How to send variables/objects in TCP Socket?

Question

How can I send variables/objects/data from one program to another in a LAN using TCP Socket? In particular, I want to send variables like TreeNode and ListViewItem. How can I do this? How will a sender program convert the variable to a form which it can send to another program in a LAN? And how will the receiver program bring back the sent variable to it's original form?

EDIT: Found the following code on a website which is no longer available and requested to remove the link.

        // Convert an object to a byte array
        private byte[] ObjectToByteArray(Object obj)
        {
            if (obj == null)
                return null;
            BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
            MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
            bf.Serialize(ms, obj);
            return ms.ToArray();
        }

        // Convert a byte array to an Object
        private Object ByteArrayToObject(byte[] arrBytes)
        {
            MemoryStream memStream = new MemoryStream();
            BinaryFormatter binForm = new BinaryFormatter();
            memStream.Write(arrBytes, 0, arrBytes.Length);
            memStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
            Object obj = (Object)binForm.Deserialize(memStream);
            return obj;
        }

This is called serialization. You should probably read up on it. — svick
– svick, Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 16:45
Please don't add things like " C#" to the ends of your titles. That's what the tags are for. — John Saunders
– John Saunders, Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 16:57
@JohnSaunders sorry. I was just being specific. Didn't know I was overdoing it. — Xel
– Xel, Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 17:54

Umair · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-22 16:47:10Z

3

You can serialize the data into a byte array and then send that? The receiver program would then de-serialize the data at the other end.

answered Feb 22, 2012 at 16:47

Umair

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Comments

Jason · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-24 03:48:25Z

0

It is called serialization, and there are many types of it. Some types favor certain types of data, some types offer greater speeds than compression ratios, and some types offer greater compression ratios than speeds.

JSON.NET, Google Protocol Buffers, YaxLib...there are plenty, take your pick. Some are easier to use than others. I recommend JSON.NET because there are probably more tutorials online for that one, and it's humanly-readable while you're debugging.

answered Feb 24, 2012 at 3:48

Jason

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