Click here to Skip to main content
15,867,308 members
Articles / Programming Languages / C#
Tip/Trick

Easy Seralization Using Extension Methods

Rate me:
Please Sign up or sign in to vote.
5.00/5 (1 vote)
23 May 2014CPOL 10.9K   8   5
Easy seralization by adding extension methods to generic class

Introduction

Binary serialization is very common in some scenarios, so, this tip adds this functionality as extension methods in order to provide an easy and comfortable way to use it.

Background

You must know C#, serialization concept and extension methods.

Using the Code

The extension methods are as given below:

C#
public static class Extensions
{
    public static void Serialize<T>(this T obj, string filePath=null)
    {
        filePath = filePath ?? (filePath ?? (obj.GetType().GenericTypeArguments[0].FullName + ".bin"));

        using (Stream stream = File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Create))
        {
            BinaryFormatter bin = new BinaryFormatter();
            bin.Serialize(stream, obj);
        }
    }

    public static T DeSerialize<T>(this T obj, string filePath=null)
    {
        T result;
        filePath = filePath ?? (filePath ?? (obj.GetType().GenericTypeArguments[0].FullName + ".bin"));

        if (!File.Exists(filePath)){
            return (obj);
        }

        using (Stream stream = File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Open)){
            BinaryFormatter bin = new BinaryFormatter();
            result = (T)bin.Deserialize(stream);
        }

        return (result);
    }
} 

Sample of use is as follows:

C#
[Serializable()]
public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

private void testSerialization()
{
    //Instance a new list and get it from file (if exists)
    List<Person> lstPerson = new List<Person>().DeSerialize();

    //If list is void, fill and save it (serialize)
    if (lstPerson.Count() == 0){
        lstPerson.Add(new Person() { Name = "Pepe", Age = 60 });
        lstPerson.Add(new Person() { Name = "Juan", Age = 70 });
        lstPerson.Serialize();
    }

    //check list content
    foreach (var person in lstPerson){
        Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", person.Name, person.Age);
    }
} 

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer (Senior)
Unknown
This member has not yet provided a Biography. Assume it's interesting and varied, and probably something to do with programming.

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Volynsky Alex23-May-14 12:21
professionalVolynsky Alex23-May-14 12:21 
QuestionComment Pin
FatCatProgrammer23-May-14 8:50
FatCatProgrammer23-May-14 8:50 
AnswerRe: Comment Pin
Jaume González23-May-14 21:05
Jaume González23-May-14 21:05 
GeneralRe: Comment Pin
FatCatProgrammer30-May-14 6:47
FatCatProgrammer30-May-14 6:47 
GeneralRe: Comment Pin
Jaume González30-May-14 7:57
Jaume González30-May-14 7:57 

General General    News News    Suggestion Suggestion    Question Question    Bug Bug    Answer Answer    Joke Joke    Praise Praise    Rant Rant    Admin Admin   

Use Ctrl+Left/Right to switch messages, Ctrl+Up/Down to switch threads, Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right to switch pages.