I am trying to figure out why I am getting an invalid cast exception with nHibernate with the following code:
AutoMap.Source(new TypeSource(recordDescriptors))
.Conventions.Add(new EncryptedStringConvention());
.
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
public class EncryptedDbString : Attribute { }
.
public class EncryptedStringConvention : IPropertyConvention {
public void Apply(IPropertyInstance instance) {
if (!instance.Property.MemberInfo.IsDefined(typeof(EncryptedDbString), false))
return;
var propertyType = instance.Property.PropertyType;
var generic = typeof(EncryptedStringType<>);
var specific = generic.MakeGenericType(propertyType);
instance.CustomType(specific);
}
}
.
[Serializable]
public class EncryptedStringType<T> : PrimitiveType
{
const int MaxStringLen = 1000000000;
public EncryptedStringType() : this(new StringSqlType(MaxStringLen)) { }
public EncryptedStringType(SqlType sqlType) : base(sqlType) { }
public override string Name {
get { return typeof(T).Name; }
}
public override Type ReturnedClass {
get { return typeof(T); }
}
public override Type PrimitiveClass {
get { return typeof(T); }
}
public override object DefaultValue {
get { return default(T); }
}
public override object Get(IDataReader rs, string name) {
return Get(rs, rs.GetOrdinal(name));
}
public override void Set(IDbCommand cmd, object value, int index) {
if (cmd == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("cmd");
if (value == null) {
((IDataParameter)cmd.Parameters[index]).Value = null;
}
else {
((IDataParameter)cmd.Parameters[index]).Value = Encryptor.EncryptString((string)value);
}
}
public override object Get(IDataReader rs, int index) {
if (rs == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("rs");
var encrypted = rs[index] as string;
if (encrypted == null) return null;
return Encryptor.DecryptString(encrypted);
}
public override object FromStringValue(string xml) {
// i don't think this method actually gets called for string (i.e. non-binary) storage
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
public override string ObjectToSQLString(object value, Dialect dialect) {
// i don't think this method actually gets called for string (i.e. non-binary) storage
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
POCO that works:
public class someclass {
public virtual string id {get;set;}
[EncryptedDbString]
public virtual string abc {get;set;}
}
POCO that fails:
public class otherclass {
public virtual string id {get;set;}
[EncryptedDbString]
public virtual Guid def {get;set;}
}
This is all automapped with Fluent.
Both the Guid type and string type are nvarchar(500) in the SQL database.
As mentioned, the first POCO works fine and encrypts/decrypts as expected, but the second POCO fails, and this is what I see in my logs:
NHibernate.Tuple.Entity.PocoEntityTuplizer.SetPropertyValuesWithOptimizer(Object entity, Object[] values)
{"Invalid Cast (check your mapping for property type mismatches); setter of otherclass"}
Note that the second POCO object works fine with nHib if I remove the EncryptedDbString attibute, i.e. it has no problems saving the Guid to a nvarchar.
Obviously the issue here is that it's a Guid as the string case works, but I do want it kept as a Guid not a string in the code, and I can't see the point of failure here.
Seems like I'm missing something small. I guess I'm missing something with the generics, but I've only found code snippets out there rather than a full example like this.
EDIT:
ok, so i figured out it i think it was because the
Get(IDataReader rs, int index)
was not returning a Guid object.
so I guess you can serialize/deserialize in the EncryptedStringType Get/Set methods, e.g. in the Get() you could change to:
if (typeof(T) == typeof(string))
return decrypted;
var obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(decrypted);
return obj;
but that seems horrible, especially if you have existing data to migrate.
i don't want to store stuff as binary either, as the team want to be able to check/test/audit manually via SQL which columns are encrypted (which is obvious with text, but not binary).
a string backing field in my POCO that converts the Guid to a string and back again via simple get/set methods might be the best option, but I have no idea how to do that with automapping across the solution or how messy it is?
Having slept, I think i've been thinking about this the wrong way.
I've now realised that my reticence to store json in the database was driven by the fact that I am storing string-biased objects - i.e. things that naturally convert to text fields, as opposed to full objects. myGuid.ToString() gives you a guid string, myDateTime.ToString() gives you a datetime string etc.
So given that object serialisation per se isn't needed in my case, but rather just conversion to a string, Andrew's suggestion seems like a good solution.
Updated code:
public override void Set(IDbCommand cmd, object value, int index) {
var prm = ((IDataParameter) cmd.Parameters[index]);
if (cmd == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("cmd");
if (value == null) {
prm.Value = null;
return;
}
string str;
try {
// guid becomes a simple guid string, datetime becomes a simple
// datetime string etc. (ymmv per type)
// note that it will use the currentculture by
// default - which is what we want for a datetime anyway
str = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T)).ConvertToString(value);
}
catch (NotSupportedException) {
throw new NotSupportedException("Unconvertible type " + typeof(T) + " with EncryptedDbString attribute");
}
prm.Value = Encryptor.EncryptString(str);
}
public override object Get(IDataReader rs, int index) {
if (rs == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("rs");
var encrypted = rs[index] as string;
if (encrypted == null) return null;
var decrypted = Encryptor.DecryptString(encrypted);
object obj;
try {
obj = (T)TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T)).ConvertFromString(decrypted);
}
catch (NotSupportedException) {
throw new NotSupportedException("Unconvertible type " + typeof(T) + " with EncryptedDbString attribute");
}
catch (FormatException) {
// consideration - this will log the unencrypted text
throw new FormatException(string.Format("Cannot convert string {0} to type {1}", decrypted, typeof(T)));
}
return obj;
}
An improvement would be for the EncryptedStringConvention to have the Accept() method added to pre-check that all the types marked with the EncryptedDbString attribute were convertible. Possibly we could use Convert() and type is IConvertible instead, but I'll leave it as, enough time spent!
Related
In short I wanted to create a custom IUserType to represent IPAddress from .NET (as an inet type in postgresql) and to be able to query it with custom functions via HQL and Linq. I have trouble with implementing a custom function for Linq.
What I have thus far:
A) I am able to map it:
public class SomeEntityMapper : ClassMap<SomeEntity> {
public SomeEntityMapper() {
...
Map(x => x.IpAddressField)
.CustomSqlType("inet")
.CustomType<IPAddressUserType>()
...
}
}
IUserType implementation below:
[Serializable]
public class IPAddressUserType : IUserType
{
public new bool Equals(object x, object y)
{
if (x == null && y == null)
return true;
if (x == null || y == null)
return false;
return x.Equals(y);
}
public int GetHashCode(object x)
{
if (x == null)
return 0;
return x.GetHashCode();
}
public object NullSafeGet(DbDataReader rs, string[] names, ISessionImplementor session, object owner)
{
if (names.Length == 0)
throw new InvalidOperationException("Expected at least 1 column");
if (rs.IsDBNull(rs.GetOrdinal(names[0])))
return null;
object value = rs[names[0]];
return value;
}
public void NullSafeSet(DbCommand cmd, object value, int index, ISessionImplementor session)
{
NpgsqlParameter parameter = (NpgsqlParameter) cmd.Parameters[index];
parameter.NpgsqlDbType = NpgsqlTypes.NpgsqlDbType.Inet;
if (value == null)
{
parameter.Value = DBNull.Value;
}
else
{
parameter.Value = value;
}
}
public object DeepCopy(object value)
{
if (value == null)
return null;
IPAddress copy = IPAddress.Parse(value.ToString());
return copy;
}
public object Replace(object original, object target, object owner)
{
return original;
}
public object Assemble(object cached, object owner)
{
if (cached == null)
return null;
if (IPAddress.TryParse((string)cached, out var address))
{
return address;
}
return null;
}
public object Disassemble(object value)
{
if (value == null)
return null;
return value.ToString();
}
public SqlType[] SqlTypes => new SqlType[] { new NpgsqlSqlType(DbType.String, NpgsqlTypes.NpgsqlDbType.Inet), };
public Type ReturnedType => typeof(IPAddress);
public bool IsMutable => false;
}
public class NpgsqlSqlType : SqlType
{
public NpgsqlDbType NpgDbType { get; }
public NpgsqlSqlType(DbType dbType, NpgsqlDbType npgDbType)
: base(dbType)
{
NpgDbType = npgDbType;
}
public NpgsqlSqlType(DbType dbType, NpgsqlDbType npgDbType, int length)
: base(dbType, length)
{
NpgDbType = npgDbType;
}
public NpgsqlSqlType(DbType dbType, NpgsqlDbType npgDbType, byte precision, byte scale)
: base(dbType, precision, scale)
{
NpgDbType = npgDbType;
}
}
}
B) I am able to query it using HQL and a custom function (inet_equals) I implemented.
using(var session = _factory.OpenSession()) {
var q = session.CreateQuery("from SomeEntity as s WHERE inet_equals(s.IpAddressField, :ip)");
q.SetParameter("ip", IPAddress.Parse("4.3.2.1"), NHibernateUtil.Custom(typeof(IPAddressUserType)));
}
Custom Postgresql Dialect extending the HQL functions implementation below:
public class CustomPostgresqlDialect : PostgreSQL83Dialect
{
public CustomPostgresqlDialect()
{
RegisterFunction("inet_equals", new SQLFunctionTemplate(NHibernateUtil.Boolean, "(?1::inet = ?2::inet)"));
}
}
C) I want to be able to query it using LINQ like so:
using(var session = _factory.OpenSession()) {
var q = session.Query<SomeEntity>()
.Where(s => s.IpAddressField.InetEquals(IPAddress.Parse("4.3.2.1")));
}
Custom LINQ Generator for NHibernate provider below:
public static class InetExtensions
{
public static bool InetEquals(this IPAddress value, IPAddress other)
{
throw new NotSupportedException();
}
}
public class InetGenerator : BaseHqlGeneratorForMethod
{
public InetGenerator()
{
SupportedMethods = new[]
{
ReflectHelper.GetMethodDefinition(() => InetExtensions.InetEquals(default(IPAddress), default(IPAddress)))
};
}
public override HqlTreeNode BuildHql(MethodInfo method, System.Linq.Expressions.Expression targetObject, ReadOnlyCollection<System.Linq.Expressions.Expression> arguments,
HqlTreeBuilder treeBuilder, IHqlExpressionVisitor visitor)
{
HqlExpression lhs = visitor.Visit(arguments[0]).AsExpression();
HqlExpression rhs = visitor.Visit(arguments[1]).AsExpression();
return treeBuilder.BooleanMethodCall(
"inet_equals",
new[]
{
lhs,
rhs
}
);
}
}
public class ExtendedLinqToHqlGeneratorsRegistry :
DefaultLinqToHqlGeneratorsRegistry
{
public ExtendedLinqToHqlGeneratorsRegistry()
: base()
{
this.Merge(new InetGenerator());
}
}
Unfortunately when using LINQ I get this exception:
HibernateException: Could not determine a type for class: System.Net.IPAddress
Interestingly, this is the exact same error I get if I omit the NHibernateUtil.Custom(typeof(IPAddressUserType)) parameter inside the HQL query.
Which leads me to believe I am on the right track, but I can't figure out what I may be missing exactly. I assume I need to inform NHibernate inside the Generator that this is a custom UserType (just like I did with the HQL query via the NHibernateUtil.Custom(typeof(IPAddressUserType)) parameter.
I found the solution.
To hint NHibernate to use the proper UserType use: MappedAs extension method, like so:
using(var session = _factory.OpenSession()) {
var q = session.Query<SomeEntity>()
.Where(s => s.IpAddressField.InetEquals(
IPAddress.Parse("4.3.2.1").MappedAs(NHibernateUtil.Custom(typeof(IPAddressUserType))
);
}
The year is 2019 and I'm still stuck on version 3.3.2.GA of NHibernate and the MappedAs extension method exists only on version 4.x onwards.
My scenario was the need to pass a large string as a parameter to a supported method in an HqlGeneratorForMethod.
I created the following class to store any large string to use as a parameter of any method throughout the application:
public class StringClob
{
public StringClob()
{
}
public StringClob(string value)
{
Value = value;
}
public virtual string Value { get; protected set; }
}
In order to link the NHibernateUtil.StringClob type with the string value I had the idea to create a mapping for my class without informing table mapping just the property (I use FluentNHibernate to map class):
public class StringClobMap : ClassMap<StringClob>
{
public StringClobMap()
{
Id(x => x.Value, "VALUE").CustomType("StringClob").CustomSqlType("VARCHAR(MAX)").Length(int.MaxValue / 2);
}
}
And now hypothetically following the example of #krdx the usage would look like this:
using(var session = _factory.OpenSession())
{
var q = session.Query<SomeEntity>()
.Where(s => s.IpAddressField.InetEquals(new StringClob("<large_string_here>")));
// ...
}
Therefore by passing the StringClob class as a parameter, NHibernate gets the custom type defined in the mapping.
I hope I helped those who still use NHibernate 3.3.2.GA.
I'm on learning for C#.
I heared C# is one of the most constructible language. so would you guys make my code more elegant and efficient?
public class ISO639
{
public enum ISO639Code
{
Afrikaans, //af
Albanian, //sq
Amharic, //am
...
Yiddish, //yi
Unknown
}
public static string GetISO639CodeString(ISO639.ISO639Code l)
{
switch (l)
{
case ISO639Code.English: return "en";
case ISO639Code.Japanese: return "ja";
...
case ISO639Code.Hebrew: return "he";
default: return "";
}
public static ISO639.ISO639Code GetISO39CodeValue(string s)
{
switch (s)
{
case "ko" : return ISO639Code.Korean;
case "en" : return ISO639Code.English;
...
case "hu" : return ISO639Code.Hungarian;
default: return ISO639Code.Unknown;
}
}
}
Here is a my class ISO639. This class provides enum for ISO639 code, but I need a type conversion on from ISO639 enum to plain string. (ex. ISO639.ISO639Code.Italian => "it"). I also need a type conversion from plain string to ISO639 enum. (ex. "it" => ISO639.ISO639Code.Italian).
Is there a more efficient coding style for that?
You can add standard System.ComponentModel.Description attribute to each enum entry and then read it.
public enum ISO639Code
{
[Description("af")]
Afrikaans
}
public static class EnumExtensions
{
// Extension method to read Description value
public static string GetDescription(this Enum currentEnum)
{
var fi = currentEnum.GetType().GetField(currentEnum.ToString());
var da = (DescriptionAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(fi, typeof(DescriptionAttribute));
return da != null ? da.Description : currentEnum.ToString();
}
}
// **How-to read it**
ISO639Code isoCode = ISO639Code.Afrikaans;
// this will returns "af"
string isoDescription = isoCode.GetDescription();
EDIT:
string searchFor = "af";
ISO639Code foundEntry;
// Loop through all entries descriptions
var allEntries = Enum.GetValues(typeof(ISO639Code));
foreach (var entry in allEntries)
{
// If you will extract this as separate method and use it for search not only loop
// through the all entries - you can put here is yield return description
var currentEntry = ((ISO639Code)entry);
string description = currentEntry.GetDescription();
if (description == searchFor)
{
foundEntry = currentEntry;
break;
}
}
Sure. You can use attributes:
public enum ISO639Code
{
[CodeString("af")] Afrikaans,
[CodeString("sq")] Albanian,
}
Use dictionary, for example: new Dictionary<ISO639Code, string>.
I suggest you to use C# extension methods to enums, they allow you to add whatever logic you want.
For example, see http://pietschsoft.com/post/2008/07/c-enhance-enums-using-extension-methods.aspx
I'd simply store the information in a dictionary-like object. This way you can reference the name by key and get the value directly.
You have an enum:
public enum ISO639Code
{
Afrikaans = 1,
Albanian = 2,
Amharic = 3,
etc.
Create a database table:
ISO639Id int PK,
ISO639Code char(2)
Where the ISO639Id maps to the value of the enum.
In code you'd want a ISO630 Class containing Id and Code values read from the database.
(You can load this once and then cache it in memory.)
The beauty of this approach, is it can be easily extended so that if in future you wanted to store more pieces of information for each ISO639 code, you could simply add another field.
Look at System.Globailzation namespace. The functionality you require looks to be already implemented there. At worst you can see the architecture and technique applied in the .Net framework to solve a very similar problem.
Enumerations are really good to work in code, as they are really strongly typed and make refactoring easier.
Follow these steps:
Use attributes for whatever extra information you want to attach to an enum. Usually this is a simple Description attribute. Something like:
public enum IsoCodes
{
[Description("af")]
Africans = 0,
[Description("am")]
Americans = 1
}
Then write some extension methods to convert strings and integers to and from this enum:
public static string GetDescription(this Enum value)
{
var entries = value.ToString().Split(FlagEnumSeparatorCharacter);
var description = new string[entries.Length];
for (var i = 0; i < entries.Length; i++)
{
var fieldInfo = value.GetType().GetField(entries[i].Trim());
var attributes = fieldInfo.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false) as DescriptionAttribute[];
description[i] = (attributes.Length > 0) ? attributes[0].Description : entries[i].Trim();
}
return String.Join(", ", description);
}
public static int GetValue(this Enum value)
{
return (int)value.GetType().GetField(value.ToString()).GetRawConstantValue();
}
public static T ToEnum<T>(this string value)
{
if (typeof(T).BaseType.Name != typeof(Enum).Name)
{
throw new Exception("Not an enum");
}
return (T)Enum.Parse(typeof(T), value, true);
}
public static T ToEnum<T>(this int value)
{
if (typeof(T).BaseType.Name != typeof(Enum).Name)
{
throw new Exception("Not an enum");
}
return (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), value);
}
Now use your enums as you like.
I would go with having ISO639Code as class instead of enum:
public class ISO639Code
{
public string Value { get; set ; }
public string Code { get; set; }
public ISO639Code()
{
this.Value = "";
this.Code = "";
}
public ISO639Code(string value, string code)
: this()
{
this.Value = value;
this.Code = code;
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
if (obj != null)
{
if (obj is string)
return obj.ToString().Equals(this.Value, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase);
if (obj is ISO639Code)
return ((ISO639Code)obj).Value.Equals(this.Value, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase);
}
return false;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return this.Value.GetHashCode();
}
public override string ToString()
{
return this.Value;
}
}
Then have global List<ISO639Code> with all possible codes, and to find specific code based on code name or value, just search for this in the List.
Personally, I prefer this over tweaking the enum.
I am starting to work with Nhibernate and Oracle for a project.
The database is Oracle 9.2 and I can't change the schema or anything.
I am using NH3.0 and the Oracle.DataAccess.dll ver 2.111.7.20.
So far I've mapped a couple of table and have done some queries. Everything works pretty well.
I've bumped into a problem now and I don't know how to fix it.
The company who's designed the database thought it was a good idea to create all the alphanumeric fields as CHAR instead of VARCHAR or VARCHAR2.
I've mapped all these columns as String and my classes have String fields defined.
Later on I was trying to load an entity by its primary key, defined as CHAR(10) in Oracle.
The key I was trying to load is only 7 characters long
EG: 'CI00252'
Apparently my entity can't be loaded.
Profiling the query with NHProf I can see that my query is fine and if I try to execute it in Oracle Sql-Developer I get the resultset.
I can only manage to make it work if I pad my string like this 'CI00252 '.
Considering that most of the fields defined on the database are CHAR, it is impossible for me to pad everything before executing the query.
What can I do to fix this problem?
PS: I've seen some other people with the same problem here but I couldn't find any appropriate answer.
UPDATE:
I was reading a blog and this guy had a similar problem with another data-type.I've tried to adpapt the code
public SqlType[] SqlTypes
{
get
{
SqlType[] types = new SqlType[1];
types[0] = new SqlType(DbType.StringFixedLength);
return types;
}
}
**
and, apparently, everything is working but ... I don't know why.
using System;
using System.Data;
using NHibernate;
using NHibernate.SqlTypes;
using NHibernate.UserTypes;
namespace ConsoleOracleNhibernate.OracleTypes
{
public class CharUserType : IUserType
{
public object NullSafeGet(IDataReader rs, string[] names, object owner)
{
string resultString = (string)NHibernateUtil.String.NullSafeGet(rs, names[0]);
if (resultString != null)
return resultString.Trim();
return null;
}
public void NullSafeSet(IDbCommand cmd, object value, int index)
{
if (value == null)
{
NHibernateUtil.String.NullSafeSet(cmd, null, index);
return;
}
value = ((String)value).Trim();
NHibernateUtil.String.NullSafeSet(cmd, value, index);
}
public object DeepCopy(object value)
{
if (value == null) return null;
return string.Copy((String)value);
}
public object Replace(object original, object target, object owner)
{
return original;
}
public object Assemble(object cached, object owner)
{
return DeepCopy(cached);
}
public object Disassemble(object value)
{
return DeepCopy(value);
}
public SqlType[] SqlTypes
{
get
{
SqlType[] types = new SqlType[1];
types[0] = new SqlType(DbType.StringFixedLength);
return types;
}
}
public Type ReturnedType
{
get { return typeof(String); }
}
public bool IsMutable
{
get { return false; }
}
public new bool Equals(object x, object y)
{
if (x == null || y == null) return false;
return x.Equals(y);
}
public int GetHashCode(object x)
{
return x.GetHashCode();
}
}
}
and my mapping:
<key-property name="CustomerCode" column="ANCOCO" type="ConsoleOracleNhibernate.OracleTypes.CharUserType, ConsoleOracleNhibernate" length="10"></key-property>
Is there anyone here who can try to help me to understand what's happening?
My answer is in the update of the question.
for auditory reasons I stores the arguments of the business methods serialized into the database using the binaryformatter.
The problem is that when an argument is a generic list I don't find the way to cast the deserialized object because I don't know the type, or If I will know the type I don't know how to cast the object at runtime.
Anybody knows how to cast an object containing a generic list dinamically at runtime?
I need to do this because I need to show the deserialized data in a property grid:
object objArg = bformatter.Deserialize(memStr);
//If the type is a clr type (int, string, etc)
if (objArg.GetType().Module.Name == "mscorlib.dll")
{
//If the type is a generic type (List<>, etc)
//(I'm only use List for these cases)
if (objArg.GetType().IsGenericType)
{
// here is the problem
pgArgsIn.SelectedObject = new { Value = objArg};
//In the previous line I need to do something like...
//new { Value = (List<objArg.GetYpe()>) objArg};
}
else
{
pgArgsIn.SelectedObject = new { Value = objArg.ToString() };
}
}
else
{
//An entity object
pgArgsIn.SelectedObject = objArg;
}
With BinaryFormatter you don't need to know the type; the metadata is included in the stream (making it bigger, but hey!). However, you can't cast unless you know the type. Often in this scenario you have to use common known interfaces (non-generic IList etc) and reflection. And lots of it.
I also can't think of a huge requirement to know the type to show in a PropertyGrid - since this accepts object, just give it what BinaryFormatter provides. Is there a specific issue you are seeing there? Again, you might want to check for IList (non-generic) - but it isn't worth worrying about IList<T>, since this isn't what PropertyGrid checks for!
You can of course find the T if you want (like so) - and use MakeGenericType() and Activator.CreateInstance - not pretty.
OK; here's a way using custom descriptors that doesn't involve knowing anything about the object or the list type; if you really want it is possible to expand the list items directly into the properties, so in this example you'd see 2 fake properties ("Fred" and "Wilma") - that is extra work, though ;-p
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
class Person
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public DateTime DateOfBirth { get; set; }
public override string ToString() {
return Name;
}
}
static class Program
{
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Person fred = new Person();
fred.Name = "Fred";
fred.DateOfBirth = DateTime.Today.AddYears(-23);
Person wilma = new Person();
wilma.Name = "Wilma";
wilma.DateOfBirth = DateTime.Today.AddYears(-20);
ShowUnknownObject(fred, "Single object");
List<Person> list = new List<Person>();
list.Add(fred);
list.Add(wilma);
ShowUnknownObject(list, "List");
}
static void ShowUnknownObject(object obj, string caption)
{
using(Form form = new Form())
using (PropertyGrid grid = new PropertyGrid())
{
form.Text = caption;
grid.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
form.Controls.Add(grid);
grid.SelectedObject = ListWrapper.Wrap(obj);
Application.Run(form);
}
}
}
[TypeConverter(typeof(ListWrapperConverter))]
public class ListWrapper
{
public static object Wrap(object obj)
{
IListSource ls = obj as IListSource;
if (ls != null) obj = ls.GetList(); // list expansions
IList list = obj as IList;
return list == null ? obj : new ListWrapper(list);
}
private readonly IList list;
private ListWrapper(IList list)
{
if (list == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("list");
this.list = list;
}
internal class ListWrapperConverter : TypeConverter
{
public override bool GetPropertiesSupported(ITypeDescriptorContext context)
{
return true;
}
public override PropertyDescriptorCollection GetProperties(
ITypeDescriptorContext context, object value, Attribute[] attributes) {
return new PropertyDescriptorCollection(
new PropertyDescriptor[] { new ListWrapperDescriptor(value as ListWrapper) });
}
}
internal class ListWrapperDescriptor : PropertyDescriptor {
private readonly ListWrapper wrapper;
internal ListWrapperDescriptor(ListWrapper wrapper) : base("Wrapper", null)
{
if (wrapper == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("wrapper");
this.wrapper = wrapper;
}
public override bool ShouldSerializeValue(object component) { return false; }
public override void ResetValue(object component) {
throw new NotSupportedException();
}
public override bool CanResetValue(object component) { return false; }
public override bool IsReadOnly {get {return true;}}
public override void SetValue(object component, object value) {
throw new NotSupportedException();
}
public override object GetValue(object component) {
return ((ListWrapper)component).list;
}
public override Type ComponentType {
get { return typeof(ListWrapper); }
}
public override Type PropertyType {
get { return wrapper.list.GetType(); }
}
public override string DisplayName {
get {
IList list = wrapper.list;
if (list.Count == 0) return "Empty list";
return "List of " + list.Count
+ " " + list[0].GetType().Name;
}
}
}
}
If the serializer you are using does not retain the type - at the least, you must store the type of T along with the data, and use that to create the generic list reflectively:
//during storage:
Type elementType = myList.GetType().GetGenericTypeDefinition().GetGenericArguments[0];
string typeNameToSave = elementType.FullName;
//during retrieval
string typeNameFromDatabase = GetTypeNameFromDB();
Type elementType = Type.GetType(typeNameFromDatabase);
Type listType = typeof(List<>).MakeGenericType(new Type[] { elementType });
Now you have listType, which is the exact List<T> you used (say, List<Foo>). You can pass that type into your deserialization routine.
I'm trying to serialize a Type object in the following way:
Type myType = typeof (StringBuilder);
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Type));
TextWriter writer = new StringWriter();
serializer.Serialize(writer, myType);
When I do this, the call to Serialize throws the following exception:
"The type System.Text.StringBuilder was not expected. Use the
XmlInclude or SoapInclude attribute to specify types that are not
known statically."
Is there a way for me to serialize the Type object? Note that I am not trying to serialize the StringBuilder itself, but the Type object containing the metadata about the StringBuilder class.
I wasn't aware that a Type object could be created with only a string containing the fully-qualified name. To get the fully qualified name, you can use the following:
string typeName = typeof (StringBuilder).FullName;
You can then persist this string however needed, then reconstruct the type like this:
Type t = Type.GetType(typeName);
If you need to create an instance of the type, you can do this:
object o = Activator.CreateInstance(t);
If you check the value of o.GetType(), it will be StringBuilder, just as you would expect.
I had the same problem, and my solution was to create a SerializableType class. It freely converts to and from System.Type, but it serializes as a string. All you have to do is declare the variable as a SerializableType, and from then on you can refer to it as System.Type.
Here is the class:
// a version of System.Type that can be serialized
[DataContract]
public class SerializableType
{
public Type type;
// when serializing, store as a string
[DataMember]
string TypeString
{
get
{
if (type == null)
return null;
return type.FullName;
}
set
{
if (value == null)
type = null;
else
{
type = Type.GetType(value);
}
}
}
// constructors
public SerializableType()
{
type = null;
}
public SerializableType(Type t)
{
type = t;
}
// allow SerializableType to implicitly be converted to and from System.Type
static public implicit operator Type(SerializableType stype)
{
return stype.type;
}
static public implicit operator SerializableType(Type t)
{
return new SerializableType(t);
}
// overload the == and != operators
public static bool operator ==(SerializableType a, SerializableType b)
{
// If both are null, or both are same instance, return true.
if (System.Object.ReferenceEquals(a, b))
{
return true;
}
// If one is null, but not both, return false.
if (((object)a == null) || ((object)b == null))
{
return false;
}
// Return true if the fields match:
return a.type == b.type;
}
public static bool operator !=(SerializableType a, SerializableType b)
{
return !(a == b);
}
// we don't need to overload operators between SerializableType and System.Type because we already enabled them to implicitly convert
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return type.GetHashCode();
}
// overload the .Equals method
public override bool Equals(System.Object obj)
{
// If parameter is null return false.
if (obj == null)
{
return false;
}
// If parameter cannot be cast to SerializableType return false.
SerializableType p = obj as SerializableType;
if ((System.Object)p == null)
{
return false;
}
// Return true if the fields match:
return (type == p.type);
}
public bool Equals(SerializableType p)
{
// If parameter is null return false:
if ((object)p == null)
{
return false;
}
// Return true if the fields match:
return (type == p.type);
}
}
and an example of usage:
[DataContract]
public class A
{
...
[DataMember]
private Dictionary<SerializableType, B> _bees;
...
public B GetB(Type type)
{
return _bees[type];
}
...
}
You might also consider using AssemblyQualifiedName instead of Type.FullName - see comment by #GreyCloud
Brian's answer works well if the type is in the same assembly as the call (like GreyCloud pointed out in one of the comments).
So if the type is in another assembly you need to use the AssemblyQualifiedName as GreyCloud also pointed out.
However as the AssemblyQualifiedName saves the version, if your assemblies have a different version than the one in the string where you have the type, it won't work.
In my case this was an issue and I solved it like this:
string typeName = typeof (MyClass).FullName;
Type type = GetTypeFrom(typeName);
object myInstance = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
GetTypeFrom Method
private Type GetTypeFrom(string valueType)
{
var type = Type.GetType(valueType);
if (type != null)
return type;
try
{
var assemblies = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies();
//To speed things up, we check first in the already loaded assemblies.
foreach (var assembly in assemblies)
{
type = assembly.GetType(valueType);
if (type != null)
break;
}
if (type != null)
return type;
var loadedAssemblies = assemblies.ToList();
foreach (var loadedAssembly in assemblies)
{
foreach (AssemblyName referencedAssemblyName in loadedAssembly.GetReferencedAssemblies())
{
var found = loadedAssemblies.All(x => x.GetName() != referencedAssemblyName);
if (!found)
{
try
{
var referencedAssembly = Assembly.Load(referencedAssemblyName);
type = referencedAssembly.GetType(valueType);
if (type != null)
break;
loadedAssemblies.Add(referencedAssembly);
}
catch
{
//We will ignore this, because the Type might still be in one of the other Assemblies.
}
}
}
}
}
catch(Exception exception)
{
//throw my custom exception
}
if (type == null)
{
//throw my custom exception.
}
return type;
}
I am posting this in case anyone needs it.
According to the MSDN documentation of System.Type [1] you should be able to serialize the System.Type object. However, as the error is explicitly referring to System.Text.StringBuilder, that is likely the class that is causing the serialization error.
[1] Type Class (System) - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.type.aspx
I came across this issue trying to do binary serialization in .net standard 2.0. I ended up solving the problem using a custom SurrogateSelector and SerializationBinder.
The TypeSerializationBinder was required because the framework was having trouble resolving System.RuntimeType before it got SurrogateSelector. I don't really understand why the type must be resolved before this step though...
Here is the code:
// Serializes and deserializes System.Type
public class TypeSerializationSurrogate : ISerializationSurrogate {
public void GetObjectData(object obj, SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context) {
info.AddValue(nameof(Type.FullName), (obj as Type).FullName);
}
public object SetObjectData(object obj, SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context, ISurrogateSelector selector) {
return Type.GetType(info.GetString(nameof(Type.FullName)));
}
}
// Just a stub, doesn't need an implementation
public class TypeStub : Type { ... }
// Binds "System.RuntimeType" to our TypeStub
public class TypeSerializationBinder : SerializationBinder {
public override Type BindToType(string assemblyName, string typeName) {
if(typeName == "System.RuntimeType") {
return typeof(TypeStub);
}
return Type.GetType($"{typeName}, {assemblyName}");
}
}
// Selected out TypeSerializationSurrogate when [de]serializing Type
public class TypeSurrogateSelector : ISurrogateSelector {
public virtual void ChainSelector(ISurrogateSelector selector) => throw new NotSupportedException();
public virtual ISurrogateSelector GetNextSelector() => throw new NotSupportedException();
public virtual ISerializationSurrogate GetSurrogate(Type type, StreamingContext context, out ISurrogateSelector selector) {
if(typeof(Type).IsAssignableFrom(type)) {
selector = this;
return new TypeSerializationSurrogate();
}
selector = null;
return null;
}
}
Usage Example:
byte[] bytes
var serializeFormatter = new BinaryFormatter() {
SurrogateSelector = new TypeSurrogateSelector()
}
using (var stream = new MemoryStream()) {
serializeFormatter.Serialize(stream, typeof(string));
bytes = stream.ToArray();
}
var deserializeFormatter = new BinaryFormatter() {
SurrogateSelector = new TypeSurrogateSelector(),
Binder = new TypeDeserializationBinder()
}
using (var stream = new MemoryStream(bytes)) {
type = (Type)deserializeFormatter .Deserialize(stream);
Assert.Equal(typeof(string), type);
}
Just looked at its definition, it is not marked as Serializable. If you really need this data to be serialize, then you may have to convert it to a custom class that is marked as such.
public abstract class Type : System.Reflection.MemberInfo
Member of System
Summary:
Represents type declarations: class types, interface types, array types, value types, enumeration types, type parameters, generic type definitions, and open or closed constructed generic types.
Attributes:
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ClassInterfaceAttribute(0),
System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComDefaultInterfaceAttribute(System.Runtime.InteropServices._Type),
System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisibleAttribute(true)]