Develop Reference

Serialize object into string

I am trying to serialize a class to be sent to a server where the server will use that object. I am using Microsoft's example of an asynchronous client/server setup for this: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bew39x2a.aspx I am using the binary formatter.
To test this, I am using this class:
[Serializable]
class Class1
{
public int x = 10;
public string banana = "banana";
}
and attempting to serialize it with:
Class1 example = new Class1();
IFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
Stream stream = new MemoryStream();
formatter.Serialize(stream, example);
in order to send it to the server, I need to send a string:
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader( stream );
string text = reader.ReadToEnd();
server.Send(text);
stream.Close();
but this doesn't work. I have tried converting the stream to a byte[] as seen here but I keep getting a Stream was unreadable exception when testing this in the debugger.

Try
Class1 example = new Class1();
IFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
{
formatter.Serialize(ms, example);
ms.Position = 0;
StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(ms);
String text = sr.ReadToEnd();
server.Send(text);
}
I think that the part that got missed is resetting the position of MemoryStream to be able to read (think of it as rewinding for playback after recording)

Save datacontract serialized object as string to save in sql db

I have a custom type UserSettingConfig I want to save in my database, I want to save it as pure XML as the type might be changed later and migrating pure xml is easier than a binary objet.
public class Serialize
{
private readonly DataContractSerializer _serializer;
public Serialize()
{
_serializer = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(UserSettingConfig));
}
public string SerializeObject(UserSettingConfig userSettingConfig)
{
using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
{
_serializer.WriteObject(memoryStream, userSettingConfig);
string userSettingXml = memoryStream.ToString();
memoryStream.Close();
return userSettingXml;
}
}
public UserSettingConfig DeSerializeObject(string userSettingXml)
{
UserSettingConfig userSettingConfig;
using (var stream = new MemoryStream(userSettingXml))
{
stream.Position = 0;
userSettingConfig = (UserSettingConfig)_serializer.ReadObject(stream);
}
return userSettingConfig;
}
}
This dont work as the Memory Stream want a byte array or int
I want my Serialize to return a string (I can save as varchar(MAX) in my database)

DataContractSerializer.WriteObject has an overload that takes an XmlWriter. You can construct one of those that writes the XML to a StringBuilder:
private static string SerializeToString(object objectToSerialize)
{
var serializer = new DataContractSerializer(objectToSerialize.GetType());
var output = new StringBuilder();
var xmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(output);
serializer.WriteObject(xmlWriter, objectToSerialize);
xmlWriter.Close();
return output.ToString();
}

You may also consider serializing to JSON instead of XML, using the excellent JSON.NET library which can serialize even the most complex objects easily. JSON is very compact and is still readable.
To serialize:
string json = Newtonsoft.Json.JavaScriptConvert.SerializeObject(anySerializableObject);
To deserialize:
MyClass instance = (MyClass) Newtonsoft.Json.JavaScriptConvert.DeserializeObject(json, typeof(MyClass));

If you need xml without xml declaration, you should use XmlWriterSettings. For instance when you need xml string for node but not entire xml document.
private static string SerializeToString(object objectToSerialize)
{
var serializer = new DataContractSerializer(objectToSerialize.GetType());
var output = new StringBuilder();
var xmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(output, new XmlWriterSettings() { OmitXmlDeclaration = true});
serializer.WriteObject(xmlWriter, objectToSerialize);
xmlWriter.Close();
return output.ToString();
}

de-serialze a byte[] that was serialzed with XmlSerializer

I have a byte[] that was serialized with the following code:
// Save an object out to the disk
public static void SerializeObject<T>(this T toSerialize, String filename)
{
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(toSerialize.GetType());
TextWriter textWriter = new StreamWriter(filename);
xmlSerializer.Serialize(textWriter, toSerialize);
textWriter.Close();
}
problem is the data serialized looks like this:
iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAPAAAAFACAIAAAANimYEAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACx......
when it gets stored in my database it looks like this:
0x89504E470D0A1A0A0000000D49484452000000F00000014008020000000D8A660400000001......
What is the difference, and how can I get the data from the disk back into a byte[]?
Note: the data is a Bitmap formatted as a png like this:
public byte[] ImageAsBytes
{
get
{
if (_image != null)
{
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
_image .Save(stream, ImageFormat.Png);
return stream.ToArray();
}
else
{
return null;
}
}
set
{
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(value);
_image = new Bitmap(stream);
}
}

iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAPAAAAFACAIAAAANimYEAAAAA...
is base64 encoded representation of the binary data.
0x89504E470D0A1A0A0000000D49484452000000F000000140080...
is hexadecimal.
To get the data back from the disk use XmlSerializer and deserialize it back to the original object:
public static T DeserializeObject<T>(string filename)
{
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
using (var reader = XmlReader.Create(filename))
{
return (T)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
}
But if you only have the base64 string representation you could use the FromBase64String method:
byte[] buffer = Convert.FromBase64String("iVBORw0KGgoAAANimYEAAAAA...");
Remark: make sure you always dispose disposable resources such as streams and text readers and writers. This doesn't seem to be the case in your SerializeObject<T> method nor in the getter and setter of the ImageAsBytes property.

"Binary stream does not contain a valid BinaryHeader" error on (de)serialization?

I am created a post before " Object to byte not working " .
I fixed problems that users said me , but there is still problem .
Error Message : The constructor to deserialize an object of type 'WindowsFormsApplication1.Form1+Item' was not found.;
void start()
{
Item item = new Item();
item.files.Add(#"test");
byte[] b = ObjectToByteArray(item);
Item k = Desriles(b);
}
[Serializable]
public class Item : ISerializable
{
public Item()
{
files = new List<string>();
Exclude = false;
CleanEmptyFolder = false;
}
public List<string> files;
public string MusicProfileName;
public bool Exclude;
#region ISerializable Members
public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
{
info.AddValue("files", files);
info.AddValue("MusicProfileName", MusicProfileName);
info.AddValue("Exclude", Exclude);
}
#endregion
}
public byte[] ObjectToByteArray(object _Object)
{
using (var stream = new MemoryStream())
{
// serialize object
var formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
formatter.Serialize(stream, _Object);
// get a byte array
var bytes = new byte[stream.Length];
using (BinaryReader br = new BinaryReader(stream))
{
bytes = br.ReadBytes(Convert.ToInt32(stream.Length));
}
return bytes;
}
}
public Item Desriles(byte[] items)
{
using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
{
stream.SetLength(items.LongLength);
stream.write(items, 0, items.Length);
var formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
stream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
object item = formatter.Deserialize(stream); // Here I will get error
return (Item)item;
}
}

The serialization code can't work properly, you forgot to reset the stream back to the beginning. The better mouse trap:
public byte[] ObjectToByteArray(object _Object) {
using (var stream = new MemoryStream()) {
var formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
formatter.Serialize(stream, _Object);
return stream.ToArray();
}
}
The deserialization code can similarly be simplified:
public Item Desriles(byte[] items) {
using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(items)) {
var formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
return (Item)formatter.Deserialize(stream);
}
}
And you don't need GetObjectData().

In this section:
using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
{
stream.SetLength(items.LongLength);
stream.Read(items, 0, items.Length);
[...]
object item = formatter.Deserialize(stream);
it seems you are creating a new, empty memory stream, then attempting to read from it, and Deserialize from it.
Of course it fails. The stream is empty.

abelenky makes a good point, but I don't think your:
public byte[] ObjectToByteArray(object _Object)
works either.
C# Code Snippet - Object to byte array
C# Code Snippet - Byte array to object

Thanks to All :
I found problem : I should base that to ISerializable

Serialization in C# without using file system

I have a simple 2D array of strings and I would like to stuff it into an SPFieldMultiLineText in MOSS. This maps to an ntext database field.
I know I can serialize to XML and store to the file system, but I would like to serialize without touching the filesystem.
public override void ItemAdding(SPItemEventProperties properties)
{
// build the array
List<List<string>> matrix = new List<List<string>>();
/*
* populating the array is snipped, works fine
*/
// now stick this matrix into the field in my list item
properties.AfterProperties["myNoteField"] = matrix; // throws an error
}
Looks like I should be able to do something like this:
XmlSerializer s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<List<string>>));
properties.AfterProperties["myNoteField"] = s.Serialize.ToString();
but that doesn't work. All the examples I've found demonstrate writing to a text file.

StringWriter outStream = new StringWriter();
XmlSerializer s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<List<string>>));
s.Serialize(outStream, myObj);
properties.AfterProperties["myNoteField"] = outStream.ToString();

Here's a Generic serializer (C#):
public string SerializeObject<T>(T objectToSerialize)
{
BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
MemoryStream memStr = new MemoryStream();
try
{
bf.Serialize(memStr, objectToSerialize);
memStr.Position = 0;
return Convert.ToBase64String(memStr.ToArray());
}
finally
{
memStr.Close();
}
}
In your case you could call with:
SerializeObject<List<string>>(matrix);

Use the TextWriter and TextReader classes with the StringWriter.
To Wit:
XmlSerializer s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(whatever));
TextWriter w = new StringWriter();
s.Serialize(w, whatever);
yourstring = w.ToString();

IN VB.NET
Public Shared Function SerializeToByteArray(ByVal object2Serialize As Object) As Byte()
Using stream As New MemoryStream
Dim xmlSerializer As New XmlSerializer(object2Serialize.GetType())
xmlSerializer.Serialize(stream, object2Serialize)
Return stream.ToArray()
End Using
End Function
Public Shared Function SerializeToString(ByVal object2Serialize As Object) As String
Dim bytes As Bytes() = SerializeToByteArray(object2Serialize)
Return Text.UTF8Encoding.GetString(bytes)
End Function
IN C#
public byte[] SerializeToByteArray(object object2Serialize) {
using(MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream()) {
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(object2Serialize.GetType());
xmlSerializer.Serialize(stream, object2Serialize);
return stream.ToArray();
}
}
public string SerializeToString(object object2Serialize) {
byte[] bytes = SerializeToByteArray(object2Serialize);
return Text.UTF8Encoding.GetString(bytes);
}