Serialization and DeSerialization in C#

Serialization and DeSerialization in C#


Serialization is the process of converting an object into a stream of bytes in order to persist it to memory, a database, or a file. Its main purpose is to save the state of an object in order to be able to recreate it when needed. The reverse process is called deserialization.



The object is serialized to a stream, which carries not just the data, but information about the object's type, such as its version, culture, and assembly name. From that stream, it can be stored in a database, a file, or memory.

Serialization allows the developer to save the state of an object and recreate it as needed, providing storage of objects as well as data exchange. Through serialization, a developer can perform actions like sending the object to a remote application by means of a Web Service, passing an object from one domain to another, passing an object through a firewall as an XML string, or maintaining security or user-specific information across applications.

Binary Serialization

Binary serialization uses binary encoding to produce compact serialization for uses such as storage or socket-based network streams.

XML Serialization

XML serialization serializes the public fields and properties of an object, or the parameters and return values of methods, into an XML stream that conforms to a specific XML Schema definition language (XSD) document. XML serialization results in strongly typed classes with public properties and fields that are converted to XML.System.Xml.Serialization contains the classes necessary for serializing and deserializing XML.

SOAP Serialization

XML serialization can also be used to serialize objects into XML streams that conform to the SOAP specification. SOAP is a protocol based on XML, designed specifically to transport procedure calls using XML. As with regular XML serialization, attributes can be used to control the literal-style SOAP messages generated by an XML Web service.

Basic Serialization

The only requirement in basic serialization is that the object has the SerializableAttribute attribute applied. The NonSerializedAttribute can be used to keep specific fields from being serialized.

When you use basic serialization, the versioning of objects may create problems, in which case custom serialization may be preferable. Basic serialization is the easiest way to perform serialization, but it does not provide much control over the process.

Custom Serialization

In custom serialization, you can specify exactly which objects will be serialized and how it will be done. The class must be marked SerializableAttribute and implement theISerializable interface.

Html.TextBox vs Html.TextBoxFor in MVC

Html.TextBox vs Html.TextBoxFor in MVC

Html.TextBox and Html.DropDownList are not strongly typed and hence they doen't require a
strongly typed view. This means that we can hardcore whatever name we want.

On the other hand, Html.TextFor and Html.DropDownListFor are strongly typed and requires
a strongly typed view, and the name is inferred from the Lambda expression.

Whether we use Html.TextBox and Html.DropDownlist or Html.TextBoxFor and Html.DropDownListFor,
the end result is the same. they produce the same Html.

Nested List in C#

Nested List in C#

Consider there are two Class

 public class Person
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }

        public List< Addresses > { get; set; }

    }

    public class Address
    {
        public string Line1 { get; set; }
        public string Line2 { get; set; }
        public string ZipCode { get; set; }
        public string City { get; set; }
        public string State { get; set; }
        public string Country { get; set; }
    }

Procedure used to add multiple class in the List
var personDetails = new List< Person >
                              {
                                  new Person
                                  {
                                      Id = 1, FirstName = "Arun",
                                      LastName = "Prakash",
                                      Addresses = new List< Address >
                                                      {
                                                          new Address{Line1 = "Hope College",Line2 = "Coimbatore"}
                                                 
                                                      }
                                  },
                                                                                                     
                                  new Person{
                                      Id = 2, FirstName = "Sanjay",
                                      LastName = "Ramasamy",
                                      Addresses = new List< Address >
                                                      {
                                                          new Address{Line1 = "Anna Salai",Line2= "Chennai"}
                                                     
                                                      }
                                  }
                              };

Html.RenderPartial vs Html.Partial, Html.RenderAction vs Html.Action

Html.RenderPartial vs Html.Partial, Html.RenderAction vs Html.Action 


@Html.Partial("Details")
@Html.Action("Index", "Home")

and

@{ Html.RenderPartial("Details"); }
@{ Html.RenderAction("Index", "Home"); }

Html.Partial returns a string, Html.RenderPartial calls Write internally, and returns void.

You can store the output of Html.Partial in a variable, or return it from a function. You cannot do this with Html.RenderPartial.

Html.RenderPartial -The result will be written to the Response stream during the execution.

The same is true for Html.Action and Html.RenderAction.

MVC 3 Ajax Json Sample

MVC 3 Ajax Json Sample 

Create model name PersonDetails.cs
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace MVCJsonAjax.Models
{
    public class Person
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }

        public List< Address > Addresses { get; set; }
    }

    public class Address
    {
        public string Line1 { get; set; }
        public string Line2 { get; set; }
        public string ZipCode { get; set; }
        public string City { get; set; }
        public string State { get; set; }
        public string Country { get; set; }
    }

}


Create Controller - SaveController.cs

using System.Web.Mvc;
using MVCJsonAjax.Models;

namespace MVCJsonAjax.Controllers
{
    public class SaveController : Controller
    {
        //
        // GET: /Save/

        [ActionName("SaveData"),HttpGet]
        public ActionResult SaveData()
        {
            return View();
        }


     [ActionName("SaveData"), HttpPost]
        public JsonResult SaveData(Person objPerson,Address objAddress)
         {

             JsonResult result = new JsonResult();

            // Save logic - save person and address details

             result.Data = "Saved Successfully";
             return result;
        }
 
    }
}

Create View for ActionResult SaveData()

@using MVCJsonAjax.Models
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "SaveData";
}
< h2 >
    Save Data< /h2 >

    < div>
    < div id="message" >
    < /div>
< /div >


< script type =" text/javascript ">
    $(document).ready(function () {
         
        $('#btnSubmit').click(function () {
         
            var Person =
            {
                FirstName: $('#Item1_FirstName').val(),
                LastName: $('#Item1_LastName').val()
            };

            var Address =
                {
                    Line1: $('#Item2_Line1').val(),
                    Line2: $('#Item2_Line2').val(),
                    ZipCode: $('#Item2_ZipCode').val(),
                    City: $('#Item2_City').val(),
                    State: $('#Item2_State').val(),
                    Country: $('#Item2_Country').val()
                };

                var obj = { "Per": Person, "Add": Address};

            $.ajax({
                url: '/Save/SaveData',
                type: "POST",
                data:JSON.stringify({objPerson: Person ,objAddress: Address }),              
                cache: false,
                dataType: "json",
                contentType: "application/json;charset=utf-8",
                success: function (result) {
                    $('#message').html(result).fadeIn();

                }
            });

            return false;
        });
    });




@model Tuple< Person, Address >
@using ( Html.BeginForm() )
{
    < table >
        < tr >
            < td >
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Item1.FirstName)
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Item1.FirstName)
            < /td >
        < /tr >
        < tr >
            < td >
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Item1.LastName)
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Item1.LastName)
            < /td >
        < /tr >
        < tr >
            < td >
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Item2.Line1)
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Item2.Line1)
            < /td >
        < /tr >
        < tr >
            < td >
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Item2.Line2)
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Item2.Line2)
            < /td >
        < /tr >
        < tr >
            < td >
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Item2.ZipCode)
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Item2.ZipCode)
            < /td >
        < /tr >
        < tr >
            < td >
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Item2.City)
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Item2.City)
            < /td >
        < /tr >
        < tr >
            < td >
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Item2.State)
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Item2.State)
            < /td >
        < /tr >
        < tr >
            < td >
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Item2.Country)
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Item2.Country)
            < /td >
        < /tr >
        < tr >
            < td >
                <  input type="submit" value="Submit" id="btnSubmit" / >
            < /td >
        < /tr >
    < /table >

}

Output

Click Here to Download

Dynamic v. Strongly Typed Views in MVC C# Razor Engine

Dynamic vs. Strongly Typed Views

Dynamic
Because we’re using a dynamic and not a strongly typed view, intellisense doesn’t help us. The completed code is shown below:

@model dynamic
         
@ {
    ViewBag.Title = "IndexNotStonglyTyped";
}

Index Not Stongly Typed< /h2 >

< p >
 < ul >
@foreach (var blog in Model) {
   < li >
    < a href="@blog.URL">@blog.Name< /a >
   < /li >  
}
 < /ul >

< /p >

Strongly Typed Views
When it is strongly typed view.



Inside the new view template we get intellisense support.

Handle Multiple Submit button in MVC C#

Handle Multiple Submit button in MVC C#

View
<% Html.BeginForm("MyAction", "MyController", FormMethod.Post); %>
< input type="submit" name="submitButton" value="Send" / >
< input type="submit" name="submitButton" value="Cancel" / >

<% Html.EndForm(); %>

Controller
public class MyController : Controller {
    public ActionResult MyAction(string submitButton) {
        switch(submitButton) {
            case "Send":
                // delegate sending to another controller action
                return(Send());
            case "Cancel":
                // call another action to perform the cancellation
                return(Cancel());
            default:
                // If they've submitted the form without a submitButton,
                // just return the view again.
                return(View());
        }
    }

    private ActionResult Cancel() {
        // process the cancellation request here.
        return(View("Cancelled"));
    }

    private ActionResult Send() {
        // perform the actual send operation here.
        return(View("SendConfirmed"));
    }

}