C# - Data Transfer Object

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Introduction

The Data Transfer Object "DTO", is a simple serializable object used to transfer data across multiple layers of an application. The fields contained in the DTO are usually primitive types such as strings, boolean, etc. Other DTOs may be contained or aggregated in the DTO. For example, you may have a collection of BookDTOs contained in a LibraryDTO. I have created a framework used by multiple applications that utilizes DTOs to transfer data across tiers. The framework also relies on other OO patterns such as the Factory, Facade, etc. One of the great things about the DTO compared to a DataSet is that the DTO does not have to directly match a data table or view. The DTO can aggregate fields from another DTO.

Using the code

1. Create a project that will be common for your application.
2. Generate the abstract base class DTO.
3. Generate the Serializer Helper class.
4. Create your derived DTOs that inherit from the DTO base class.
5. Create the Console Application to test your DTO and serialization.

*** Note: All of the code is available via the downloadable zip file.***

Abstract Base Class for all Data Transfer Objects

This is the base class for all Data Transfer Objects.

using System;

namespace DEMO.Common
{
    /// 
    /// This is the base class for all DataTransferObjects.
    /// 
    public abstract class DTO
    {
        public DTO()
        {
        }
    }
}

Data Transfer Object Serializer Helper Class

This is the helper class for a DTO. It has public methods to serialize and de-serialize a DTO.

using System;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System.IO;

namespace DEMO.Common
{
    /// 
    /// Summary description for DTOSerializerHelper.
    /// 
    public class DTOSerializerHelper
    {
        public DTOSerializerHelper()
        {
        }

        /// 
        /// Creates xml string from given dto.
        /// 
        /// DTO
        /// XML
        public static string SerializeDTO(DTO dto)
        {
            try
            {
                XmlSerializer xmlSer = new XmlSerializer(dto.GetType());
                StringWriter sWriter = new StringWriter();
                // Serialize the dto to xml.
                xmlSer.Serialize(sWriter, dto);
                // Return the string of xml.
                return sWriter.ToString();
            }
            catch(Exception ex)
            {
                // Propogate the exception.
                throw ex;
            }
        }

        /// 
        /// Deserializes the xml into a specified data transfer object.
        /// 
        /// string of xml
        /// type of dto
        /// DTO
        public static DTO DeserializeXml(string xml, DTO dto)
        {
            try
            {
                XmlSerializer xmlSer = new XmlSerializer(dto.GetType());
                // Read the XML.
                StringReader sReader = new StringReader(xml);
                // Cast the deserialized xml to the type of dto.
                DTO retDTO = (DTO)xmlSer.Deserialize(sReader);
                // Return the data transfer object.
                return retDTO;
            }
            catch(Exception ex)
            {
                // Propogate the exception.
                throw ex;
            }            
        }

    }
}

Derived Data Transfer Object Example

The DemoDTO is a derived class that inherits from the DTO base class. This class has some simple fields defined such as demoId, demoName, and demoProgrammer.

using System;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using DEMO.Common;

namespace DEMO.DemoDataTransferObjects
{
    /// 
    /// Summary description for the DemoDTO.
    /// 
    public class DemoDTO : DTO
    {
        // Variables encapsulated by class (private).
        private string demoId = "";
        private string demoName = "";
        private string demoProgrammer = "";

        public DemoDTO()
        {
        }

        ///Public access to the DemoId field.
        ///String
        [XmlElement(IsNullable=true)]
        public string DemoId
        {
            get
            {
                return this.demoId;
            }
            set
            {
                this.demoId = value;
            }
        }

        ///Public access to the DemoId field.
        ///String
        [XmlElement(IsNullable=true)]
        public string DemoName
        {
            get
            {
                return this.demoName;
            }
            set
            {
                this.demoName = value;
            }
        }

        ///Public access to the DemoId field.
        ///String
        [XmlElement(IsNullable=true)]
        public string DemoProgrammer
        {
            get
            {
                return this.demoProgrammer;
            }
            set
            {
                this.demoProgrammer = value;
            }
        }

    }
}

Console App showing DTO example

The Console Application demonstrates how easy it is to create a DTO, serialize a DTO, and de-serialize a DTO.

using System;
using DEMO.Common;
using DEMO.DemoDataTransferObjects;

namespace DemoConsoleApplication
{
    /// 
    /// Summary description for DemoClass.
    /// 
    public class DemoClass
    {
        public DemoClass()
        {
        }

        public void StartDemo()
        {
            this.ProcessDemo();
        }

        private void ProcessDemo()
        {
            DemoDTO dto = this.CreateDemoDto();
            
            // Serialize the dto to xml.
            string strXml = DTOSerializerHelper.SerializeDTO(dto);
            
            // Write the serialized dto as xml.
            Console.WriteLine("Serialized DTO");
            Console.WriteLine("=======================");
            Console.WriteLine("\r");
            Console.WriteLine(strXml);
            Console.WriteLine("\r");

            // Deserialize the xml to the data transfer object.
            DemoDTO desDto = 
              (DemoDTO) DTOSerializerHelper.DeserializeXml(strXml, 
              new DemoDTO());
            
            // Write the deserialized dto values.
            Console.WriteLine("Deseralized DTO");
            Console.WriteLine("=======================");
            Console.WriteLine("\r");
            Console.WriteLine("DemoId         : " + desDto.DemoId);
            Console.WriteLine("Demo Name      : " + desDto.DemoName);
            Console.WriteLine("Demo Programmer: " + desDto.DemoProgrammer);
            Console.WriteLine("\r");
        }

        private DemoDTO CreateDemoDto()
        {
            DemoDTO dto = new DemoDTO();
            
            dto.DemoId            = "1";
            dto.DemoName        = "Data Transfer Object Demonstration Program";
            dto.DemoProgrammer    = "Kenny Young";

            return dto;
        }
    }
}

using System;
using DEMO.Common;
using DEMO.DemoDataTransferObjects;

namespace DemoConsoleApplication
{
    /// 
    /// Summary description for MainClass.
    /// 
    class MainClass
    {
        /// 
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// 
        [STAThread]
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            DemoClass dc = new DemoClass();
            dc.StartDemo();

        }
    }
}

Output

Conclusion

This article demonstrated a simple way to use Data Transfer Objects. These objects are a small part of a common framework developed for multiple applications. The framework has multiple layers, but one common object used throughout is the DTO. There are objects in the framework that convert a DataReader into a Data Access Object. Once time permits, I will be posting more documents on Enterprise Architecture, and go into more detail about the framework.

References

1. Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, Martin Fowler 2003.