How to convert any object to byte[] without marking it Serializable or DataContract?

[1eyhk1]

hello How to convert any object to byte[] without marking it Serializable or DataContract? Of course this would work but you'd need to mark myObj class Serializable (I'm lazy dont want handcode serializable for big classes sorry) using (System.IO.MemoryStream returnStm = new System.IO.MemoryStream()) { BinaryFormatter ftm = new BinaryFormatter(); ftm.Serialize(returnStm , myObj); return returnStm .ToArray(); // this would return byte[] } Anyone who can tell me how I can commit such crime? Thank you

[Gonzalo Cao]

Hi, I do this and it works for me. public byte[] RawSerialize(object item, Type anyType) { int structSize = Marshal.SizeOf(item); IntPtr ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(structSize); Marshal.StructureToPtr(item, ptr, true); byte[] bff = new byte[structSize]; Marshal.Copy(ptr, bff, 0, structSize); Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptr); return bff; }

[1eyhk1]

Many thanks I don't have time test it now but already feel my knowledge increase

[1eyhk1]

Hello Gonzalo Do you have the code for reverse process as well please please please?

[Gonzalo Cao]

public static object RawDeserialize(byte[] rawdatas, Type anytype)
{
int rawsize = Marshal.SizeOf(anytype);

   if (rawsize != rawdatas.Length)
   { return null; }

   IntPtr buffer = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(rawsize);

   Marshal.Copy(rawdatas, 0, buffer, rawsize);

   object retobj = Marshal.PtrToStructure(buffer, anytype);

   Marshal.FreeHGlobal(buffer);
   return retobj;
 }

Here it is :)

[1eyhk1]

Many thanks Master Cao! If I still can't get my WCF contract working I may just try serialize/de-serialize whole deal to byte[]

[Gonzalo Cao]

You welcome. Good luck with you project.

[1eyhk1]

Oh bummer {"Type 'XXXXX.MyAccount' cannot be marshaled as an unmanaged structure; no meaningful size or offset can be computed."} I suspect this is because MyAccount is actually a complex hierarchy containing a child collection... class MyAccount { ... public List<Invoicesgt; GroupList; } Eekkk... I was going to wire down an array of accounts (i.e. MyAccount[]) but now can't even wire down one single MyAccount... I desparation I tried this: using (System.IO.MemoryStream stream = new System.IO.MemoryStream()) { BinaryFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter(); formatter.Serialize(stream, result); byte[] BinAcct = stream.ToArray()); } But even then I ran into runtime exception, complaint was that class is not marked serializable (Although marked DataContract), looks like I got lucky with DataContractSerializer dataContractSerializer = new DataContractSerializer(Acct.GetType()); using (MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream()) { dataContractSerializer.WriteObject(memoryStream, Acct); btAccountSet = new byte[memoryStream.Length]; Array.Copy(memoryStream.GetBuffer(), btAccountSet, btAccountSet.Length); } This finally get the job done (only serialization part, still stuck during deserialization). 1. Serialize side: DataContractSerializer serial = new DataContractSerializer(Acct.GetType()); using (MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream()) { serial.WriteObject(memoryStream, oAcct); btPayload = new byte[memoryStream.Length]; Array.Copy(memoryStream.GetBuffer(), btPayload, btPayload.Length); } 2. Deserialize side: byte[] raw = (byte[]) GetPayload(); serial = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(MyAccount)); using (MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream(raw)) { memoryStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin); oAcct = (MyAccount) serial.ReadObject(memoryStream); } So, all good sending a single object, but still need to attempt sending/serializing a list of MyAccount (with subclasses) Thanks

modified on Saturday, August 21, 2010 1:46 AM

[Gonzalo Cao]

Were you able to fix it?? With the sample code you've posted I was not able to find the problem.

[1eyhk1]

hey yes, many thanks, working now and I just dodged a tight deadline! (Code I posted actually works, forgot to remove "Bummer" as initially when I posted the reply I was still having problem) Thanks very much!