How to serialize type derived from ConfigurationSection with NetDataContractSerializer

Question

I wrote my type derived from ConfigurationSection tagged all properties with DataMember and class with DataContract, however program crashes stating I cannot inherit my type from a type that is not marked with DataContract.

So how could I use this serializer with ConfigurationSection?

[DataContract]
public sealed class MyConfig : ConfigurationSection
{
    [DataMember]
    [ConfigurationProperty("ConnectionTimeout", DefaultValue = 1000)]
    public int ConnectionTimeout
    {
        get { return (int)this["ConnectionTimeout"]; }
        set { this["ConnectionTimeout"] = value; }
    }
    ... // other values
}

Please show us some code – Jens Meinecke Jan 17 '17 at 13:20 — Jens Meinecke, Jan 17 '17 at 13:20
@Übercoder, see the update. – astrowalker Jan 17 '17 at 13:23 — astrowalker, Jan 17 '17 at 13:23

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 17 '17 at 13:33

2

Well I guess if you cant use the serializer with non data contract class than maybe you should separate data member properties into another class which will aggregated in your ConfigurationSection:

[DataContract]
public sealed class CustomConfig
{
   [DataMember]
    public int ConnectionTimeout {get;set;}
}

public sealed class MyConfig : ConfigurationSection
{
    private CustomConfig _customCfg = new  CustomConfig(){ConnectionTimeout = this.ConnectionTimeout};

    [ConfigurationProperty("ConnectionTimeout", DefaultValue = 1000)]
    public int ConnectionTimeout
    {
        get { return (int)this["ConnectionTimeout"]; }
        set { _customCfg.ConnectionTimeout = value;this["ConnectionTimeout"] = value; }
    }
    ... // other values
}

Than you can serialize CustomConfig instance with your serializer

answered Jan 17 '17 at 13:33

VitaliyK

279
1
8

For now I use something similar, I create wrapper type, that has exactly the same values, on creation this wrapper copies all the values from the `config` type. However those are implementation details, one fragile point is, you forget once about copying and you will have default value in the target type. So I am looking for something more automatic. – astrowalker Jan 17 '17 at 13:39
1

Maybe than use reflection to copy properties? Than if you'll add new properties they will be copied automatically. – VitaliyK Jan 17 '17 at 13:42
Thank you, good idea. I wait a bit, if I won't find anything I will go this route (and accept your answer), ok? – astrowalker Jan 17 '17 at 13:47

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:08

There is another way -- instead of relying on automatic serialization, write your custom serialization manually. Since NetDataContractSerializer supports it, you can end up with just single type with 2 additional methods (more precisely: extra method for serializing and constructor for deserializing).

As for example see the post: When using ISerializable with DataContractSerializer, how do I stop the serializer from outputting type information?

How to serialize type derived from ConfigurationSection with NetDataContractSerializer

2 Answers2