Change format for MSMQ body

Question

I have an object which I would like to store in XML format in an MSMQ queue. What I expect it to appear in the queue body is this:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Object>
    <Text>Hello World!</Text>
    <Number>5</Number>
</Object>

However, when I store the object, I would see a diferent result in the body:

3C 3F 78 6D 6C 20 76 65 <?xml ve
72 73 69 6F 6E 3D 22 31 rsion="1
2E 30 22 3F 3E 0D 0A 3C .0"?>..<
4F 62 6A 65 63 74 3E 0D Object>.
0A 09 3C 54 65 78 74 3E .<Text>H
48 65 6C 6C 6F 20 57 6F ello Wor
72 6C 64 21 3C 2F 54 65 ld!</tex
78 74 3E 0D 0A 09 3C 4E t>..<Num 
75 6D 62 65 72 3E 35 3C ber>5</N
2F 4E 75 6D 62 65 72 3E umber>..
0D 0A 3C 2F 4F 62 6A 65 </Object
63 74 3E                >

I'm not sure what the actual format used here is, so I can't workout how I would alter it. I have tried adding messageQueue.Formatter = new BinaryMessageFormatter(); and messageQueue.Formatter = new XmlMessageFormatter(); to the MessageQueue object, but I get exactly the same result.

My code for sending the object is:

// This part of the code of creating the TestObject isn't what I'm using in development, 
// this is just for showing you that I'm using an object.
TestObject item = new TestObject();
item.Text = "Hello World!";
item.Number = 5;

MessageQueue messageQueue;
Message message;

messageQueue = new MessageQueue(@".\Private$\myqueue");
message = new Message(item);

messageQueue.Send(message);

How would I alter my code to make sure it sends and stores in an XML format?

Any help would be appreciated.

The first result shows the output you are after. It simply displays the ASCII vaules to the left. — Emond, Oct 26 '17 at 13:47
@ErnodeWeerd But would it not be better to have it in readable XML? — Sam Bunting, Oct 26 '17 at 13:48
"I would see a diferent result in the body" - where exactly do you see this result? — Evk, Oct 26 '17 at 13:51
How would you "see" that result, and why does it bother you? It looks like a simple presentation issue, where the UI tool you're using to look in the queue doesn't *know* you're storing XML. You could be storing any old binary junk, so it uses the most general presentation format possible. — Jeroen Mostert, Oct 26 '17 at 13:51
It is in readable XML, look to the right. The viewer you are using is an all-purpose viewer that simply displays the bytes and, for your convenience, text on the right. — Emond, Oct 26 '17 at 13:52

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 12 '18 at 20:01

The hex dump above almost appears to be the same result you would get if you right-clicked properties in "Computer Management / Message Queuing / Private Queues / myqueue / Queue messages" on a message and selected the "Body" tab. When you do that, it's possible for the viewer to present you with either a string dump or hex dump. Typically a large size presents you with a hex dump.

To have your objects serialized as XML, just set the queue's MessageQueue.Formatter or message's Message.Formatter (for just a particular message) to an XmlMessageFormatter, but include the types you'll need. Then the object will become a serialized XML message. Included below is the code posted with some additions.

// This part of the code of creating the TestObject isn't what I'm using in development, 
// this is just for showing you that I'm using an object.
TestObject item = new TestObject();
item.Text = "Hello World!";
item.Number = 5;

MessageQueue messageQueue;
Message message;
XmlMessageFormatter format = new XmlMessageFormatter(
    new Type[] {
        typeof(string),
        typeof(TestObject)}
);

messageQueue = new MessageQueue(@".\Private$\myqueue");
message = new Message(item);
message.Formatter = format;

messageQueue.Send(message);

// ...

message = messageQueue.Receive();
Type messageType = message.Body.GetType();
if (messageType == typeof(string))
{
    string newString = (string)message.Body;
}
else if (messageType == typeof(TestObject))
{
    TestObject receiveItem = (TestObject)message.Body;
}

Change format for MSMQ body

1 Answers1