OptionalFieldAttribute Class (System.Runtime.Serialization)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

OptionalFieldAttribute Class

Updated: November 2007

Specifies that a field can be missing from a serialization stream so that the BinaryFormatter and the SoapFormatter does not throw an exception.

Namespace: System.Runtime.Serialization
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Field, Inherited := False)> _
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public NotInheritable Class OptionalFieldAttribute _
    Inherits Attribute

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As OptionalFieldAttribute

[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Field, Inherited = false)]
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public sealed class OptionalFieldAttribute : Attribute

Visual C++

[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets::Field, Inherited = false)]
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public ref class OptionalFieldAttribute sealed : public Attribute

/** @attribute AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Field, Inherited = false) */
/** @attribute ComVisibleAttribute(true) */
public final class OptionalFieldAttribute extends Attribute

JScript

public final class OptionalFieldAttribute extends Attribute

Remarks

This attribute allows you to specify that new fields in a serializable type (a type to which the SerializableAttribute is applied to) are ignored by the BinaryFormatter or the SoapFormatter. This enables version-tolerant serialization of types created for older versions of an application that serializes data. For example, when the formatters encounter a stream produced by a version that does not include the new fields, no exception is thrown, and the existing data on the older type is processed as normal.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
System..::.Attribute
System.Runtime.Serialization..::.OptionalFieldAttribute

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Platforms

Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

Reference

OptionalFieldAttribute Members

System.Runtime.Serialization Namespace

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