asks you if CMake can create the “build” folder. Say yes.
Another dialog window will ask you to specify a generator for your project. Choose Visual Studio in Win64 and click on [Finish].

CMake may take a few seconds to configure the project.
Click on [Generate] to build the Visual Studio project files.

CMake has now generated your project in the build directory. You can directly open the solution by clicking on [Open Project] or by closing the cmake-gui window and opening the build folder.
A Visual Studio solution has been generated. Open Hello_ZED.sln and set it in Release mode.

To run the builds from the Build menu or from keyboard shortcuts, set the Hello_ZED target as the startup project. In the Solution Explorer, right-click the Hello_ZED solution and click Set As Startup Project

You can now edit and compile your program in the Visual Studio IDE. Hit the Ctrl+F5 key to launch the program.
When the program is built, the C# interface (StereoLabs.zed.dll) and the C wrapper (sl_zed_c.dll) are automatically added to the build folder, next to the executable file.

When deploying the application, make sure that sl_zed_c.dll and StereoLabs.zed.dll are packaged with the executable files, and shipped on a target PC that has the proper ZED SDK version installed.