De-serializing and serializing objects to be sent over the network. Ask Question Asked 4 years, 3. This 'Converts the Data structure into an array of bytes should be put inside a XML documentation block. Extension methods can only be declared at the module level in VB.NET. The serialization procedure for a method response is identical to that of a method call, except the first object of the object graph must support the IMethodReturnMessage interface. To deserialize a method response, use the DeserializeMethodResponse method. To save time, details about the caller object are not sent to the remote object during. Jun 19, 2017 VB.NET Serealize structure that contains lists. Shared members are not serialized because serialization is all about saving a class/structure instance, and shared members are not part of an instance. Add an instance property to your structure and you should be good to go. May 17, 2018 As a first example of serialization, let's do one of the easiest programs, but also one of the most useful: serializing data, and then deserializing data in simple class to and from a file. In this example, the data is not only serialized, but the structure of the data is saved too.

Serialization is the process of converting an object into a linear sequence of bytes called a 'byte stream.' Deserialization just reverses the process. But why would you want to convert an object into a byte stream?

The main reason is so you can move the object around. Consider the possibilities. Since 'everything is an object' in .NET, you can serialize anything and save it to a file. So you could serialize pictures, data files, the current state of a program module ('state' is like a snapshot of your program at a point in time so you could temporarily suspend execution and start again later) . whatever you need to do.

You can also store these objects on disk in files, send them over the web, pass them to a different program, keep a backup copy for safety or security. The possibilities are quite literally endless.

That's why serialization is such a key process in .NET and Visual Basic. Below is a section on custom serialization by implementing the ISerializable interface and coding a New and a GetObjectDatasubroutine.

As a first example of serialization, let's do one of the easiest programs, but also one of the most useful: serializing data, and then deserializing data in simple class to and from a file. In this example, the data is not only serialized, but the structure of the data is saved too. The structure here is declared in a module to keep things . well . structured.

Module SerializeParms
<Serializable()> Public Class ParmExample
Public Parm1Name As String = 'Parm1 Name'
Public Parm1Value As Integer = 12345
Public Parm2Name As String
Public Parm2Value As Decimal
End Class
End Module

Then, individual values can be saved to a file like this:

Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary
Imports System.IO
Public Class Form1
Private Sub mySerialize_Click( _
ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
Handles mySerialize.Click
Dim ParmData As New ParmExample
ParmData.Parm2Name = 'Parm2 Name'
ParmData.Parm2Value = 54321.12345
Dim s As New FileStream('ParmInfo', FileMode.Create)
Dim f As New BinaryFormatter
f.Serialize(s, ParmData)
s.Close()
End Sub
End Class

And those same values can be retrieved like this:

Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary
Imports System.IO
Public Class Form1
Private Sub myDeserialize_Click( _
ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
Handles myDeserialize.Click
Dim s = New FileStream('ParmInfo', FileMode.Open)
Dim f As New BinaryFormatter
Dim RestoredParms As New ParmExample
RestoredParms = f.Deserialize(s)
s.Close()
Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm1Name)
Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm1Value)
Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm2Name)
Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm2Value)
End Sub
End Class

A Structure or a collection (such as an ArrayList) rather than a Class could also be serialized to a file this same way.

Now that we have gone over the basic serializing process, lets look at the specific details that are part of the process on the next page.

One of the first things you should notice about this example is the <Serializable()> attribute in the Class. Attributes are just more information that you can provide to VB.NET about an object and they're used for a lot of different things. The attribute in this code tells VB.NET to add extra code so that later on, everything in this class can be serialized.

If there are specific items in the Class that you don't want to be serialized, you can use the <NonSerialized()> attribute to exclude them:

<NonSerialized()> Public Parm3Value As String = 'Whatever'

In the example, notice is that Serialize and Deserialize are methods of the BinaryFormatter object (f in this example).

f.Serialize(s, ParmData)

This object takes the FileStream object and the object to be serialized as parameters. We'll see that VB.NET offers another object that allows the result to be expressed as XML.

And one final note, if your object includes other subordinate objects, they'll be serialized too! But since all objects that are serialized must be marked with the <Serializable()> attribute, all of these child objects must be marked that way too.

Just to be completely clear about what is happening in your program, you might want to display the file named ParmData in Notepad to see what serialized data looks like. (If you followed this code, it should be in the bin.Debug folder in your project.) Since this is a binary file, most of the content isn't readable text, but you should be able to see any strings in your serialized file. We'll do an XML version next and you might want to compare the two just to be aware of the difference.

Serializing to XML instead of a binary file requires very few changes. XML isn't as fast and can't capture some object information, but it's far more flexible. XML can be used by just about any other software technology in the world today. If you want to be sure your file structures don't 'tie you into' Microsoft, this is a good option to look into. Microsoft is emphasizing 'LINQ to XML' to create XML data files in their latest technology but many people still prefer this method.

The 'X' in XML stands for eXtensible. In our XML example, we're going to use one of those extensions of XML, a technology called SOAP. This used to mean 'Simple Object Access Protocol' but now it's just a name. (SOAP has been upgraded so much that the original name doesn't fit that well anymore.)

The main thing that we have to change in our subroutines is the declation of the serialization formatter. This has to be changed in both the subroutine that serializes the object and the one that deserializes it again. For the default configuration, this involves three changes to your program. First, you have to add a Reference to the project. Right-click the project and select Add Reference .. Make sure .

System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap

Vb Net Serialize A Structure Pdf

. has been added to the project.

Then change the two statements in the program that references it.

Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap
Dim f As New SoapFormatter

This time, if you check out the same ParmData file in Notepad, you'll see that the whole thing is in readable XML text such as .