This part of my C# tutorial is all about serialization. With serialization you can store the state of an object in a file stream, pass it to a remote network and more. We’ll store data using BinaryFormatter, XmlSerializer and so much more.

For best results take notes on the cheat sheet provided above as you watch and leave any questions you have.

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Code & Transcript

// ---------- Animal.cs ----------

using System;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;

// With serialization you can store the state 
// of an object in a file stream, pass it to
// a remote network

namespace CSharpTutA.cs
{
    // Defines that you want to serialize this class
    [Serializable()]
    public class Animal : ISerializable
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public double Weight { get; set; }
        public double Height { get; set; }
        public int AnimalID { get; set; }

        public Animal() { }

        public Animal(string name = "No Name",
            double weight = 0,
            double height = 0)
        {
            Name = name;
            Weight = weight;
            Height = height;
        }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return string.Format("{0} weighs {1} lbs and is {2} inches tall",
                Name, Weight, Height);
        }

        // Serialization function (Stores Object Data in File)
        // SerializationInfo holds the key value pairs
        // StreamingContext can hold additional info
        // but we aren't using it here
        public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
        {
            // Assign key value pair for your data
            info.AddValue("Name", Name);
            info.AddValue("Weight", Weight);
            info.AddValue("Height", Height);
            info.AddValue("AnimalID", AnimalID);
        }

        // The deserialize function (Removes Object Data from File)
        public Animal(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
        {
            //Get the values from info and assign them to the properties
            Name = (string)info.GetValue("Name", typeof(string));
            Weight = (double)info.GetValue("Weight", typeof(double));
            Height = (double)info.GetValue("Height", typeof(double));
            AnimalID = (int)info.GetValue("AnimalID", typeof(int));
        }
    }
}

// ---------- Program.cs ----------

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;

// Used for writing to a file
using System.IO;

// Used to serialize an object to binary format
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;

// Used to serialize into XML
using System.Xml.Serialization;

namespace CSharpTutA.cs
{
    class Program
    {
        
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Animal bowser = new Animal("Bowser", 45, 25);

            // Serialize the object data to a file
            Stream stream = File.Open("AnimalData.dat", FileMode.Create);
            BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();

            // Send the object data to the file
            bf.Serialize(stream, bowser);
            stream.Close();

            // Delete the bowser data
            bowser = null;

            // Read object data from the file
            stream = File.Open("AnimalData.dat", FileMode.Open);
            bf = new BinaryFormatter();

            bowser = (Animal)bf.Deserialize(stream);
            stream.Close();

            Console.WriteLine(bowser.ToString());

            // Change bowser to show changes were made
            bowser.Weight = 50;

            // XmlSerializer writes object data as XML
            XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Animal));
            using (TextWriter tw = new StreamWriter(@"C:\Users\derekbanas\C#Data\bowser.xml"))
            {
                serializer.Serialize(tw, bowser);
            }

            // Delete bowser data
            bowser = null;

            // Deserialize from XML to the object
            XmlSerializer deserializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Animal));
            TextReader reader = new StreamReader(@"C:\Users\derekbanas\C#Data\bowser.xml");
            object obj = deserializer.Deserialize(reader);
            bowser = (Animal)obj;
            reader.Close();

            Console.WriteLine(bowser.ToString());

            // Save a collection of Animals
            List<Animal> theAnimals = new List<Animal>
            {
                new Animal("Mario", 60, 30),
                new Animal("Luigi", 55, 24),
                new Animal("Peach", 40, 20)
            };

            using (Stream fs = new FileStream(@"C:\Users\derekbanas\C#Data\animals.xml",
                FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.None))
            {
                XmlSerializer serializer2 = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<Animal>));
                serializer2.Serialize(fs, theAnimals);
            }

            // Delete list data
            theAnimals = null;

            // Read data from XML
            XmlSerializer serializer3 = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<Animal>));

            using (FileStream fs2 = File.OpenRead(@"C:\Users\derekbanas\C#Data\animals.xml"))
            {
                theAnimals = (List<Animal>)serializer3.Deserialize(fs2);
            }


            foreach (Animal a in theAnimals)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(a.ToString());
            }

            Console.ReadLine();

        }
    }
}