Nested class serialization

Question

I'd like to serialize (in JSON format) a list of object where each object has a property of another type of object. This is what I've got so far:

[DataContract]
public class Person{

   [DataMember]
   public string Name { get; set; }
   [DataMember]
   public Address FullAddress { get; set; }
}

[DataContract]
public class Address {
   private readonly byte[] _foo;
   private ulong _value;

   public byte[] Foo { get { return (byte[]) _foo.Clone(); }}

   public ulong Value { get { return _value; } set { return _value; }}

   public Address(byte [] bytes){
      _foo = new byte[bytes.Length];
      Array.Copy(bytes, _foo, bytes.Length);

      foreach(byte b in _foo){
        _value |= b; // I do some bit manipulation here and modify the _value
      }

   }

   public MacAddress() // added this otherwise I get an exception
   {

   }
}

this is how I'm serializing and deserializing:

public class MyJson{

    public MyJson(){
      var list = new List<Person>{ /* added a bunch of person here */ };
      var serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
      string json = serializer.Serialize(list);
      // serialization works fine


      var desList = serializer.Deserialize<IList<Person>>(json);

      // the deserialization doesn't properly deserialize Address property.

   }
}

As commented above, the serialization works fine but deserialization doesn't deserialize Address properly. I get a number for Value property (as expected) but not for Foo (I know it is missing a setter but what if, for some reason, I cannot put a setter?).

What am I missing here?

D Stanley · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-09 03:53:31Z

2

I don't use JSon but if it works like XML serialization I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that Foo doesn't have a setter. You may need to create a custom serialization class that uses the constructor to set Foo. Others may be able to provide more specifics.

answered Feb 9, 2012 at 3:53

D Stanley

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1 Comment

ashokgelal Over a year ago

You are right, having a setter for Foo does work. But I'm wondering if there is any other way to make it work in the case of absence of a setter.

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