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SerializationInfo Class

Stores all the data needed to serialize or deserialize an object. This class cannot be inherited.

System.Object
  System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationInfo

Namespace:  System.Runtime.Serialization
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public sealed class SerializationInfo

The SerializationInfo type exposes the following members.

  Name Description
Public method SerializationInfo Creates a new instance of the SerializationInfo class.
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  Name Description
Public property AssemblyName Gets or sets the assembly name of the type to serialize during serialization only.
Public property FullTypeName Gets or sets the full name of the Type to serialize.
Public property IsAssemblyNameSetExplicit Returns true if the assembly name has been explicitly set.
Public property IsFullTypeNameSetExplicit Returns true if the full type name has been explicitly set.
Public property MemberCount Gets the number of members that have been added to the SerializationInfo store.
Public property ObjectType Returns the type of the object to be serialized.
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  Name Description
Public method AddValue(String, Boolean) Adds a Boolean value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Byte) Adds an 8-bit unsigned integer value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Char) Adds a Unicode character value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, DateTime) Adds a DateTime value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Decimal) Adds a decimal value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Double) Adds a double-precision floating-point value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Int16) Adds a 16-bit signed integer value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Int32) Adds a 32-bit signed integer value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Int64) Adds a 64-bit signed integer value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Object) Adds the specified object into the SerializationInfo store, where it is associated with a specified name.
Public method AddValue(String, SByte) Adds an 8-bit signed integer value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Single) Adds a single-precision floating-point value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, UInt16) Adds a 16-bit unsigned integer value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, UInt32) Adds a 32-bit unsigned integer value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, UInt64) Adds a 64-bit unsigned integer value into the SerializationInfo store.
Public method AddValue(String, Object, Type) Adds a value into the SerializationInfo store, where value is associated with name and is serialized as being of Type type.
Public method Equals(Object) Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Protected method Finalize Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method GetBoolean Retrieves a Boolean value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetByte Retrieves an 8-bit unsigned integer value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetChar Retrieves a Unicode character value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetDateTime Retrieves a DateTime value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetDecimal Retrieves a decimal value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetDouble Retrieves a double-precision floating-point value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetEnumerator Returns a SerializationInfoEnumerator used to iterate through the name-value pairs in the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetHashCode Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method GetInt16 Retrieves a 16-bit signed integer value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetInt32 Retrieves a 32-bit signed integer value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetInt64 Retrieves a 64-bit signed integer value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetSByte Retrieves an 8-bit signed integer value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetSingle Retrieves a single-precision floating-point value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetString Retrieves a String value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetType Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method GetUInt16 Retrieves a 16-bit unsigned integer value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetUInt32 Retrieves a 32-bit unsigned integer value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetUInt64 Retrieves a 64-bit unsigned integer value from the SerializationInfo store.
Public method GetValue Retrieves a value from the SerializationInfo store.
Protected method MemberwiseClone Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method SetType Sets the Type of the object to serialize.
Public method ToString Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
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This class is used by objects with custom serialization behavior. The GetObjectData method on either ISerializable or ISerializationSurrogate populates the SerializationInfo store with the name, type, and value of each piece of information it wants to serialize. During deserialization, the appropriate function can extract this information.

Objects are added to the SerializationInfo store at serialization time using the AddValue methods and extracted from the SerializationInfo store at deserialization using the GetValue methods.

For more information about customizing serialization, see [<topic://cpconCustomSerialization>].

The following code example demonstrates the SerializationInfo for custom serialization and deserialization of various values.


using System;
using System.Web;
using System.IO;
using System.Collections;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Security.Permissions;


// There should be only one instance of this type per AppDomain.
[Serializable]
public sealed class Singleton : ISerializable 
{
    // This is the one instance of this type.
    private static readonly Singleton theOneObject = new Singleton();

    // Here are the instance fields.
    private string someString_value;
    private Int32 someNumber_value;

   public string SomeString
   {
       get{return someString_value;}
       set{someString_value = value;}
   }

   public Int32 SomeNumber
   {
       get{return someNumber_value;}
       set{someNumber_value = value;}
   }

    // Private constructor allowing this type to construct the Singleton.
    private Singleton() 
    { 
        // Do whatever is necessary to initialize the Singleton.
        someString_value = "This is a string field";
        someNumber_value = 123;
    }

    // A method returning a reference to the Singleton.
    public static Singleton GetSingleton() 
    { 
        return theOneObject; 
    }

    // A method called when serializing a Singleton.
    [SecurityPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, 
    Flags=SecurityPermissionFlag.SerializationFormatter)]
    void ISerializable.GetObjectData(
        SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context) 
    {
        // Instead of serializing this object, 
        // serialize a SingletonSerializationHelp instead.
        info.SetType(typeof(SingletonSerializationHelper));
        // No other values need to be added.
    }

    // Note: ISerializable's special constructor is not necessary 
    // because it is never called.
}


[Serializable]
internal sealed class SingletonSerializationHelper : IObjectReference 
{
    // This object has no fields (although it could).

    // GetRealObject is called after this object is deserialized.
    public Object GetRealObject(StreamingContext context) 
    {
        // When deserialiing this object, return a reference to 
        // the Singleton object instead.
        return Singleton.GetSingleton();
    }
}


class App 
{
    [STAThread]
    static void Main() 
    {
        FileStream fs = new FileStream("DataFile.dat", FileMode.Create);

        try 
        {
            // Construct a BinaryFormatter and use it 
            // to serialize the data to the stream.
            BinaryFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter();

            // Create an array with multiple elements refering to 
            // the one Singleton object.
            Singleton[] a1 = { Singleton.GetSingleton(), Singleton.GetSingleton() };

            // This displays "True".
            Console.WriteLine(
                "Do both array elements refer to the same object? " + 
                (a1[0] == a1[1]));     

            // Serialize the array elements.
            formatter.Serialize(fs, a1);

            // Deserialize the array elements.
            fs.Position = 0;
            Singleton[] a2 = (Singleton[]) formatter.Deserialize(fs);

            // This displays "True".
            Console.WriteLine("Do both array elements refer to the same object? " 
                + (a2[0] == a2[1])); 

            // This displays "True".
            Console.WriteLine("Do all array elements refer to the same object? " 
                + (a1[0] == a2[0]));
        }   
        catch (SerializationException e) 
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Failed to serialize. Reason: " + e.Message);
            throw;
        }
        finally 
        {
            fs.Close();
        }
    }
}


.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.
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Here's a simpler, more useful example...
[Serializable]
public class MyObject : ISerializable
{
  public int n1;
  public int n2;
  public String str;

  public MyObject()
  {
  }

  protected MyObject(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
  {
    n1 = info.GetInt32("i");
    n2 = info.GetInt32("j");
    str = info.GetString("k");
  }

[SecurityPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.Demand,
SerializationFormatter =true)]
public virtual void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
  {
    info.AddValue("i", n1);
    info.AddValue("j", n2);
    info.AddValue("k", str);
  }
}