Serialization of simple (1:1) parent/child circular references works, as noted in mythz answer here. However, I am getting a StackOverflowException when trying to serialize a parent with a list of children who hold a ref back to their parent.
I have condensed this down to bare-bones tests and test classes at my commonGib repo on GitHub.
Tests:
/// <summary>
/// Trivial business classes with a simple 1:1 circular relationship, i.e. Parent.Child, Child.Parent.
/// </summary>
[TestMethod]
public void Simple_ServiceStack()
{
var parent = new SimpleParent() { Text = "Foo" };
var child = new SimpleChild() { Number = 2 };
parent.Child = child;
child.Parent = parent;
var parentJson = JsonSerializer.SerializeToString(parent);
var parentTest = JsonSerializer.DeserializeFromString<SimpleParent>(parentJson);
Assert.IsTrue(parentTest.TextEqualsFoo());
Assert.IsTrue(parentTest.Child.NumberEqualsTwo());
}
/// <summary>
/// Test business classes more complex by having a parent with a list of children, as opposed
/// to a 1:1 relationship, i.e. Parent.Children instead of Parent.Child.
/// </summary>
[TestMethod]
public void Complex_ServiceStack()
{
var parent = new ComplexParent() { Text = "Foo" };
var child = new ComplexChild() { Number = 2 };
parent.Children = new List<ComplexChild>() { child };
child.Parent = parent;
var parentJson = JsonSerializer.SerializeToString(parent); //Throws stack overflow
var parentTest = JsonSerializer.DeserializeFromString<ComplexParent>(parentJson);
Assert.IsTrue(parentTest.TextEqualsFoo());
foreach (var childTest in parentTest.Children)
{
Assert.IsTrue(childTest.NumberEqualsTwo());
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Real-world business classes wrapped around a state class.
/// </summary>
[TestMethod]
public void VeryComplex_ServiceStack()
{
var parentState = new VeryComplexParentState() { Text = "Foo" };
var childState = new VeryComplexChildState() { Number = 2 };
var parent = new VeryComplexParent() { State = parentState };
var child = new VeryComplexChild() { State = childState };
parent.Children = new List<VeryComplexChild>() { child };
child.Parent = parent;
var parentJson = JsonSerializer.SerializeToString(parent); //Throws stack overflow
var parentTest = JsonSerializer.DeserializeFromString<ComplexParent>(parentJson);
Assert.IsTrue(parentTest.TextEqualsFoo());
foreach (var childTest in parentTest.Children)
{
Assert.IsTrue(childTest.NumberEqualsTwo());
}
}
Test classes:
#region Simple Parent/Child
public class SimpleParent
{
public string Text { get; set; }
public SimpleChild Child { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// This is like a validation rule on the state wrapper.
/// </summary>
public bool TextEqualsFoo()
{
return Text == "Foo";
}
}
public class SimpleChild
{
public int Number { get; set; }
public SimpleParent Parent { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// This is like a validation rule on the state wrapper.
/// </summary>
public bool NumberEqualsTwo()
{
return Number == 2;
}
}
#endregion
#region Complex Parent/Child
public class ComplexParent
{
public string Text { get; set; }
public List<ComplexChild> Children { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// This is like a validation rule on the state wrapper.
/// </summary>
public bool TextEqualsFoo()
{
return Text == "Foo";
}
}
public class ComplexChild
{
public int Number { get; set; }
public ComplexParent Parent { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// This is like a validation rule on the state wrapper.
/// </summary>
public bool NumberEqualsTwo()
{
return Number == 2;
}
}
#endregion
#region Very Complex Parent/Child
public abstract class BaseSerializationTestClass<TState>// : BaseSerializationTestClass
{
public TState State { get; set; }
}
public class VeryComplexParent : BaseSerializationTestClass<VeryComplexParentState>
{
/// <summary>
/// This is like a validation rule on the state wrapper.
/// </summary>
public bool TextEqualsFoo()
{
return State != null && State.Text == "Foo";
}
public List<VeryComplexChild> Children { get; set; }
}
public class VeryComplexParentState
{
public string Text { get; set; }
public List<VeryComplexChildState> MyChildrenState { get; set; }
}
public class VeryComplexChild : BaseSerializationTestClass<VeryComplexChildState>
{
/// <summary>
/// This is like a validation rule on the state wrapper.
/// </summary>
public bool NumberEqualsTwo()
{
return State != null && State.Number == 2;
}
public VeryComplexParent Parent { get; set; }
}
public class VeryComplexChildState
{
public int Number { get; set; }
public VeryComplexParentState MyAState { get; set; }
}
#endregion
