Serializing Objects In C#

Bipin Joshi

C#Serialization DeserializationBinaryFormatterSerializing Objects

13 Comments

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brian caudill3y ago
change this >> File f = new File("temp.dat"); Stream s = f.Open(FileMode.Create); to this >> Stream s = File.Open("scos.xml",FileMode.Create);
Jim Aho4y ago
"The process of storing an object to a physical storage is called serialization". Isn't this a bit misleading? Serialization rather refers to converting the object for storage somewhere else. To actually store something (send it across network etc) isn't serialization.
Amir Kian4y ago
Yout mast use [Serializable] attribute above each classes that you want to be serialized.
Pradeep Chandran7y ago
I am having more no of data.... Is there any way to store it in any local variable and run it in batch process..
Subash10y ago
Good
sangram desai14y ago
Below is link that may of interest to you http://msdotnetbuddy.blogspot.in/2010/01/object-serialization-in-c.html
Roman Levitskiy15y ago
ClassToSerialize needs to have a [Serializable] attribute. Otherwise we get error: Type 'SerializeTesting.ClassToSerialize' in Assembly 'SerializeTesting, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' is not marked as serializable.
tracy18y ago
It's very helpful,,but preety that it's no use for me!
expresso na18y ago
Why don't you also explain the intent and why you would need to serialize in context to a real-world example and REASON. Give me a situation where you need to serialize. Just showing how doesn't tell the intent or reason in a real situation. That is what really gets people to understand...situations in which you'd need to do this.
- Dave Shipman5y ago
  Hello, this is over a decade since your post but to answer the question for others I'll add this. Serializing is useful for testing remote services. For example, the Youtube API has a cost associated with it. When I call the youtube service I serialize the results to a file so I can test UI etc without constantly calling the service which can incur monetary costs.
- Tavis Show3y ago
  The first thing that comes to mind is State Management for a game. Imagine a multiplayer chess game. You will have to store the current state of the game in a way and also be able to retrieve it back as the instance of a class when a move has been made to update the state of the game.
thenewbee19y ago
1)File f=new File("temp.dat"); Shows error as static member cannot be ue to declare variable 2)Serialization exception thown as the class is not marked as SERIALIZABLE
- Amartya18y agoedited
  codes has some common errors Like in the file creation part that portion shd be like this-- FileInfo f = new FileInfo (@"C:\temp.dat"); FileStream s = f.Open(FileMode.OpenOrCreate,FileAccess.ReadWrite,FileShare.None); ClassToSerialize class and SupportClass shd be tagged as [Serializable] here is the complete code which will work--- using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Text; using System.IO; using System.Runtime.Serialization; using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary; class SerialTest { public void SerializeNow() { ClassToSerialize c = new ClassToSerialize (); c.Name = "bipin"; c.Age = 26; ClassToSerialize.CompanyName = "xyz"; FileInfo f = new FileInfo (@"C:\temp.dat"); FileStream s = f.Open (FileMode.OpenOrCreate,FileAccess.ReadWrite,FileShare.None); BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter (); b.Serialize (s, c); s.Close (); } public void DeSerializeNow() { ClassToSerialize c = new ClassToSerialize (); FileInfo f = new FileInfo (@"C:\temp.dat"); FileStream s = f.Open (FileMode.Open); BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter (); c = (ClassToSerialize)b.Deserialize (s); Console.WriteLine ("Name :" + c.Name); Console.WriteLine ("Age :" + c.Age); Console.WriteLine ("Company Name :" + ClassToSerialize.CompanyName); Console.WriteLine ("Company Name :" + c.GetSupportClassString ()); s.Close (); } static void Main(string[] args) { SerialTest st = new SerialTest (); st.SerializeNow (); st.DeSerializeNow (); } } [Serializable] public class ClassToSerialize { private int age; private string name; static string companyname; SupportClass supp = new SupportClass (); public ClassToSerialize() { supp.SupportClassString = "In support class"; } public int Age { get { return age; } set { age = value; } } public string Name { get { return name; } set { name = value; } } public static string CompanyName { get { return companyname; } set { companyname = value; } } public string GetSupportClassString() { return supp.SupportClassString; } } [Serializable] public class SupportClass { public string SupportClassString; }

Serialization in C#

Oftentimes, we need to store objects in physical storage so they can be read back and converted back to an object. The process of storing an object in a physical storage is called serialization. The process of reading a serialized object back into memory is deserialization.

In simple words, serialization in C# is a process of storing the object instance in a persistent storage. Serialization stores the state of objects, i.e., member variable values, to persistent storage such as a disk. Deserialization is the reverse of serialization. It is a process of reading objects from a file where they have been stored. In this code sample, we will see how to serialize and deserialize objects using C#.

Here is how serialization works. Image source: Microsoft Docs.

Serialization in CSharp

Namespaces involved

The following namespaces are involved in the serialization process.

System.Runtime.Serialization
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary

Example 1

using System;  
using System.IO;  
using System.Runtime.Serialization;  
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;  
public class SerialTest {  
    public void SerializeNow() {  
        ClassToSerialize c = new ClassToSerialize();  
        File f = new File("temp.dat");  
        Stream s = f.Open(FileMode.Create);  
        BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter();  
        b.Serialize(s, c);  
        s.Close();  
    }  
    public void DeSerializeNow() {  
        ClassToSerialize c = new ClassToSerialize();  
        File f = new File("temp.dat");  
        Stream s = f.Open(FileMode.Open);  
        BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter();  
        c = (ClassToSerialize) b.Deserialize(s);  
        Console.WriteLine(c.name);  
        s.Close();  
    }  
    public static void Main(string[] s) {  
        SerialTest st = new SerialTest();  
        st.SerializeNow();  
        st.DeSerializeNow();  
    }  
}  
public class ClassToSerialize {  
    public int age = 100;  
    public string name = "bipin";  
}

Explanation

Here we have our own class named ClassToSerialize. This class has two public variables, name, and age, with some default values. We will write this class to a disk file (temp.dat) using the SerializeTest class.

SerializeTest class has two methods SerializeNow() and DeSerializeNow(), which perform the task of serialization and deserialization, respectively.

The general steps for serializing are as follows.

Create an instance of a File that will store serialized objects.
Create a stream from the file object.
Create an instance of BinaryFormatter.
Call the serialize method of the instance, passing it stream and object to serialize.

The steps for de-serializing the object are similar. The only change is that you need to call the deserialize method of the BinaryFormatter object.

Now, let us see an example where we have used a 'real' class with public and shared members and properties to encapsulate them. The class also uses another supporting class. This is just to make clear that if your class contains further classes, all the classes in the chain will be serialized.

Example 2

using System;  
using System.IO;  
using System.Runtime.Serialization;  
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;  
public class SerialTest {  
    public void SerializeNow() {  
        ClassToSerialize c = new ClassToSerialize();  
        c.Name = "bipin";  
        c.Age = 26;  
        ClassToSerialize.CompanyName = "xyz";  
        File f = new File("temp.dat");  
        Stream s = f.Open(FileMode.Create);  
        BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter();  
        b.Serialize(s, c);  
        s.Close();  
    }  
    public void DeSerializeNow() {  
        ClassToSerialize c = new ClassToSerialize();  
        File f = new File("temp.dat");  
        Stream s = f.Open(FileMode.Open);  
        BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter();  
        c = (ClassToSerialize) b.Deserialize(s);  
        Console.WriteLine("Name :" + c.Name);  
        Console.WriteLine("Age :" + c.Age);  
        Console.WriteLine("Company Name :" + ClassToSerialize.CompanyName);  
        Console.WriteLine("Company Name :" + c.GetSupportClassString());  
        s.Close();  
    }  
    public static void Main(string[] s) {  
        SerialTest st = new SerialTest();  
        st.SerializeNow();  
        st.DeSerializeNow();  
    }  
}  
public class ClassToSerialize {  
    private int age;  
    private string name;  
    static string companyname;  
    SupportClass supp = new SupportClass();  
    public ClassToSerialize() {  
        supp.SupportClassString = "In support class";  
    }  
    public int Age {  
        get {  
            return age;  
        }  
        set {  
            age = value;  
        }  
    }  
    public string Name {  
        get {  
            return name;  
        }  
        set {  
            name = value;  
        }  
    }  
    public static string CompanyName {  
        get {  
            return companyname;  
        }  
        set {  
            companyname = value;  
        }  
    }  
    public string GetSupportClassString() {  
        return supp.SupportClassString;  
    }  
}  
public class SupportClass {  
    public string SupportClassString;  
}

Example 3

The final example shows how to serialize an array of objects.

using System;  
using System.IO;  
using System.Runtime.Serialization;  
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;  
public class SerialTest {  
    public void SerializeNow() {  
        ClassToSerialize[] c = new ClassToSerialize[3];  
        c[0] = new ClassToSerialize();  
        c[0].Name = "bipin";  
        c[0].Age = 26;  
        c[1] = new ClassToSerialize();  
        c[1].Name = "abc";  
        c[1].Age = 75;  
        c[2] = new ClassToSerialize();  
        c[2].Name = "pqr";  
        c[2].Age = 50;  
        ClassToSerialize.CompanyName = "xyz";  
        File f = new File("temp.dat");  
        Stream s = f.Open(FileMode.Create);  
        BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter();  
        b.Serialize(s, c);  
        s.Close();  
    }  
    public void DeSerializeNow() {  
        ClassToSerialize[] c;  
        File f = new File("temp.dat");  
        Stream s = f.Open(FileMode.Open);  
        BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter();  
        c = (ClassToSerialize[]) b.Deserialize(s);  
        Console.WriteLine("Name :" + c[2].Name);  
        Console.WriteLine("Age :" + c[2].Age);  
        Console.WriteLine("Company Name :" + ClassToSerialize.CompanyName);  
        s.Close();  
    }  
    public static void Main(string[] s) {  
        SerialTest st = new SerialTest();  
        st.SerializeNow();  
        st.DeSerializeNow();  
    }  
}  
public class ClassToSerialize {  
    private int age;  
    private string name;  
    static string companyname;  
    public int Age {  
        get {  
            return age;  
        }  
        set {  
            age = value;  
        }  
    }  
    public string Name {  
        get {  
            return name;  
        }  
        set {  
            name = value;  
        }  
    }  
    public static string CompanyName {  
        get {  
            return companyname;  
        }  
        set {  
            companyname = value;  
        }  
    }  
}