BinaryFormatter.Serialize Method

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary

Assembly:: System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.dll

Assembly:: mscorlib.dll

Assembly:: netstandard.dll

Important

Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

Serializes an object, or graph of connected objects, to the given stream.

Overloads

Serialize(Stream, Object)	Obsolete. Serializes the object, or graph of objects with the specified top (root), to the given stream.
Serialize(Stream, Object, Header[])	Serializes the object, or graph of objects with the specified top (root), to the given stream attaching the provided headers.

Serialize(Stream, Object)

Caution

BinaryFormatter serialization is obsolete and should not be used. See https://aka.ms/binaryformatter for more information.

Serializes the object, or graph of objects with the specified top (root), to the given stream.

public:
 virtual void Serialize(System::IO::Stream ^ serializationStream, System::Object ^ graph);

[System.Obsolete("BinaryFormatter serialization is obsolete and should not be used. See https://aka.ms/binaryformatter for more information.", DiagnosticId="SYSLIB0011", UrlFormat="https://aka.ms/dotnet-warnings/{0}")]
public void Serialize (System.IO.Stream serializationStream, object graph);

public void Serialize (System.IO.Stream serializationStream, object graph);

[<System.Obsolete("BinaryFormatter serialization is obsolete and should not be used. See https://aka.ms/binaryformatter for more information.", DiagnosticId="SYSLIB0011", UrlFormat="https://aka.ms/dotnet-warnings/{0}")>]
abstract member Serialize : System.IO.Stream * obj -> unit
override this.Serialize : System.IO.Stream * obj -> unit

abstract member Serialize : System.IO.Stream * obj -> unit
override this.Serialize : System.IO.Stream * obj -> unit

Public Sub Serialize (serializationStream As Stream, graph As Object)

Parameters

serializationStream: Stream

The stream to which the graph is to be serialized.

graph: Object

The object at the root of the graph to serialize.

Implements

Serialize(Stream, Object)

Attributes: ObsoleteAttribute

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

The serializationStream is null.

-or-

The graph is null.

SerializationException

An error has occurred during serialization, such as if an object in the graph parameter is not marked as serializable.

SecurityException

The caller does not have the required permission.

NotSupportedException

ASP.NET Core 5 and later: Always thrown unless BinaryFormatter functionality is re-enabled in the project file. For more information, see Resolving BinaryFormatter obsoletion and disablement errors.

Examples

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::Runtime::Serialization::Formatters::Binary;
using namespace System::Runtime::Serialization;
ref class App
{
public:
   static void Serialize()
   {
      
      // Create a hashtable of values that will eventually be serialized.
      Hashtable^ addresses = gcnew Hashtable;
      addresses->Add( "Jeff", "123 Main Street, Redmond, WA 98052" );
      addresses->Add( "Fred", "987 Pine Road, Phila., PA 19116" );
      addresses->Add( "Mary", "PO Box 112233, Palo Alto, CA 94301" );
      
      // To serialize the hashtable (and its keys/values),  
      // you must first open a stream for writing. 
      // In this case we will use a file stream.
      FileStream^ fs = gcnew FileStream( "DataFile.dat",FileMode::Create );
      
      // Construct a BinaryFormatter and use it to serialize the data to the stream.
      BinaryFormatter^ formatter = gcnew BinaryFormatter;
      try
      {
         formatter->Serialize( fs, addresses );
      }
      catch ( SerializationException^ e ) 
      {
         Console::WriteLine( "Failed to serialize. Reason: {0}", e->Message );
         throw;
      }
      finally
      {
         fs->Close();
      }

   }

   static void Deserialize()
   {
      
      // Declare the hashtable reference.
      Hashtable^ addresses = nullptr;
      
      // Open the file containing the data that we want to deserialize.
      FileStream^ fs = gcnew FileStream( "DataFile.dat",FileMode::Open );
      try
      {
         BinaryFormatter^ formatter = gcnew BinaryFormatter;
         
         // Deserialize the hashtable from the file and 
         // assign the reference to our local variable.
         addresses = dynamic_cast<Hashtable^>(formatter->Deserialize( fs ));
      }
      catch ( SerializationException^ e ) 
      {
         Console::WriteLine( "Failed to deserialize. Reason: {0}", e->Message );
         throw;
      }
      finally
      {
         fs->Close();
      }

      
      // To prove that the table deserialized correctly, display the keys/values.
      IEnumerator^ myEnum = addresses->GetEnumerator();
      while ( myEnum->MoveNext() )
      {
         DictionaryEntry ^ de = safe_cast<DictionaryEntry ^>(myEnum->Current);
         Console::WriteLine( " {0} lives at {1}.", de->Key, de->Value );
      }
   }

};


[STAThread]
int main()
{
   App::Serialize();
   App::Deserialize();
   return 0;
}

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Collections;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;

public class App
{
    [STAThread]
    static void Main()
    {
        Serialize();
        Deserialize();
    }

    static void Serialize()
    {
        // Create a hashtable of values that will eventually be serialized.
        Hashtable addresses = new Hashtable();
        addresses.Add("Jeff", "123 Main Street, Redmond, WA 98052");
        addresses.Add("Fred", "987 Pine Road, Phila., PA 19116");
        addresses.Add("Mary", "PO Box 112233, Palo Alto, CA 94301");

        // To serialize the hashtable and its key/value pairs,
        // you must first open a stream for writing.
        // In this case, use a file stream.
        FileStream fs = new FileStream("DataFile.dat", FileMode.Create);

        // Construct a BinaryFormatter and use it to serialize the data to the stream.
        BinaryFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
        try
        {
            formatter.Serialize(fs, addresses);
        }
        catch (SerializationException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Failed to serialize. Reason: " + e.Message);
            throw;
        }
        finally
        {
            fs.Close();
        }
    }

    static void Deserialize()
    {
        // Declare the hashtable reference.
        Hashtable addresses  = null;

        // Open the file containing the data that you want to deserialize.
        FileStream fs = new FileStream("DataFile.dat", FileMode.Open);
        try
        {
            BinaryFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter();

            // Deserialize the hashtable from the file and
            // assign the reference to the local variable.
            addresses = (Hashtable) formatter.Deserialize(fs);
        }
        catch (SerializationException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Failed to deserialize. Reason: " + e.Message);
            throw;
        }
        finally
        {
            fs.Close();
        }

        // To prove that the table deserialized correctly,
        // display the key/value pairs.
        foreach (DictionaryEntry de in addresses)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0} lives at {1}.", de.Key, de.Value);
        }
    }
}

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Collections
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization


Module App

    Sub Main()
        Serialize()
        Deserialize()
    End Sub

    Sub Serialize()

        ' Create a hashtable of values that will eventually be serialized.
        Dim addresses As New Hashtable
        addresses.Add("Jeff", "123 Main Street, Redmond, WA 98052")
        addresses.Add("Fred", "987 Pine Road, Phila., PA 19116")
        addresses.Add("Mary", "PO Box 112233, Palo Alto, CA 94301")

        ' To serialize the hashtable (and its key/value pairs),  
        ' you must first open a stream for writing. 
        ' In this case, use a file stream.
        Dim fs As New FileStream("DataFile.dat", FileMode.Create)

        ' Construct a BinaryFormatter and use it to serialize the data to the stream.
        Dim formatter As New BinaryFormatter
        Try
            formatter.Serialize(fs, addresses)
        Catch e As SerializationException
            Console.WriteLine("Failed to serialize. Reason: " & e.Message)
            Throw
        Finally
            fs.Close()
        End Try
    End Sub



    Sub Deserialize()
        ' Declare the hashtable reference.
        Dim addresses As Hashtable = Nothing

        ' Open the file containing the data that you want to deserialize.
        Dim fs As New FileStream("DataFile.dat", FileMode.Open)
        Try
            Dim formatter As New BinaryFormatter

            ' Deserialize the hashtable from the file and 
            ' assign the reference to the local variable.
            addresses = DirectCast(formatter.Deserialize(fs), Hashtable)
        Catch e As SerializationException
            Console.WriteLine("Failed to deserialize. Reason: " & e.Message)
            Throw
        Finally
            fs.Close()
        End Try

        ' To prove that the table deserialized correctly, 
        ' display the key/value pairs.
        Dim de As DictionaryEntry
        For Each de In addresses
            Console.WriteLine("{0} lives at {1}.", de.Key, de.Value)
        Next
    End Sub
End Module

Applies to

Serialize(Stream, Object, Header[])

Serializes the object, or graph of objects with the specified top (root), to the given stream attaching the provided headers.

public:
 virtual void Serialize(System::IO::Stream ^ serializationStream, System::Object ^ graph, cli::array <System::Runtime::Remoting::Messaging::Header ^> ^ headers);

public void Serialize (System.IO.Stream serializationStream, object graph, System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.Header[] headers);

abstract member Serialize : System.IO.Stream * obj * System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.Header[] -> unit
override this.Serialize : System.IO.Stream * obj * System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.Header[] -> unit

Public Sub Serialize (serializationStream As Stream, graph As Object, headers As Header())

Parameters

serializationStream: Stream

The stream to which the object is to be serialized.

graph: Object

The object at the root of the graph to serialize.

headers: Header[]

Remoting headers to include in the serialization. Can be null.

Implements

Serialize(Stream, Object, Header[])

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

The serializationStream is null.

SerializationException

An error has occurred during serialization, such as if an object in the graph parameter is not marked as serializable.

SecurityException

The caller does not have the required permission.

Remarks

The serialization process includes the information supplied in the headers parameter at the front of the serialized stream.

Headers are used only for specific remoting applications.

Applies to

BinaryFormatter.Serialize Method

Definition

Overloads

Serialize(Stream, Object)

Parameters

Implements

Exceptions

Examples

Applies to

Serialize(Stream, Object, Header[])

Parameters

Implements

Exceptions

Remarks

Applies to

Additional resources