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Custom Object Serialization in .Net



Namespace: System.Runtime.Serialization

In a very complex object creation scenario we may want to implement serialization our self. To do custom serialization one must apply the serialization attributes to the class in the same way and also class must implement ISerializable interface.

Constructor to be implemented should look like:
Protected <ClassName>(SerializationInfo si, StreamingContext sc)
{
                productid = info.GetInt32(“Product ID”);
                productprice = info.GetInt32(“Price”);
productQuantity = info.GetInt32(“Quantity”);
total = productprice * productQuantity;
}

For Deserialization implement the method:

[SecurityPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.Demand, SerializationFormatter = true)]
public virtual void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamContext context)
{
info.AddValue(“Product ID”,productid);
                info.AddValue(“Price”,productprice);
info.AddValue(“Quantity”,productQuantity);
}

Responding to Serialization Events:
Serializing: Apply [OnSerializing] Attribute
Serialized: Apply [OnSerialized] Attribute

Deserializing: Apply [OnDeserialized] Attribute
Deserialized: Apply [OnDeserializing] Attribute

NOTE: This method is been called after IDeserializationCallback.OnDeserialization. Don’t use [OnDeserializing] attribute if Formatter other than BinarFormatter is used, in this case use OnDeserialization callback method.

Rules for Event handling:
• Method must accept StreamingContext object
• Returns void
• Proper attribute is being applied

How to change serialization based on context:
Specific Context information may be required to in order to deserialize an object. One can make those decisions himself in the GetObject method in which StreamingContext is provided. One can throw exception if the context information is not relevant.

To manipulate the Context information use the State bit and Set the status as required. These statuses are:

CrossProcessor, CrossMachine, File, Persistance, Remoting, Other, Close, CrossAppDomain, All.
One can use Context property of Formatters to alter context information before manipulation.

How to Create Custom Formatters:
                IFormatter, IGenericFormatter interface can be implemented. One can take advantage form static methods of FormatterServices class.

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