Are there any ways to tell WCF to serialize the whole class when it returns? Do I literally have to add DataMember to every property?
Since .NET 3.5 SP1, you don't have to do this anymore.
If you don't have any [DataContract] and [DataMember] attributes, the DataContractSerializer class will behave like the old XmlSerializer: it will serialize all public read/write properties that are listed in the class.
You do lose a few things in the process though:
since you don't have [DataMember] attributes, you cannot define an order of the fields anymore - they'll be serialized in the order of appearance
you cannot omit a public property (since that would require [DataMember] on all other properties/fields)
you cannot define a property to be Required (that would be on the [DataMember] attribute again)
your class now needs to have a public, parameter-less constructor (usually not needed for data contracts)
Read all about it in detail from Aaron Skonnard at Pluralsight.
I love marc's answer, but I want to add some more info.
DataContractSerializer and DataContractJsonSerializer both support, out of the box, many other serialization models as well. This includes IXmlSerializable, Serializable, and ISerializable. POCO support was added in .NET 3.5 SP1, but support for these other models has always been there since .NET 3
This blog post details the extent of the support and more importantly, the prioritization of different models by the serializer (i.e., it tells you what DataContract-based serializers would do if you have one type decorated with multiple serialization models)
So, if you read that blog post, you'll notice that POCO support is last in the priority list. It is the serializer's last resort, if there is absolutely no other serialization programming model available on the type or its parent. For example, if the type is an enumerable of some sort, it will get serializaed according to traditional collection rules. If it's ISerializable or Serializable, it will get serialized according to their serialization rules.
Another important difference: during deserialization of all other types, the default zero-params constructor is never called. For POCO types, it is always called! This gives you an additional hook you don't have so easily in other serialization models!
Related
What is the benefit of keeping attribute in WCF service?
What I mean is why to give them [Datamember] and [Datacontract] and what's advantage and disadvantage?
What happens if I make attributes and its class in different project with simple class library project and I insert its "dll" reference to WCF service class library, which contains all operation that are [ServiceContract] and [operatinconntract] on this attribute.
WCF parameters need to be serializable. Value types such as int and string will be by default and therefore just work.
DataContractAttribute is used to mark complex types as serializable. See Using Data Contracts for more information.
Pre-WCF, serialization was done using the XmlSerializer class and by marking a type as [Serializable] it meant that all members were serialized by default.
However with DataContractSerializer which is the preferred serializer used in WCF, members of a class will not be serialized unless indicated.
Re having contract types in a different assembly - yes this is possible, and actually it's best practice to keep your contract types separate from your service implementation assembly.
I removed [DataMember] attribute from all of my public properties, yet the properties are still showing up in the results of my WCF operations. I found this link here that explains if .Net is on both ends of the wire, then DataMember doesn't have much of an effect on determining what properties are included in the DataContract.
So, how do you exclude public properties from being included in WCF results?
Thanks
There are several different ways that the serialization in WCF can work. They are outlined here. Note that [Serializable] classes can also be used.
Note the last item in that list: Starting with 3.5 SP1, classes that are not annotated with any option would still be serializable by the WCF infrastructure. If you do that, however, you're left with no way to control how that serialization happens and what properties are serialized (which is why I personally feel that option was a mistake to add, but that's another story).
Is there any reason why you removed the [DataContract][DataMember] attributes?
A class that has the [DataContract] attribute, is it not automatically serialized?
If not, is it a requirement to use the [Serializable] attribute (or inherit from ISerialize)?
I ask this because I have old code from a previous project that apparently the [DataContract] classes do not mention anything, explicitly, about serialization.
The ultimate question:
I want a WCF operation (method) to return a DataContract class.
Does the method have to explicitly serialize the class before returning it, or is it automatically serialized? I always thought it would be the latter.
Thanks!
No, [Serializable] is not necessary on a data contract. It is also not necessary for XML Serialization.
There's a few options for serialization in .NET. SerializableAttribute and ISerializable go back to the beginning and are used by the BinaryFormatter, SoapFormatter, etc.
DataContractSerializer, being relatively new, can support objects that define their serialization ability with SerializableAttribute, but it's not necessary. If you are just serializing the object using DataContractSerializer then using the data contract attributes is all you need to do.
Obviously the members you mark as serializable must also be of serializable types.
For more information, see Types Supported by the Data Contract Serializer on MSDN.
Just to add on to this, DataContractSerializer supports far more than just DataContract types. See this excellent blog post for a detailed walk-through of the entire universe of types supported by DataContractSerializer: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sowmy/archive/2006/02/22/536747.aspx
I have several classes such as Order, Customer, etc. These classes serve for holding data and nothing more. I want to be able to reuse these classes in other projects in the future, but for some reason I don't quite understand, WCF forces me to decorate the data members with the [DataMember] attribute, forcing me to reference WCF plumbing that I will never use in other projects.
I would imagine that WCF lets you take any serializable class and use it as a content type. Am I understanding this correctly?
Yes, with .NET 3.5 SP1, the WCF DataContractSerializer will now serialize any POCO class just the same way as the XmlSerializer will - any public property will be serialized.
I don't know for sure whether that's a good thing - one of the pillars of WCF is being explicit, in order to clearly state your intent. I personally find it a good thing to mark your classes with [DataContract] and your fields and properties you want to have serialized explicitly with [DataMember] - it makes it clearer as to what's going on, and it doesn't hurt your POCO class at all.
And btw: you don't have to reference any "WCF plumbing" to do this - those attributes live in System.Runtime.Serialization - a very generic system assembly.....
I am working with WCF .NET 3.5 SP1 and have read that one does NOT have to decorate their Entities/Collections with such things as [DataMember], [DataConract], and/or [Serializable]? What is the best way to go? What have you all encountered?
I am on 3.5 SP1.
See Using Data Contracts.
New complex types that you create must
have a data contract defined for them
to be serializable. By default, the
DataContractSerializer infers the data
contract and serializes all publicly
visible types. All public read/write
properties and fields of the type are
serialized. You can opt out members
from serialization by using the
IgnoreDataMemberAttribute. You can
also explicitly create a data contract
by using DataContractAttribute and
DataMemberAttribute attributes. This
is normally done by applying the
DataContractAttribute attribute to the
type. This attribute can be applied to
classes, structures, and enumerations.
The DataMemberAttribute attribute must
then be applied to each member of the
data contract type to indicate that it
is a data member, that is, it should
be serialized. For more information,
see Serializable Types.
Like #Terry said, it's probably better to proactively declare which properties you want to expose. This way you could future proof your code from unintentionally exposing fields when the base class adds a public property in the future.
I'm of the opinion that it won't hurt to proactively express you intent to use the class as a DataContract. I would guess that a class that isn't serializable still won't be useful as a DataContract in SP1... :)