// There are essentially two kinds of serialization that a program can use: binary serialization and text serialization.
// Binary serialization imposes its own format on the data that is being serialized, mapping
// the data onto a stream of 8-bit values.The data in a stream created by a binaryserializer can only be read by a corresponding binary de-serializer.Binary
// serialization can provide a complete “snapshot” of the source data. Both publicand private data in an object will be serialized, and the type of each data item is preserved
public void BinarySerialization()
{
MusicDataStore data = MusicDataStore.TestData();
BinaryFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
using (FileStream outputStream =
new FileStream("MusicTracks.bin", FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.Write))
{
formatter.Serialize(outputStream, data);
}
MusicDataStore inputData;
using (FileStream inputStream =
new FileStream("MusicTracks.bin", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
{
inputData = (MusicDataStore)formatter.Deserialize(inputStream);
}
foreach (var item in inputData.Artists)
{
Console.WriteLine(item.Name);
}
// Binary serialization is the only serialization technique that serializes private data members by default(i.e.without the developer asking). A file created by a
// binary serializer can contain private data members from the object being serialized.Note, however, that once an object has serialized there is nothing to
// stop a devious programmer from working with serialized data, perhaps viewing and tampering with the values inside it.This means that a program should treat
// deserialized inputs with suspicion.Furthermore, any security sensitive information in a class should be explicitly marked NonSerialized.One way
// to improve security of a binary serialized file is to encrypt the stream before it is stored, and decrypt it before deserialization.
}
// The data contract serializer is provided as part of the Windows Communication Framework(WCF). It is located in the System.Runtime.Serialization
// library.Note that this library is not included in a project by default. It can be used to serialize objects to XML files. It differs from the XML serializer in the
// following ways: Data to be serialized is selected using an “opt in” mechanism, so only items
// marked with the[DataMember] attribute will be serialized. It is possible to serialize private class elements (although of course they will
// be public in the XML text produced by the serializer).The XML serializer provides options that allow programmers to specify the
// order in which items are serialized into the data file.These options are notpresent in the DataContract serializer.
// Once the fields to be serialized have been specified they can be serialized using a DataContractSerializer.
public void DataContractSerializer()
{
MusicDataStore musicData = MusicDataStore.TestData();
DataContractSerializer formatter = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(MusicDataStore));
using (FileStream outputStream =
new FileStream("MusicTracks.xml", FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.Write))
{
formatter.WriteObject(outputStream, musicData);
}
MusicDataStore inputData;
using (FileStream inputStream =
new FileStream("MusicTracks.xml", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
{
inputData = (MusicDataStore)formatter.ReadObject(inputStream);
}
foreach (var item in inputData.Artists)
{
Console.WriteLine(item.Name);
}
}
public static MusicDataStore TestData()
{
MusicDataStore result = new MusicDataStore();
result.Artists = new List <ArtistSerializable>
{
new ArtistSerializable()
{
Name = "Art1"
},
new ArtistSerializable()
{
Name = "Art2"
},
new ArtistSerializable()
{
Name = "Art3"
},
new ArtistSerializable()
{
Name = "Art4"
},
new ArtistSerializable()
{
Name = "Art5"
}
};
result.MusicTracks = new List <MusicTrackSerializable>
{
new MusicTrackSerializable()
{
Artist = result.Artists[0], Title = "Title1", Length = 100
},
new MusicTrackSerializable()
{
Artist = result.Artists[0], Title = "Title2", Length = 200
},
new MusicTrackSerializable()
{
Artist = result.Artists[1], Title = "Title3", Length = 100
},
new MusicTrackSerializable()
{
Artist = result.Artists[1], Title = "Title4", Length = 300
},
new MusicTrackSerializable()
{
Artist = result.Artists[1], Title = "Title5", Length = 200
},
};
// create the same test data set as used for the LINQ examples
return(result);
}