How to: Serialize Using DataContractSerializer

This topic shows an example that serializes and deserializes using DataContractSerializer.

Example

The following example creates a number of objects that contain XElement objects. It then serializes them to text files, and then deserializes them from the text files.

using System;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Linq;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;

public class XLinqTest
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        Test<XElement>(CreateXElement());
        Test<XElementContainer>(new XElementContainer());
        Test<XElementNullContainer>(new XElementNullContainer());
    }

    public static void Test<T>(T obj)
    {
        DataContractSerializer s = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(T));
        using (FileStream fs = File.Open("test" + typeof(T).Name + ".xml", FileMode.Create))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Testing for type: {0}", typeof(T)); 
            s.WriteObject(fs, obj);
        }
        using (FileStream fs = File.Open("test" + typeof(T).Name + ".xml", FileMode.Open))
        {
            object s2 = s.ReadObject(fs);
            if (s2 == null)
                Console.WriteLine("  Deserialized object is null (Nothing in VB)");
            else
                Console.WriteLine("  Deserialized type: {0}", s2.GetType());
        }
    }

    public static XElement CreateXElement()
    {
        return new XElement(XName.Get("NameInNamespace", "http://www.adventure-works.org"));
    }
}

[DataContract]
public class XElementContainer
{
    [DataMember]
    public XElement member;

    public XElementContainer()
    {
        member = XLinqTest.CreateXElement();
    }
}

[DataContract]
public class XElementNullContainer
{
    [DataMember]
    public XElement member;

    public XElementNullContainer()
    {
        member = null;
    }
}

Imports System
Imports System.Xml
Imports System.Xml.Linq
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization

Public Class XLinqTest
    Shared Sub Main()
        Test(Of XElement)(CreateXElement())
        Test(Of XElementContainer)(New XElementContainer())
        Test(Of XElementNullContainer)(New XElementNullContainer())
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub Test(Of T)(ByRef obj)
        Dim s As DataContractSerializer = New DataContractSerializer(GetType(T))
        Using fs As FileStream = File.Open("test" & GetType(T).Name & ".xml", FileMode.Create)
            Console.WriteLine("Testing for type: {0}", GetType(T))
            s.WriteObject(fs, obj)
        End Using

        Using fs As FileStream = File.Open("test" & GetType(T).Name & ".xml", FileMode.Open)
            Dim s2 As Object = s.ReadObject(fs)
            If s2 Is Nothing Then
                Console.WriteLine("  Deserialized object is null (Nothing in VB)")
            Else
                Console.WriteLine("  Deserialized type: {0}", s2.GetType())
            End If
        End Using
    End Sub

    Public Shared Function CreateXElement() As XElement
        Return New XElement(XName.Get("NameInNamespace", "http://www.adventure-works.org"))
    End Function
End Class

<DataContract()> _
Public Class XElementContainer
    <DataMember()> _
    Public member As XElement

    Public Sub XElementContainer()
        member = XLinqTest.CreateXElement()
    End Sub
End Class


<DataContract()> _
Public Class XElementNullContainer
    <DataMember()> _
    Public member As XElement

    Public Sub XElementNullContainer()
        member = Nothing
    End Sub
End Class

This example produces the following output:

Testing for type: System.Xml.Linq.XElement
  Deserialized type: System.Xml.Linq.XElement
Testing for type: XElementContainer
  Deserialized type: XElementContainer
Testing for type: XElementNullContainer
  Deserialized type: XElementNullContainer

See Also

Concepts

Serializing Object Graphs that Contain XElement Objects