The serialization and its uses are as follows.
Serialization is the process of converting an object into stream of bytes in order to store the object in a file, Memory, Database and in transferring the object over the network. The reverse process is called as De-Serialization. Please find the below Fig.
In order to achieve this serialization, the
class should be encapsulated with [Serializable] attribute. Without this attribute, “Serialization” is not
possible. If the base class is derived, then the both class should be
encapsulate with[Serializable]
attribute to achieve the serialization.
Given below the
serialization example by using two classes.
namespace SerializationExample
{
[Serializable]
public class EmployeeSkill
{
public string Skill { get; set; }
}
[Serializable]
public class Employee : EmployeeSkill
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Experience { get; set; }
}
}
By using the above two
classes I am going to show how to,
1. Convert
an object into bytes and vice versa.
2. Serialize
an object to save and retrieve the object from the text file.
3. Serialize
an object to save and retrieve the object from the XML file.
1. Convert
an object into bytes and vice versa.
namespace SerializationExample
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var objSerializationObject
= new Employee()
{
Name
= "Employee",
Experience
= 3,
Skill
= ".Net"
};
var objConvertedToBytes
= ConvertObjectToBytes(objSerializationObject);
var objEmployee = (Employee)ConvertBytesToObject(objConvertedToBytes);
Console.WriteLine(objEmployee.Name);
Console.WriteLine(objEmployee.Experience);
Console.WriteLine(objEmployee.Skill);
Console.ReadLine();
}
#region Converting Object into Bytes
/// <summary>
/// To convert object
into Bytes.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="objEmployee">Employee Object</param>
/// <returns>Array Of Bytes</returns>
public static byte[]
ConvertObjectToBytes(Employee objEmployee)
{
if (objEmployee == null) return null;
MemoryStream objMemoryStream
= new MemoryStream();
BinaryFormatter objBinaryFormatter
= new BinaryFormatter();
objBinaryFormatter.Serialize(objMemoryStream,
objEmployee);
return objMemoryStream.ToArray();
}
#endregion
#region Converting Bytes into Original Object
/// <summary>
/// To convert bytes
into Object.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="objArrayBytes">Array Of Bytes</param>
/// <returns>Original Object</returns>
public static Object ConvertBytesToObject(byte[] objArrayBytes)
{
MemoryStream objMemoryStream
= new MemoryStream();
BinaryFormatter objBinaryFormatter
= new BinaryFormatter();
objMemoryStream.Write(objArrayBytes,
0, objArrayBytes.Length);
objMemoryStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
Object obj = (Object)objBinaryFormatter.Deserialize(objMemoryStream);
return obj;
}
#endregion
}
}
2. Serialize
to save and retrieve an object from the text file.
namespace SerializationExample
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var objSerializationObject
= new Employee()
{
Name
= "Employee",
Experience
= 3,
Skill
= ".Net"
};
#region Saving the object stream in the text file
IFormatter objFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
Stream objStream = new FileStream("MyFile.txt", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.None);
objFormatter.Serialize(objStream,
objSerializationObject);
objStream.Close();
#endregion
#region Read and Convert the Stream of bytes into original Object
IFormatter objReadFormatter
= new BinaryFormatter();
Stream objReadStream = new FileStream("MyFile.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.None);
Employee objDeserialize =
(Employee)objReadFormatter.Deserialize(objReadStream);
objReadStream.Close();
#endregion
Console.WriteLine(objDeserialize.Name);
Console.WriteLine(objDeserialize.Experience);
Console.WriteLine(objDeserialize.Skill);
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
3. Serialize to save and retrieve an object from the XML file.
namespace SerializationExample
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var objSerializationObject
= new Employee()
{
Name
= "Employee",
Experience
= 3,
Skill
= ".Net"
};
#region Saving the object stream in the XML file
XmlSerializer objXMLSerializer
= new XmlSerializer(typeof(Employee));
StreamWriter objWriter
= new StreamWriter("MyFile.XML");
objXMLSerializer.Serialize(objWriter,
objSerializationObject);
objWriter.Close();
#endregion
#region Read the XML and Convert it into original Object
StreamReader objReader
= new StreamReader("MyFile.XML");
Employee objDeserialize =
(Employee)objXMLSerializer.Deserialize(objReader);
objReader.Close();
#endregion
Console.WriteLine(objDeserialize.Name);
Console.WriteLine(objDeserialize.Experience);
Console.WriteLine(objDeserialize.Skill);
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}