C# Tutorial - Serialize Objects to a File

While storing information in memory is great, there comes a time your users will have to shut your application down. This means (probably) that you will need to write information to a file at some point, because you will want to store whatever data was in memory. Today, we are going to take a look at a feature built into .NET called Serialization that makes writing and reading data structures to and from a file extremely easy.

For this example, let's say I want to create a program that keeps track of all the cars my friends own. I'm going to create two objects to achieve this: Car and Owner. The Car object will store the make, model, and year of the car. The Owner object will save some information about who owns the car. Each Car object will hold a reference to an Owner object.

//information about the car
public class Car
{
   private string make;
   private string model;
   private int year;
   private Owner owner;

   public Car()
   {
   }
}

//information about the car's owner
public class Owner
{
   private string firstName;
   private string lastName;

   public Owner()
   {
   }
}

Since most of us have more than one friend, we're going to need to create a List of Car objects.

List<Car> cars = new List<Car>();

Now that we have our objects created, we're almost ready to serialize them. When I save data to files, I like to create an object specifically to hold all the things I want to serialize.

public class ObjectToSerialize
{
   private List<Car> cars;

   public List<Car> Cars
   {
      get { return this.cars; }
      set { this.cars = value; }
   }

   public ObjectToSerialize()
   {
   }
}

This class holds a reference to every object we'll want to serialize. In this case, the only thing we want to save is the list of cars. Now lets create the functions that will perform the serialization and deserialization of our object. I usually create a Serializer class to control the writing and reading to and from files.

using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;

public class Serializer
{
   public Serializer()
   {
   }

   public void SerializeObject(string filename, ObjectToSerialize objectToSerialize)
   {
      Stream stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Create);
      BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
      bFormatter.Serialize(stream, objectToSerialize);
      stream.Close();
   }

   public ObjectToSerialize DeSerializeObject(string filename)
   {
      ObjectToSerialize objectToSerialize;
      Stream stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open);
      BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
      objectToSerialize = (ObjectToSerialize)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
      stream.Close();
      return objectToSerialize;
   }
}

As you can see, the actual code required to serialize an object is relatively small and simple. At this point, however, the code will not build. Before the Serialize function can be called on ObjectToSerialize we must include the Serializable attribute and it must implement the ISerializable interface.

using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;

[Serializable()]
public class ObjectToSerialize : ISerializable
{
   private List<Car> cars;

   public List<Car> Cars
   {
      get { return this.cars; }
      set { this.cars = value; }
   }

   public ObjectToSerialize()
   {
   }

   public ObjectToSerialize(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
   {
      this.cars = (List<Car>)info.GetValue("Cars", typeof(List<Car>));
   }

   public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
   {
      info.AddValue("Cars", this.cars);
   }
}

As part of the ISerializable interface, the class must include another constructor for deserializing the object and a function GetObjectData which describes how to serialize the object. Since the Car and Owner objects are also being serialized, they will also need to implement these functions.

[Serializable()]
public class Car : ISerializable
{
   private string make;
   private string model;
   private int year;
   private Owner owner;

   public Car()
   {
   }

   public Car(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
   {
      this.make = (string)info.GetValue("Make", typeof(string));
      this.model = (string)info.GetValue("Model",typeof(string));
      this.year = (string)info.GetValue("Year", typeof(int));
      this.owner = (Owner)info.GetValue("Owner", typeof(Owner));
   }

   public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
   {
      info.AddValue("Make", this.make);
      info.AddValue("Model", this.model);
      info.AddValue("Make", this.year);
      info.AddValue("Owner", this.owner);
   }
}


[Serializable()]
public class Owner : ISerializable
{
   private string firstName;
   private string lastName;

   public Owner()
   {
   }

   public Owner(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
   {
      this.firstName = (string)info.GetValue("FirstName", typeof(string));
      this.lastName = (string)info.GetValue("LastName", typeof(string));
   }

   public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
   {
      info.AddValue("FirstName", this.firstName);
      info.AddValue("LastName", this.lastName);
   }
}

Now, to save the list of objects to a file, all that needs to be done is to call the Serialize and DeSerialize functions of the Serializer class.

List<Car> cars = new List<Car>();

//save the car list to a file
ObjectToSerialize objectToSerialize = new ObjectToSerialize();
objectToSerialize.Cars = cars;

Serializer serializer = new Serializer()
serializer.SerializeObject("outputFile.txt", objectToSerialize);

//the car list has been saved to outputFile.txt
//read the file back from outputFile.txt

objectToSerialize = serializer.DeSerializeObject("outputFile.txt");
cars = objectToSerialize.Cars;

That is all that's required to save and load custom C# objects to a binary file. Just like any file, it is possible for your files to become corrupted. Because of this, it is probably a good idea to add some error handling whenever output from the file is being cast to an object.

Rotik posted 5 years ago
Hi,thax for your tutorial, it’s very helpfull. But, this is may be incorrect:
```
objectToSerialize =
  (SerializeObject)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
```
I think,it should be like this:
```
objectToSerialize =
  (ObjectToSerialize)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
```
- Brandon Cannaday 5 years ago
  
  You are correct. I’ve fixed the bug. Thanks for pointing it out!
- Anonymous 3 years ago
  
  Why is ther Serializer class non-static, it holds two functions and no globals, I think it would be best if they were static or just put it in the class they are used

Mark posted 5 years ago

I am still a bit new to serialization. Could you please post some sample code for populating your car / owner classes (ie: adding an owner and a couple of cars)?

Brandon Cannaday 5 years ago

Sure:

//make some cars
Car car1 = new Car();
Car car2 = new Car();

//make some owners
Owner owner1 = new Owner();
Owner owner2 = new Owner();

//set the properties - my example code doesn't have properties, 
//so you'll have to add some

owner1.FirstName = "The";
owner1.LastName = "Reddest";
car1.Owner = owner1;
car1.Make = "Saturn";
car1.Model = "Sky";
car1.Year = 2007;

owner2.FirstName = "The";
owner2.LastName = "Tallest";
car2.Owner = owner2;
car2.Make = "Nissan";
car2.Model = "Maxima";
car2.Year = 2006;

//add the cars to a list
List<Car> cars = new List<Car>();
cars.Add(car1);
cars.Add(car2);

//save it to a file
ObjectToSerialize ots = new ObjectToSerialize();
ots.Cars = cars;

Serializer serializer = new Serializer()
serializer.SerializeObject("outputFile.txt", ots);

I just set my Owner and Car information to hard coded strings here, but they could just as easily be set from the Text property of a TextBox. The major difference here is that I'm assuming there are properties defined for each variable in the Car and Owner objects. I didn't define them in the tutorial to keep the example code smaller. I hope this helps.

Manoj Barmola 3 years ago

that was great article i learned lots of things about file handling in c# and serialization of objects by this article thanks you so much

Chris posted 5 years ago

You should put this tutorial in the MSDN ISerializable documentation user contributions. Their example code is totally useless for ISerializable noobs.

Chris posted 5 years ago

Sorry if you took that as spam.

- Charlie Key 5 years ago
  
  No problem Chris, you’re fine - we wouldn’t let it come through if it was spam.
Aaron posted 5 years ago

Would this method of saving data to a file be suitable for large amounts of data, say like a few hundred ints, strings, chars, arraylists, and hashtables. Eg; if in the above you had a couple hundred cars and owners, would this still be an efficient way to do this, or is there a beter way to save object data to a file.

cheers Aaron.

- Brandon Cannaday 5 years ago
  
  I think the above example would work well for up to a few thousand cars. After that point the time required to deserialize might become too long. I haven’t done any testing to determine where the cutoff point is, so I can’t answer for sure. I would say this method would work fine for any amount of data you’d comfortably want to hold in memory at one time (a few megabytes). Any more than that, and you should probably start thinking about a database.
- wmcdermott 2 years ago
  
  Hello Mr Reddest,
  
  Thanks for a fantastic article. I am going to use this on an engineering parts catalog of about 88,000 individual items. I need to validate the description elements and to ensure the records are accurate and complete before moving them to a new ERP/CAD interface. I will let you all know how well it behaves when I get it working. I don't want to have to mess around with a database as this job only needs to be done once (though I may use the resulting code in some of the ERP Business Logic later).
  
  Thanks again,
  
  Wayne

Scott posted 5 years ago

That was a great example and I was wondering if your readers would like to spice it up a little more by making your Serializer class into a "helper" or "utility" class... I named it FileSerializer for this example.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
using System.Security.Permissions;

namespace MyUtilities
{
  /// 
  /// General FileSerializer - need to cast from ISerializable :-(
  /// 
  public static class FileSerializer
  {
    public static void Serialize( string filename, 
        ISerializable objectToSerialize )
    {
      Stream stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Create);
      BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
      bFormatter.Serialize(stream, objectToSerialize);
      stream.Close();
    }

    public static ISerializable DeSerialize( string filename )
    {
      ISerializable objectToSerialize;
      Stream stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open);
      BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
      objectToSerialize = 
          (ISerializable)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
      stream.Close();
      return objectToSerialize;
    }
  }
}

Now you could take this one step further and use generics.

namespace MyUtilities
{
  /// 
  /// FileSerializer, based on generics - no more casting :-)
  /// 
  public static class FileSerializer
    where T : class, ISerializable
  {
    public static void Serialize( string filename, 
        T objectToSerialize )
    {
      Stream stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Create);
      BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
      bFormatter.Serialize(stream, objectToSerialize);
      stream.Close();
    }

    public static T DeSerialize( string filename )
    {
      T objectToSerialize;
      Stream stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open);
      BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
      objectToSerialize = (T)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
      stream.Close();
      return objectToSerialize;
    }
  }
}

And here is a slightly revised version of the classes we are using in this example (note, I've dropped the use of a separate serializing class and introduced a way to add serialization to a collection (note: this can be extended to support dictionaries too).

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Security.Permissions;

namespace MyUtilities
{
  [Serializable]
  public class Car : ISerializable
  {
    private readonly string _make;
    private readonly string _model;
    private readonly int _year;

    //this is variable and can change
    private Owner _owner = null; 

    //default ctor not valid - 
    //we want to enforce initializing our data
    private Car() { } 

    public Car( string make, string model, int year )
    {
      _make = make;
      _model = model;
      _year = year;
    }

    public Owner Owner
    {
      get { return _owner; }
      set { _owner = value; }
    }

    public string Make
    { get { return _make; } }

    public string Model
    { get { return _model; } }

    public int Year
    { get { return _year; } }

    //note: this is private to control access;
    //the serializer can still access this constructor
    private Car( SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt )
    {
      _make = info.GetString("Make");
      _model = info.GetString("Model");
      _year = info.GetInt32("Year");
      _owner = (Owner)info.GetValue("Owner", typeof(Owner));
    }

    [SecurityPermission(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Flags = 
       SecurityPermissionFlag.SerializationFormatter)]
    public void GetObjectData( SerializationInfo info, 
       StreamingContext ctxt )
    {
      info.AddValue("Make", this._make);
      info.AddValue("Model", this._model);
      info.AddValue("Year", this._year);
      info.AddValue("Owner", this._owner, typeof(Owner));
    }
  }
}

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Security.Permissions;

namespace MyUtilities
{
  [Serializable]
  public class Owner : ISerializable
  {
    private string _firstName = string.Empty;
    private string _lastName = string.Empty;

    public Owner() { }

    public Owner(string firstName, string lastName)
    {
      _firstName = firstName;
      _lastName = lastName;
    }

    //note: this is private to control access; 
    //the serializer can still access this constructor
    private Owner( SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt )
    {
      _firstName = info.GetString("FirstName");
      _lastName = info.GetString("LastName");
    }

    [SecurityPermission(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Flags = 
        SecurityPermissionFlag.SerializationFormatter)]
    public void GetObjectData( SerializationInfo info, 
        StreamingContext ctxt )
    {
      info.AddValue("FirstName", this._firstName);
      info.AddValue("LastName", this._lastName);
    }
  }
}

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Security.Permissions;

namespace MyUtilities
{
  //note: would be better to contain the List of cars, 
  //than derive from it
  [Serializable]
  public sealed class Cars : List, ISerializable
  {
    public Cars()
      : base()
    { }

    public Cars( int capacitiy )
      : base(capacitiy)
    {  }

    public Cars( IEnumerable steps )
      : base(steps)
    { }

    private Cars( SerializationInfo info, 
        StreamingContext context )
    {
      int count = info.GetInt32("NumOfCars");
      for (int ix = 0; ix < count; ix++)
      {
        string key = "Car_" + ix.ToString();
        Car car = (Car)info.GetValue(key, typeof(Car));
        this.Add(car);
      }
    }

    [SecurityPermission(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Flags = 
        SecurityPermissionFlag.SerializationFormatter)]
    public void GetObjectData( SerializationInfo info, 
        StreamingContext context )
    {
      info.AddValue("NumOfCars", this.Count);
      int ix = 0;
      foreach (Car car in this)
      {
        string key = "Car_" + ix.ToString();
        info.AddValue(key, car, typeof(Car));
        ix++;
      }
    }
  }
}

And the example:

public void RunExample()
{
  Car car1 = new Car("Ford", "Mustang GT", 2007);
  Car car2 = new Car("Dodge", "Viper", 2006);
  car1.Owner = new Owner("Rich", "Guy");
  car2.Owner = new Owner("Very", "RichGuy");

  //save cars individually
  //note: type-safe as Car
  FileSerializer.Serialize(@"C:\Car1.dat", car1); 
  //note: implicit casting to ISerializable
  FileSerializer<Car>.Serialize(@"C:\Car2.dat", car2); 

  //save as a collection
  Cars cars = new Cars();
  cars.Add(car1);
  cars.Add(car2);
  //note: type-safe as Cars
  FileSerializer.Serialize(@"C:\Cars.dat", cars); 

  //now read them back in (note, you can use either FileSerializer
  //note: casting required
  Car savedCar1 = (Car)FileSerializer.DeSerialize(@"C:\Car1.dat"); 
  //note: no casting required  
  Car savedCar2 = FileSerializer<Car>.DeSerialize(@"C:\Car2.dat"); 

  //and for the collection…
  Cars savedCars =
    FileSerializer<Cars>.DeSerialize(@"C:\Cars.dat");
}

I've introduced a few new things and hopefully it helps.

-Scott

Scott 5 years ago

Oh ya, one more thing - you may find it necessary to specify security settings on the GetObjectData. Example:

using System.Security.Permissions;

[SecurityPermission(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Flags =
  SecurityPermissionFlag.SerializationFormatter)]
public void GetObjectData( SerializationInfo info,
  StreamingContext context )
{
  //check info before using
  if (info == null)
    throw new System.ArgumentNullException(”info”);
}

nhovehn posted 5 years ago

I've tried ur code and had error when I DeSerialize Object:

objectToSerialize = serializer.DeSerializeObject(sFilename);

Error when execute command in DeSerializeObject(...):

objectToSerialize =
  (ObjectToSerialize)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);

Error:

System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException was unhandled
Message="Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation."
Source="mscorlib"
StackTrace:
at System.RuntimeMethodHandle._SerializationInvoke(Object target, 
  SignatureStruct&amp; declaringTypeSig, SerializationInfo info, 
  StreamingContext context)
at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.SerializationInvoke(Object target, 
  SignatureStruct declaringTypeSig, SerializationInfo info, 
  StreamingContext context)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeConstructorInfo.SerializationInvoke(
  Object target, SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
at System.Runtime.Serialization.ObjectManager.
  CompleteISerializableObject(Object obj, SerializationInfo info, 
  StreamingContext context)
at System.Runtime.Serialization.ObjectManager.FixupSpecialObject(
  ObjectHolder holder)
at System.Runtime.Serialization.ObjectManager.DoFixups()
at System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.ObjectReader.
  Deserialize(HeaderHandler handler, __BinaryParser serParser, 
  Boolean fCheck, Boolean isCrossAppDomain, 
  IMethodCallMessage methodCallMessage)
at  System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter.
  Deserialize(Stream serializationStream, HeaderHandler handler, 
  Boolean fCheck, Boolean isCrossAppDomain, IMethodCallMessage 
  methodCallMessage)
at System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter.
  Deserialize(Stream serializationStream)
at VLAuto4Me.Serializer.DeSerializeObject(String sFilename) in
  E:\MyGames\Tools\VLTK\SourceCodes\VLAuto4Me\VLAuto4Me\
  Serialize.cs:line 36
at VLAuto4Me.AutoLogin4Me.cmdSaveList_Click(Object sender,
  EventArgs e) in E:\MyGames\Tools\VLTK\SourceCodes\
  VLAuto4Me\VLAuto4Me\AutoLogin4Me.cs:line 41
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp
  (Message&amp; m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message&amp; m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message&amp; m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message&amp; m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.
  OnMessage(Message&amp; m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.
  WndProc(Message&amp; m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.DebuggableCallback
  (IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
at System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessageW
  (MSG&amp; msg)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ComponentManager.System.
  Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponentManager.
  FPushMessageLoop(Int32 dwComponentID, Int32 reason, 
  Int32 pvLoopData)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.
  RunMessageLoopInner(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoop
  (Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.Run(Form mainForm)
at VLAuto4Me.Program.Main() in
  E:\MyGames\Tools\VLTK\SourceCodes\VLAuto4Me\VLAuto4Me\
  Program.cs:line 15
at System.AppDomain.nExecuteAssembly(Assembly assembly,
  String[] args)
at System.AppDomain.ExecuteAssembly(String assemblyFile, Evidence 
  assemblySecurity, String[] args)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssembly()
at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(
  ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback,
  Object state)
at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

???

Since I last posted, I’ve refined my utility class further; hope this helps

public static class FileSerializer
{
  public static void Serialize( string filename, 
    object objectToSerialize )
  {
    if(objectToSerialize == null)
      throw new ArgumentNullException(
        "objectToSerialize cannot be null");

    Stream stream = null;

    try
    {
      stream = File.Open(
        PathHelper.BuildPath(filename), FileMode.Create);
      BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
      bFormatter.Serialize(stream, objectToSerialize);
    }
    finally
    {
      if (stream != null)
        stream.Close();
    }
  }

  public static T Deserialize <T>( string filename )
  {
    T objectToSerialize;
    Stream stream = null;

    try
    {
      stream = File.Open(
          PathHelper.BuildPath(filename), FileMode.Open);
      BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
      objectToSerialize = (T)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
    }
    finally
    {
      if (stream != null)
      stream.Close();
    }

    return objectToSerialize;
  }
}

I’ll re-paste my example too…

Scott 5 years ago

Note: remove the PathHelper.BuildPath too, these are some other utilities that I wrote; just leave the filename.

Here is a revised example:

public void RunExample()
{
  Car car1 = new Car("Ford", "Mustang GT", 2007);
  Car car2 = new Car("Dodge", "Viper", 2006);
  car1.Owner = new Owner("Rich", "Guy");
  car2.Owner = new Owner("Very", "RichGuy");

  //save cars individually
  FileSerializer.Serialize(@"C:\Car1.dat", car1);

  //save as a collection
  Cars cars = new Cars();
  cars.Add(car1);
  cars.Add(car2);
  FileSerializer.Serialize(@"C:\Cars.dat", cars);

  //now read them back in
  Car savedCar1 = FileSerializer<Car>.DeSerialize(@"C:\Car1.dat");
  Car savedCar2 = FileSerializer<Car>.DeSerialize(@"C:\Car2.dat");

  //and for the collection…
  Cars savedCars = FileSerializer<Cars>.DeSerialize(@"C:\Cars.dat");
}

I’ll re-post the collection example next…

Scott 5 years ago

Oh, my bad again… move the \ to after the DeSerialize and before the (
nhovehn 5 years ago
Error when DeSerializer a file:
```
Cars savedCars = FileSerializer<Cars>.DeSerialize(@”C:\Cars.dat”);
```
Error here: The non-generic type ‘Project1.FileSerializer’ cannot be used with type arguments Form1.cs
Scott 5 years ago
Sorry, that was due to a typo on my part. Should be…
```
FileSerializer.DeSerialize<Cars>
```
nhovehn 5 years ago
Hi, :( I've tried so still error when DeSerializer:
```
objectToSerialize = (T)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
```
Error: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
Scott 5 years ago
Double check the Cars class, making sure that the following method is correct:
```
private Cars(SerializationInfo info, 
    StreamingContext context)
```
Did you notice there was a <? you should replace it with a less-than operator, if you have not already done so.

if you still have problems, try stepping through it and see when it throws an exception - you could add a try\catch block in there to help too.

If you still have problems or you are getting the same error about a non-generic type, make sure that all three statements are: FileSerializer.DeSerialize <Cars>

nhovehn 5 years ago

Hi, I've checked again and everything is the same with your code. Of course I see a < and understand that is less-than quote :(.

And I try cacth the statement:

objectToSerialize = (T)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);

So cacth:

try
{
  stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open);
  BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
  objectToSerialize = (T)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
}
catch (SerializationException)
{
  MessageBox.Show(
    "The application failed to retrieve the inventory");
}
finally
{
  if (stream != null)
    stream.Close();
}

objectToSerialize always gets null value

Sorry that you are have problems… Since I can not duplicate your problem, I need some more info. Can you replace the catch with this…

T objectToSerialize = default(T);
Stream stream = null;

try
{
  stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open);
  BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
  objectToSerialize = (T)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
}
catch (Exception err)
{
  MessageBox.Show(
    "The application failed to retrieve the inventory" 
    + err.Message);
}
finally
{
  if (stream != null)
    stream.Close();
}
return objectToSerialize;

and let me know what the error message is, thanks.

nhovehn 5 years ago

OK, And that error is here: (Value of ex.Message) Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. I don’t know why that error occur with my progs. Thanks for your helping!
view all 8 comments

view less

Here is the Cars class

//note: would be better to contain the List of cars, //than derive from it
[Serializable]
public sealed class Cars : List <Car>, ISerializable
{
  public Cars()
    : base()
  { }

  public Cars( int capacitiy )
    : base(capacitiy)
  { }

  public Cars( IEnumerable<Car> steps )
    : base(steps)
  { }

  private Cars( SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context )
  {
    int count = info.GetInt32("NumOfCars");
    for (int ix = 0; ix < count; ix++)
    {
      string key = "Car_" + ix.ToString();
      Car car = (Car)info.GetValue(key, typeof(Car));
      this.Add(car);
    }
  }

  [SecurityPermission(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Flags =
    SecurityPermissionFlag.SerializationFormatter)]
  public void GetObjectData( SerializationInfo info, 
    StreamingContext context )
  {
    info.AddValue("NumOfCars", this.Count);
    int ix = 0;
    foreach (Car car in this)
    {
      string key = "Car_" + ix.ToString();
      info.AddValue(key, car, typeof(Car));
      ix++;
    }
  }
}

Scott 5 years ago

Of course I’ve ommited error checking and proper handling of errors to shorten the example up.

You should add try and catch to the Utility class and could add checking that the class supports serialization. Some errors that could occur: file missing, can not deserialize - was serialized with different content or not of the type T, etc.
Leven 5 years ago

Scott, can you send me a example proyect? Thanks :D
Scott 5 years ago

Sample Project can be found at http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/SerializeUtility.aspx

David posted 5 years ago

Hm, I think I get the basic concept. I’m assuming earlier tutorials mentioned need of some sort of libraries, yes? Or a specific compiler mentioned on this website somewhere? Sorry, I’m new to this.

- Scott 5 years ago
  
  Hi David
  
  The latest code did not paste well, I’ve included a sample download at Code Project.
  
  The current code is in C# with .NET 2.0. I’m currently using Visual Studio 2005, but you should be able to use any C# NET 2.0 compiler.
  
  -Scott
Lori posted 5 years ago

I have never programed before, so I was wondering if you could tell me what to do with my problem. I use HP Image Zone Plus to edit my pictures. I now get the error: Parameter cannot be null. Parameter:serializationStream. I tried uninstalling & reinstalling HP ImageZone, and used HP Support, but was told this was an internal problem. What should I do? Also - anyone know of the best program to use to edit photos?? Or a way to minimize lots of photos at once for email or website purposes instead of one by one? Thanks, Lori

- Brandon Cannaday 5 years ago
  
  Well Lori, unfortunately I don't have any insight into the error you're seeing. It sounds like a problem with HP Image Zone or your operating system. You could try reinstalling the .NET Framework.
  
  As far as image tools goes, the best one out there by far is Adobe Photoshop. It's a little expensive, but nothing can compare to it in terms of power and features. If you want a free one that will do all of your typical editing needs, go with Paint .NET.
  
  Photoshop will batch edit images for you. We actually have a tutorial here on the blog that demonstrates how to do that. I don't know whether or not Paint .NET has batch processing, but I don't think it does.
Ethan posted 4 years ago

The code is misleading. Not everyone needs to implement the ISerializable interface.

This is from MSDN:"If a class needs to control its serialization process, it can implement the ISerializable interface."

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.runtime.serialization.iserializable.aspx

- Ethan 4 years ago
  
  You said "must" here. "Before the Serialize function can be called on ObjectToSerialize we must include the Serializable attribute and it must implement the ISerializable interface." As I said it is optional.
- Charlie Key 4 years ago
  
  I would say it is recommended for good coding practice.
- Andy one year ago
  
  It's not good practice to implement an interface you don't need. It produces more code you have to care about, thus making it harder to maintain.

Gaurav Arora posted 4 years ago

A newbee to .NET, Please help

public Car(SerializationInfo info,StreamingContext ctxt)

function gives a type conversion error on this line

this.owner = (string)info.GetValue("Owner", typeof(Owner));

Error
Error 1: Cannot implicitly convert type 'string' to 
  'System.Collections.Generic.List'
D:\dotnetpractice\practice\ConsoleApplication1\
  ConsoleApplication1\Car.cs

Brandon Cannaday 4 years ago
Sorry about that. There was a typo in the post's code. this.owner is of type Owner, and the code was attempting to cast it to a string. Your line needs to be replaced with:
```
this.owner = (Owner)info.GetValue("Owner", typeof(Owner));
```
Thanks for catching that!

Gregory posted 4 years ago

Hello everyone,

Does anybody have an experience recording C# objects into HDF5 file format? Does anybody know about recording arbitrary C# objects in HDF5 format?

Thanks a lot, -Gregory

Joe Blue posted 4 years ago
There is a small mistake in the original post, which may be the reason people are having problems with this code.

The correction appears below. Thanks, JB
```
public Serializer()
{
  //add this next line here
  ObjectToSerialize objectToSerialize = new ObjectToSerialize();
}

public ObjectToSerialize DeSerializeObject(string filename)
{
  //this line should be commented out, 
  //as it is a local variable only, not what is needed
  //ObjectToSerialize objectToSerialize;
}
```
- Joe Blue 4 years ago
  One more minor thing–for your code to even compile, you must of course place a declaration of objectToSerialize before you instantiate it, as here:
```
class Serializer
{
  //add this of course…
  ObjectToSerialize objectToSerialize; 

  //and the rest as before…
  public Serializer()
  {
    //add this next line here
    ObjectToSerialize objectToSerialize = 
        new ObjectToSerialize();
  }

  public ObjectToSerialize DeSerializeObject(string filename)
  {
    //this line should be commented out, 
    //as it is a local variable only, not what is needed
    //ObjectToSerialize objectToSerialize; 
  }
}
```
- Brandon Cannaday 4 years ago
  
  I don't necessarily agree with your suggestions.
  
  There's no reason for the Serializer class to contain a private member for the ObjectToSerialize object. There's no functions or properties to retrieve it and it's not used anywhere else within the class. This is why I chose to simply declare and populate one on the fly within the DeserializeObject function. Unlike C++, that object will not be destructed when it falls out of scope.
  
  In your first example, you'd actually be creating an extra ObjectToSerialize object for no reason when the Serializer class is constructed. The reference would simply be overwritten by a new ObjectToSerialize every time bFormatter.Deserialize(stream) is called.
Niks posted 4 years ago

hii, i like the article you wrote. i also wrote an article on Serialization here : http://kaniks.blogspot.com feel free to post your comments

thanks cheers :)

Ashish posted 4 years ago

In this scenario, you are storing List in file and later retreiving it.

I have a case in which I get one object at a time (when someone publishes it) and i have to store it into a file that time. When next object comes (same type), I then send it to same file. So, I am not saving a List but lot of T's in same file.

Now, how do I retreive it? When I keep FileStream.Position = 0, I can get first object by Deserialize method, but how do I get to second object and so on in my file.

Please Help. Thanks in Advance.

- Brandon Cannaday 4 years ago
  
  It almost sounds like you're trying to use a file in the same way you would a database. So in this scenario, I think a database of some sort would probably be the best answer. SQLite offers a completely free, self-contained database that might work for your needs. There are also C# libraries available for it.
  
  If you're still wanting to use serialization, I would not recommend serializing each object to the end of the file. I would recommend serializing a List of objects and each time you want to add a new one, deserialize the List, add your object to it, then re-serialize the List back to the file. When you want to retrieve it, just deserialize the List and find your object.
  
  This would be the simplest technique, but it would become far too expensive if you're wanting to store several thousands of objects. However, if that were the case, I would then strongly recommend a database.
Kristof otai posted 4 years ago

Thank you for this comprehensive tutorial. It really helped me.

Kristof, from Hungary

Chris posted 4 years ago

Nice examples, however, I would recommend that you properly DISPOSE of your objects after you're through with them.

IMHO - an example is no excuse for sloppy practices ...

- Brandon Cannaday 4 years ago
  
  Chris, you're 100% correct. I should have surrounded the Stream creation with a using statement to ensure it's disposed. Thanks for pointing it out.
Xilinxxx posted 4 years ago

Thank you. You helped me a lot.

Gert-Jan posted 4 years ago

Hi, you can also store directly in, and retrieve multiple objects from a single file storage, using NFileStorage, see NFileStorage on CodePlex (100% sources included, all managed c#)

brent posted 3 years ago

Hi, I've tried the original tutorial code. I seem to have a problem during deserialization.

I've collected all the tutorial source code snippets together to create the enclosed console based application.

The application provides 3 commands i,s,l

To create the scenario run code.exe and type the following, i ..this creates 2 entries i ..this creates 2+2 entries s .. saves the binary data into data3.txt q .. quits the console application

now run code.exe a second time l .. this loads data3.txt

At this point I would expect to see 4 car entries but the console debug indicates that the cars list has zero entries after deserialization. Something obvious is missing in the code but I am a novice to c# so I'm stumped.

The source is contained in a single file called code.cs - see below.

I'm using the microsoft c# command line compiler, csc. So, from the dos command line, to compile, type:- csc code.cs to run, type:- code.exe

//code.cs

//based on c# tutorial - serialize objects to a file by The Reddest
//goto http://www.switchonthecode.com/tutorials/csharp-tutorial-serialize-objects-to-a-file


//Program.cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using mydata;
using serializers;

//extra bits to make the single file version compile
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;


namespace filer3
{
    class Program
    {

        static void setup(List<TCar> list, int n)
        {
            string N = Convert.ToString(n);
            TCar car1 = new TCar();
            TOwner owner1 = new TOwner();
            list.Add(car1);

            car1.owner = owner1;
            car1.make = "Saturn" + N;
            car1.model = "Sky" + N;
            car1.year = 2007 + n;
            owner1.firstName = "The" + N;
            owner1.lastName = "Reddest" + N;

            TCar car2 = new TCar();
            TOwner owner2 = new TOwner();
            list.Add(car2);

            owner2.firstName = "The" + N;
            owner2.lastName = "Tallest" + N;
            car2.owner = owner2;
            car2.make = "Nissan" + N;
            car2.model = "Maxima" + N;
            car2.year = 2006 + n;
        }


        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            int j = 0;
            List<TCar> cars = new List<TCar>();
            TDocument document = new TDocument();
            TFiler filer = new TFiler();
            TCar xx;
            string fname = "data3.txt";
            document.Cars = cars;

            while (1 == 1)
            {

                Console.Write("enter command >");
                string line = Console.ReadLine();
                if (line == "i")
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("initialised");
                    setup(document.Cars, j++);
                }
                if (line == "l")
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("loading");
                    filer.DeSerializeObject(fname);
                }
                if (line == "s")
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("saving");
                    filer.SerializeObject(fname, document);
                }
                if (line == "q")
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("quit");
                    break;
                }


                Console.WriteLine("Entries =" + Convert.ToString(document.Cars.Count));
                for (int n = 0; n < document.Cars.Count; n++)
                {
                    xx = document.Cars.ElementAt(n);
                    Console.Write(Convert.ToString(n) + "  ");
                    Console.Write(xx.make + ",");
                    Console.Write(xx.model + ",");
                    Console.WriteLine(xx.year);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
//TCar.cs
//using System;
//using System.IO;
//using System.Runtime.Serialization;

namespace mydata
{
    [Serializable()] 
    public class TCar:ISerializable
    {
        public string make;
        public string model;
        public int year;
        public TOwner owner;

        public TCar()
        {
        }        
        public TCar(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("TCAR deserialising"); 
            this.make = (string)info.GetValue("Make", typeof(string));
            this.model = (string)info.GetValue("Model",typeof(string));
            this.year = (int)info.GetValue("Year", typeof(int));
            this.owner = (TOwner)info.GetValue("Owner", typeof(TOwner));
        }
        public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("TCAR serialising");
            info.AddValue("Make", this.make);
            info.AddValue("Model", this.model);
            info.AddValue("Year", this.year);
            info.AddValue("Owner", this.owner);            
        }       
    }
}
//TDocument.cs
//using System;
//using System.IO;
//using System.Runtime.Serialization;
//using System.Collections;
//using System.Collections.Generic;
//using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
//using mydata;


namespace mydata
{

    [Serializable()] 
    // Top level data object all other data types are encapsulated by this class
    public class TDocument : ISerializable
    {
        private List<TCar> cars;

        public  List<TCar> Cars
        {
            get { return this.cars; }
            set { this.cars = value; }
        }

        public TDocument()
        { 
        }

        public TDocument(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("document deserialising");
            this.cars = (List<TCar>)info.GetValue("Cars", typeof(List<TCar>));
        }

        public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("document serialising");
            info.AddValue("Cars", this.cars);
        }
    }
}

//TOwner.cs
//using System;
//using System.Collections.Generic;
//using System.Linq;
//using System.Text;

//using System.IO;
//using System.Runtime.Serialization;
//using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;


namespace mydata
{
    [Serializable()]
    public class TOwner : ISerializable
    {
        public string firstName;
        public string lastName;

        public TOwner()
        {
        }
        public TOwner(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("TOWNER deserialising");
            this.firstName = (string)info.GetValue("FirstName", typeof(string));
            this.lastName =  (string)info.GetValue("LastName",  typeof(string));
        }
        public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("TOWNER serialising");
            info.AddValue("FirstName", this.firstName);
            info.AddValue("LastName", this.lastName);
        }
    }
}
//TSerialiser_1.cs
//using System;
//using System.IO;
//using System.Runtime.Serialization;
//using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
//using mydata;

namespace serializers
{
    public class TFiler
    {
        //Version 1 serialiser, instance specific, so a bit of a pain

        public void SerializeObject(string filename, TDocument document)
        {
            Stream stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Create);  
            BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
            bFormatter.Serialize(stream, document);
            stream.Close();
        }

        public TDocument DeSerializeObject(string filename)        
        {
            TDocument document;
            Stream stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open);
            BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
            document = (TDocument)bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
            stream.Close();
            return document;
        }
    }
}

Saleem 3 years ago
Brent, Your code actually works except for a very minor mistake. You are inserting data OK, saving it OK. When you read it back, the function returns a document. You are not using that document that is returned. Look at code snippet below. I have commented out the line you had.
```
if (line.ToLower().StartsWith("l"))
{
    Console.WriteLine("loading");
    // Error filer.DeSerializeObject(fname);
    document = filer.DeSerializeObject(fname);
}
```
mydim@mail.ru 2 years ago

thanks! ;)
Anonymous one year ago

Yes. This works.

Bonjo posted 3 years ago

Can you please explain why we need to implemet ISerializable and realize methods:

public ObjectToSerialize(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt); public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt);

Because it seems the example succesfully works without this explicit serialization, I think attribute [Serializable()] is enough to make it works.

- Zorrothefox one year ago
  
  Hi,
  
  You're right... It is not necessary to write these functions for some classes... If the classes contain only simple primitives (which are serializable in turn), and/or if you want to serialize the WHOLE object, then the tag is enough.
  
  However, there are times when your object contains some non-serializable members such as Form or Control references. In this case, your code would crash.
  
  Also, the custom constructor and GetObjectData() allow us to serialize the important members, and then re-construct the rest of the object as we wish when de-serializing. Also, when some of the member objects are non-serializable (Forms, Controls etc), we can use these functions to still de-serialize the other stuff and create these members through new() or something similiar.
  
  Hope this helps...
MSGhazi posted 3 years ago

This was an excellent tutorial. Step by step, clear, organized instructions. Thank you very much!

Frank posted 3 years ago

Hi, is there anyway to serialize a .pdf file to a binary format and save it into an SQL database?

Anonymous one year ago

If you want to store the object in an ASCII string format, you can use base 64 encoding.

Untested example:

public static string Serialize(object SerializeThis)
{
MemoryStream MS = new MemoryStream();
BinaryFormatter BF = new BinaryFormatter();
BF.Serialize(MS, SerializeThis);
byte[] ByteArray = MS.ToArray();
MS.Close();

string B64String = Convert.ToBase64String(ByteArray);

return B64String;  
}

Kate posted 3 years ago

This is a really good example which I followed to create a file and read it back. However, I had to change one of the variables in the object to a double. Now it creates the file happily, but crashes when it read it back. Is there a problem with serialising doubles? Any advice much appreciated.

- Kate 3 years ago
  
  Stupid mistake now corrected - code works well for doubles. Sorry to have troubled you.
Anonymous posted 3 years ago

You need to give examples of serializing to XML in memory. There are plenty of scenarios where you'd want to do this. \ \ http://www.dotnetjohn.com/articles.aspx?articleid=173

SRSavior posted 3 years ago

Hi,

The tutorial was very useful and educational, but I'm having a problem:

When I serialize, it seems to go through fine, although I suppose it's hard to know that for sure. However, when I try to deserialize, I get:

System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException was unhandled Message="Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation."

I'm not sure if this is because I'm also trying to serialize/deserialize sub-objects, but I followed the tutorial as much as I could as it pertains to my code.

I have a List, which contains string fields, but one of the fields in each object is a list of a sub-object, which also has two string fields within it. So, I used the AddValue and GetValue for the sub-object in the same way as described. Any ideas? Sorry I couldn't be clearer.

Rye posted 2 years ago

This serializable tutorial is great

Chrisass posted 2 years ago

Can you please show some sample code with methods of how u can print the List of objects on the console or search for a car as example...im trying to do it but i cant...sorry if it is a newbie question but i am new to c#

Sleff posted 2 years ago

Thank you so much.

Patrick posted 2 years ago

Instead of using ...

try { ... } finally { stream.Close(); }

... i would suggest taking the using argument. Since Stream implements IDisposable the Close() will then automatically be called. No more finally required and therefore no chance to forget the code.

Anonymous posted 2 years ago

Thanks So so much. Muito Obrigado

Anonymous posted 2 years ago

This tutorial is very useful. However, how can i serialize data with type texture2D, as i am now facing a problem that "Type 'Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.Texture2D' in Assembly 'Microsoft.Xna.Framework, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=........' is not marked as serializable."

Can anyone help me or know how to do?

- Namkazt 2 years ago
  
  Dont use Texture2D, u only need Texture2D.getdata() and hold in a uint[] variable than serialize this uint[] variable
Anonymous posted 2 years ago

if you implement the ISerializable using the Serializable attibute is useless, if you don't know this kind of things avoid doing a tuto please

- Brandon Cannaday 2 years ago
  
  From the SerializableAttribute MSDN documentation:
  
  "Apply the SerializableAttribute attribute even if the class also implements the ISerializable interface to control the serialization process."
Anonymous posted 2 years ago

this is a real article

http://www.dotnetjohn.com/articles.aspx?articleid=173

enjoy

Namkazt posted 2 years ago

hey guys, plz help me. so i have two application the first application using for create data the second app using for load and display data i already use "blind to type" but when load have error "Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation."

here my code when load data :

public static Map LoadMap(string location)
        {
            string path = Application.StartupPath + @"\Datas\Maps\" + location;
            Serializer serializer = new Serializer();
            MapToSerialize objectToSerialize = serializer.DeSerializeObject(path);
            return objectToSerialize.ThisMap;
        }

Namkazt 2 years ago

i guess

this.CollisionMapData = (uint[])info.GetValue("CollisionMapData", typeof(uint[]));

in Map class is my problem, maybe...

Map class :

[Serializable()]
    internal class Map : ISerializable
    {
        #region Field

        /// <summary>
        /// tên c?a map
        /// </summary>
        public string Name { get; set; }

        private int width;
        private int height;

        /// <summary>
        /// chi?u dài ( X )
        /// </summary>
        public int Width { get { return width; } set { width = value; centerx = value / 2; } }

        /// <summary>
        /// chi?u r?ng ( Y )
        /// </summary>
        public int Height { get { return height; } set { height = value; centery = value / 2; } }

        private int centerx;
        private int centery;

        public int CenterX { get { return centerx; } }

        public int CenterY { get { return centery; } }

        public List<Rectangle> CollisionMap = new List<Rectangle>();

        public uint[] CollisionMapData = new uint[10];

        /// <summary>
        /// danh sách layer có trong map
        /// </summary>
        public Dictionary<int, Layer> ListLayer { get; set; }

        /// <summary>
        /// danh sách s? ki?n có trong map
        /// </summary>
        ///

        public Dictionary<int, Event> ListEvent { get; set; }

        public GraphicsDevice graphicsdevice;

        #endregion Field

        #region Contrucstor

        /// <summary>
        /// kh?i t?o 1 map m?i.
        /// </summary>
        public Map(GraphicsDevice _obj)
        {
            Name = "new map";
            Width = 800;
            Height = 600;
            ListLayer = new Dictionary<int, Layer>();
            ListEvent = new Dictionary<int, Event>();

            Layer temp = new Layer(this);
            temp.ID = 0;

            ListLayer.Add(0, temp);

            graphicsdevice = _obj;
        }

        #endregion Contrucstor

        /// <summary>
        /// thêm ?nh vào l?p
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="layerid">id c?a l?p</param>
        /// <param name="sourcelink">link tr?c ti?p c?a ?nh</param>
        public void AddImageToLayer(int layerid, string sourcelink, int x, int y)
        {
            Image newimage = new Image();

            newimage.ID = ListLayer[layerid].CheckID(0);
            newimage.SourceLink = sourcelink;
            newimage.Texture = ContentLoader.LoadTextureStream(graphicsdevice, sourcelink);
            newimage.Rectangle = new Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Rectangle(x, y, newimage.Texture.Width, newimage.Texture.Height);

            ListLayer[layerid].ListImage.Add(newimage.ID, newimage);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// di chuy?n ?nh c?a 1 layer
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="layerid">layer id</param>
        /// <param name="imageid">image id</param>
        /// <param name="newx">x m?i</param>
        /// <param name="newy">y m?i</param>
        public void MoveImageInLayer(int layerid, int imageid, int newx, int newy)
        {
            ListLayer[layerid].ListImage[imageid].Rectangle.X = newx;
            ListLayer[layerid].ListImage[imageid].Rectangle.Y = newy;
        }

        public Map(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
        {
            this.Name = (string)info.GetValue("Name", typeof(string));
            this.width = (int)info.GetValue("width", typeof(int));
            this.height = (int)info.GetValue("height", typeof(int));
            this.centerx = (int)info.GetValue("centerx", typeof(int));
            this.centery = (int)info.GetValue("centery", typeof(int));
            this.CollisionMapData = (uint[])info.GetValue("CollisionMapData", typeof(uint[]));
            this.ListLayer = (Dictionary<int, Layer>)info.GetValue("ListLayer", typeof(Dictionary<int, Layer>));
        }

        public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
        {
            info.AddValue("Name", this.Name);
            info.AddValue("width", this.width);
            info.AddValue("height", this.height);
            info.AddValue("centerx", this.centerx);
            info.AddValue("centery", this.centery);
            info.AddValue("CollisionMapData", this.CollisionMapData);
            info.AddValue("ListLayer", this.ListLayer);
        }
    }

Namkazt posted 2 years ago

OMG, i solve this bug, lol, tks, it's my mistake when blindtotype

David posted 2 years ago

You can find some really easy to understand examples of serialization over here:

http://programming.flashadventures.com/c-sharp/writing-objects-to-files-serialization/

Anonymous posted one year ago

thanks

Anonymous posted one year ago

nice...

- Anonymous one year ago
  
  good...
Anonymous posted one year ago

Thank you so much this blog was really helpful

JSpinner posted one year ago

This tutorial is excellent! I am working on a MS Cert and this is so much easier to follow than the MS books. Good job!

Anonymous posted one year ago

Hello... I have a .bin file, that has records of two WORDS in it.

Is there a way to deserialize that to a DataTable *or list that contains the Rows of the DataTable* depending on how many records exist in the file?

What I mean is, The file should have something like 02 00 03 00 04 00 05 00 for two records. Without any tags of XML files or anything. How can I deserialize that?

Im still new to this C# stuff. *all of it*

Thanks in advance

Anonymous posted one year ago

My God, so complicated just to write data to a file. Is this evolution of programming?

johnwcurry posted one year ago

I wonder how compact serialization is, and how fast it is. I'm currently moving mixed data (int, float, string) around on a local area network. The sender creates a byte stream using BitConverter, UDP's across the network, then decode at the receiver.

I could take the data values and incorporate them into a serializable class, then serialize/deserialize. I wonder about size and speed compared to the encoded binary stream...

Encapsulating into an object would certainly reduce the complexity of encode/decode, but what would be the speed/size cost?

Any thoughts?

John

- Anonymous one year ago
  I don't really see the point in using serialization for this purpose. Nevertheless, I made small test class to do a size comparison.
```
public class testBlob
{
    int someInt = 123456789;
    float someFloat = 1.23456789f;
    string someString = "one two three four five six seven eight nine";
}
```
  This class is 331 bytes when serialized into an ASCII format.
  
  A communication string would possibly look something like:
  
  "i=123456789f=1.23456789fs=one two three four five six seven eight nine"
  
  which is roughly 90 bytes in all. This makes the "testBlob" object more than 3.5 times the size.
  
  Without knowing, I'd say parsing the communication string would also take considerably less computing power than deserializing the class.
  
  Serialization has its uses, but this should not be one of them.
  
  Ola
- Anonymous one year ago
  
  And here with the tags:
  
  [language] i=123456789f=1.23456789fs=one two three four five six seven eight nine [/language]
  
  Is the ability to preview your post too much to ask?
DanielMartinus posted one year ago

Thanks for the great tutorial! it took me a while for full understanding, but i fully understand it now with enough testing etc.

It is now in great use in my program. really useful.

OlssN posted one year ago

Thanks for this tutorial, however i get some errors with multiple projects.

I have created a level editor for my game and use serilization to save the different levels, it can write/read fine in the leveledtior, however when i try to load the files in the main game (different project, assembly name etc..) i get an error "Unable to find assembly 'TileLevelEditor, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'."

I assume this is since the serilization writes some assembly information to the file.

So how do i use my files in different projects? Thanks

Sam Mines posted one year ago

OMG! So baffled why cant things be easy

uppu posted one year ago

Thanks for your contribution. Please find the below simple example to understand esialy.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
using System.IO;

namespace BinarySerialTest1 
{
    [Serializable()]
    public class NameClas : ISerializable
    {
        string perName;
        int perAge;

        public string PerName
        {
            set
            {
                this.perName = value;
            }
            get
            {
                return this.perName;
            }
        }

        public int PerAge
        {
            set
            {
                this.perAge = value;
            }
            get
            {
                return this.perAge;
            }
        }
        public NameClas()
        {
        }
        public NameClas(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext cxtx)
        {
            this.perName = (string)info.GetValue("PerName", typeof(string));
            this.perAge = (int)info.GetValue("PerAge", typeof(int));
        }
        public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext cxtx)
        {
            info.AddValue("PerName", this.perName);
            info.AddValue("PerAge", this.perAge);
        }
    }

    [Serializable()]
    public class NameSeriClas : ISerializable
    {
        List<NameClas> nameClasList;

        public List<NameClas> NameClasList
        {
            set
            {
                this.nameClasList = value;

            }
            get
            {
                return this.nameClasList;
            }
        }
        public NameSeriClas()
        {
        }
        public NameSeriClas(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext cxtx)
        {
            this.nameClasList = (List<NameClas>)info.GetValue("NameClasList", typeof(List<NameClas>));
        }
        public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext cxtx)
        {
            info.AddValue("NameClasList", this.nameClasList);
        }
    }

    public class SerialClass
    {
        public SerialClass()
        {
        }
        public void serialize(string filename, NameSeriClas NameSeriClasObj)
        {
            Stream stream1 = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Create);
            BinaryFormatter bfor = new BinaryFormatter();
            bfor.Serialize(stream1, NameSeriClasObj);
            stream1.Close();
        }

        public NameSeriClas deserialize(string filename)
        {
            NameSeriClas NameSeriClasObj;

            Stream stream1 = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open);

            BinaryFormatter bfor = new BinaryFormatter();

            NameSeriClasObj = (NameSeriClas) bfor.Deserialize(stream1);
            stream1.Close();

            return NameSeriClasObj;
        }

    }
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            NameClas nameclasobj1 = new NameClas();
            nameclasobj1.PerAge = 25;
            nameclasobj1.PerName = "uppu";

            NameClas nameclasobj2 = new NameClas();
            nameclasobj2.PerAge = 20;
            nameclasobj2.PerName = "janki";

            List<NameClas> namelists = new List<NameClas>();
            namelists.Add(nameclasobj1);
            namelists.Add(nameclasobj2);

            NameSeriClas NameSeriClasObj = new NameSeriClas();

            NameSeriClasObj.NameClasList = namelists;

            SerialClass serclasobj = new SerialClass();
            serclasobj.serialize("upptest1.txt", NameSeriClasObj);
            NameSeriClas namedeseriClasObj = serclasobj.deserialize("upptest1.txt");

            List<NameClas> namelistsdeseri = namedeseriClasObj.NameClasList;
            int i = 1;
            foreach (NameClas nc in namelistsdeseri)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Person "+i+":" + nc.PerName + "  " + nc.PerAge);
                i++;

            }
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

Naresh one year ago

Thank you uppu. it's very simple and great example. We can run this with out any errors.

Thank you for the same.

Lars posted one year ago

Yes, great tutorial!

I have a librarysystem. I have books which save an objekt of a customer so you know who borrowed the book, as a car nows who its owner is.

The customer has a list of book-objekts so they can save the books they borrow.

Can I use this then and how should I implement it?

Anonymous posted 9 months ago

What if two cars reference to one owner? When the xml is deserialized, will it create two owners?

- Brandon Cannaday 9 months ago
  
  This tutorial uses the binary serializer, which will correctly maintain the references when deserialized. The XML serializer, on the other hand, will create two copies of the Owner object when serialized.
net grid posted 8 months ago

Thank you. This post answered all of the questions I had about updating a dataset. Very useful. http://www.dapfor.com/en/net-suite/net-grid/tutorial/headers-and-columns

Muhammad Umar Shareef posted 6 months ago

This is a very nice tutorial. Please tell me if I can store more than one object and get them one by one using this code. Thanks

- Brandon Cannaday 6 months ago
  
  I do not believe you have random access to the data being stored. If that's your need, I would highly recommend considering a database.
Anonymous posted 5 months ago

For the examples in boxes 5 and 6, where would that code need to be located? Inside it's own .cs file? Or located inside one of the others you created?

C# Tutorial - Serialize Objects to a File

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