Serialize/Deserilize array of objects/structs

Question

I have read many codes on this but none happened to solve the problem. first the code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;

namespace Serialization
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (MoveSaver objSaver = new MoveSaver(@"C:\1.bin"))
            {
                MoveAndTime mv1, mv2;
                mv1.MoveStruc = "1";
                mv1.timeHLd = DateTime.Now;
                objSaver.SaveToFile(mv1);
                mv2.MoveStruc = "2";
                mv2.timeHLd = DateTime.Now;
                objSaver.SaveToFile(mv2);
            }

            using (MoveSaver svrObj = new MoveSaver())
            {
               MoveAndTime[] MVTobjs = svrObj.DeSerializeObject(@"C:\1.bin");
               foreach (MoveAndTime item in MVTobjs)
               {
                   //Do Something
               }
            }
        }

    }


    public class MoveSaver:IDisposable 
    {
        public void Dispose()
        {
            if (fs != null)
            {
                fs.Close();
            }
        }
        FileStream fs;
        StreamWriter sw;
        public string filename { get; set; }
        public MoveSaver(string FileName)
        {
            this.filename = FileName;
            fs = new FileStream(filename, FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.ReadWrite);
        }

        public MoveSaver()
        {

        }

        ~MoveSaver()
        {
            if (fs != null)
            {
                fs.Close();
            }

        }

        public MoveAndTime[] DeSerializeObject(string filename)
        {
            MoveAndTime[] objectToSerialize;
            Stream stream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open);
            BinaryFormatter bFormatter = new BinaryFormatter();
            objectToSerialize = (MoveAndTime[])bFormatter.Deserialize(stream);
            stream.Close();
            return objectToSerialize;
        }

        public bool SaveToFile(MoveAndTime moveTime)
        {
            try
            {
                BinaryFormatter bformatter = new BinaryFormatter();
                bformatter.Serialize(fs, moveTime);
                return true;
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                return false;
            }
        }
    }

    [Serializable]
    public struct MoveAndTime
    {
        public string MoveStruc;
        public DateTime timeHLd;
    }
}

The code mimics a need for saving all actions of user on the program. to be later shown on that program (say you play cards or so and you want to review :D what has happened). The problem is when DeSerializeObject function is called the line objectToSerialize = (MoveAndTime[])bFormatter.Deserialize(stream); throws an exception (definitely in runtime) that the cast from a single object to array is not valid:

Unable to cast object of type 'Serialization.MoveAndTime' to type 'Serialization.MoveAndTime[]'.

Any idea? Any improvement or total change of approach is appreciated.

You should not have a finalizer

SLaks
– SLaks

2011-02-11 14:53:59 +00:00
Commented Feb 11, 2011 at 14:53 — SLaks
– SLaks, Commented Feb 11, 2011 at 14:53

SLaks · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-11 14:54:51Z

1

You're saving a single MoveAndTime instance to the file, but you're trying to read an array of them.

answered Feb 11, 2011 at 14:54

SLaks

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7 Comments

Yasser Sobhdel Over a year ago

how can I save an array when the inputs are discontinued and one at a time?

SLaks Over a year ago

Are you trying to write multiple objects one-at-a-time, then write them as an array?

Yasser Sobhdel Over a year ago

Yeah exactly. The main Problem is this.

SLaks Over a year ago

You can either save a complete array to the file every time, or read them one by one and add them to a List<T>.

Yasser Sobhdel Over a year ago

How can I read them one by one? if I don't want to change the way I store them in a single file, is it possible to do that? Can you provide me with a sample code?

|

cgon · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-11 15:27:14Z

1

Please modify your main block like this. I think it achieves what you want.

static void Main(string[] args)
{
        using (MoveSaver objSaver = new MoveSaver(@"C:\1.bin"))
        {
            MoveAndTime[] MVobjects = new MoveAndTime[2];

            MoveAndTime mv1, mv2;
            mv2 = new MoveAndTime();
            mv1 = new MoveAndTime();
            mv1.MoveStruc = "1";
            mv1.timeHLd = DateTime.Now;

            mv2.MoveStruc = "2";
            mv2.timeHLd = DateTime.Now;

            MVobjects[0] = new MoveAndTime();
            MVobjects[0] = mv1;
            MVobjects[1] = new MoveAndTime();
            MVobjects[1] = mv2;

            objSaver.SaveToFile(MVobjects);
        }

        using (MoveSaver svrObj = new MoveSaver())
        {
            MoveAndTime[] MVTobjs = svrObj.DeSerializeObject(@"C:\1.bin");
            foreach (MoveAndTime item in MVTobjs)
            {
                //Do Something
                Console.WriteLine(item.MoveStruc);
                Console.WriteLine(item.timeHLd);
            }
        }
    }

Thanks

answered Feb 11, 2011 at 15:27

cgon

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1 Comment

Yasser Sobhdel Over a year ago

Thanks for your code, but I have scattered data and they are available one at a time, so I can't pass an array that already has all data.

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