KnownTypeAttribute Class

Definition

Namespace:

System.Runtime.Serialization

Assembly:

System.Runtime.Serialization.Primitives.dll

Source:

KnownTypeAttribute.cs

Specifies types that should be recognized by the DataContractSerializer when serializing or deserializing a given type.

public ref class KnownTypeAttribute sealed : Attribute

[System.AttributeUsage(System.AttributeTargets.Class | System.AttributeTargets.Struct, AllowMultiple=true, Inherited=true)]
public sealed class KnownTypeAttribute : Attribute

[<System.AttributeUsage(System.AttributeTargets.Class | System.AttributeTargets.Struct, AllowMultiple=true, Inherited=true)>]
type KnownTypeAttribute = class
    inherit Attribute

Public NotInheritable Class KnownTypeAttribute
Inherits Attribute

Inheritance

Object

Attribute

KnownTypeAttribute

Attributes

AttributeUsageAttribute

Examples

The following example shows a type named Person and a type named IDInformation that should be recognized when serializing or deserializing the Person type.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;

namespace KnownTypeAttributeExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            try
            {
                Serialize("KnownTypeAttributeExample.xml");
                Deserialize("KnownTypeAttributeExample.xml");
                // Run this twice. The second time, comment out the
                // Serialize call and comment out the
                // KnownTypeAttribute on the Person class. The
                // deserialization will then fail.
            }
            catch (SerializationException exc)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", exc.Message,
                    exc.StackTrace);
            }
            finally
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to exit...");
                Console.ReadLine();
            }
        }

        public static void Serialize(string path)
        {
            Person p = new Person();
            p.Miscellaneous.Add(DateTime.Now, "Hello");
            p.Miscellaneous.Add(DateTime.Now.AddSeconds(1), "World");
            IDInformation w = new IDInformation();
            w.ID = "1111 00000";
            p.Miscellaneous.Add(DateTime.Now.AddSeconds(2), w);
            DataContractSerializer ser =
                new DataContractSerializer(typeof(Person));
            FileStream fs = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Create);
            using (fs)
            {
                ser.WriteObject(fs, p);
            }
        }

        public static void Deserialize(string path)
        {
            DataContractSerializer ser =
                new DataContractSerializer(typeof(Person));
            FileStream fs = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Open);
            using (fs)
            {
                Person p2 = (Person)ser.ReadObject(fs);
                Console.WriteLine("Count {0}", p2.Miscellaneous.Count);
                foreach (DictionaryEntry de in p2.Miscellaneous)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Key {0} Value: {1}", de.Key,
                    de.Value);
                    if (de.Value.GetType() == typeof(IDInformation))
                    {
                        IDInformation www = (IDInformation)de.Value;
                        Console.WriteLine(
                        "\t Found ID Information. ID: {0} \n", www.ID);
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        // Apply the KnownTypeAttribute to the class that
        // includes a member that returns a Hashtable.
        [KnownType(typeof(IDInformation))]
        [DataContract]
        public class Person : IExtensibleDataObject
        {
            private ExtensionDataObject ExtensionDataObjectValue;

            public ExtensionDataObject ExtensionData
            {
                get { return ExtensionDataObjectValue; }
                set { ExtensionDataObjectValue = value; }
            }

            private Hashtable MiscellaneousValue = new Hashtable();
            [DataMember]
            public Hashtable Miscellaneous
            {
                get { return MiscellaneousValue; }
                set { MiscellaneousValue = value; }
            }
        }

        [DataContract]
        public class IDInformation : IExtensibleDataObject
        {
            private ExtensionDataObject ExtensionDataValue;
            public ExtensionDataObject ExtensionData
            {
                get { return ExtensionDataValue; }
                set { ExtensionDataValue = value; }
            }

            [DataMember]
            public string ID;
        }
    }
}

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Collections
Imports System.Text
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization
Imports System.Xml

Class Program

    Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
        Try
            Serialize("KnownTypeAttributeExample.xml")
            Deserialize("KnownTypeAttributeExample.xml")
            ' Run this twice. The second time, comment out the
            ' Serialize call and comment out the 
            ' KnownTypeAttribute on the Person class. The
            ' deserialization will then fail.
        Catch exc As SerializationException
            Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", exc.Message, exc.StackTrace)
        Finally
            Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to exit...")
            Console.ReadLine()
        End Try

    End Sub


    Public Shared Sub Serialize(ByVal path As String)
        Dim p As New Person()
        p.Miscellaneous.Add(DateTime.Now, "Hello")
        p.Miscellaneous.Add(DateTime.Now.AddSeconds(1), "World")
        Dim w As New IDInformation()
        w.ID = "1111 00000"
        p.Miscellaneous.Add(DateTime.Now.AddSeconds(2), w)
        Dim ser As New DataContractserializer(GetType(Person))
        Using fs As New FileStream(path, FileMode.OpenOrCreate)
            ser.WriteObject(fs, p)
        End Using
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub Deserialize(ByVal path As String)
        Dim ser As New DataContractserializer(GetType(Person))
        Using fs As New FileStream(path, FileMode.OpenOrCreate)
            Dim p2 As Person = ser.ReadObject(fs)
            Console.WriteLine("Count {0}", p2.Miscellaneous.Count)
            For Each de As DictionaryEntry In p2.Miscellaneous
                Console.WriteLine("Key {0} Value: {1}", de.Key, _
                de.Value)
                If TypeOf (de.Value) Is IDInformation Then
                    Dim www As IDInformation = de.Value
                    Console.WriteLine( _
                    "Found ID Information. ID: {0}", www.ID)
                End If
            Next
        End Using
    End Sub

    ' Apply the KnownTypeAttribute to the class that 
    ' includes a member that returns a Hashtable.
    <System.Runtime.Serialization.KnownType(GetType(IDInformation))> _
    <DataContract()> _
    Public Class Person
        Implements IExtensibleDataObject
        Private MiscellaneousValue As New Hashtable()
        Private ExtensionDataObjectValue As ExtensionDataObject

        Public Property ExtensionData() As ExtensionDataObject _
            Implements IExtensibleDataObject.ExtensionData
            Get
                Return ExtensionDataObjectValue
            End Get
            Set(ByVal value As ExtensionDataObject)
                ExtensionDataObjectValue = value
            End Set
        End Property

        <DataMember()> _
        Public Property Miscellaneous() As Hashtable
            Get
                Return MiscellaneousValue
            End Get
            Set(ByVal value As Hashtable)
                MiscellaneousValue = value
            End Set
        End Property
    End Class

    <DataContract()> _
    Public Class IDInformation
        Implements IExtensibleDataObject

        Private ExtensionDataObjectValue As ExtensionDataObject

        Public Property ExtensionData() As ExtensionDataObject _
            Implements IExtensibleDataObject.ExtensionData
            Get
                Return ExtensionDataObjectValue
            End Get

            Set(ByVal value As ExtensionDataObject)
                ExtensionDataObjectValue = value
            End Set
        End Property

        <DataMember()> _
        Public ID As String
    End Class
End Class

Remarks

Apply the KnownTypeAttribute attribute to a type to indicate to the DataContractSerializer types that should be recognized when serializing or deserializing an instance of the type to which the attribute is applied. This attribute could also be recognized by other serializers that understand data contracts.

Note

In your code, you can use the word KnownType instead of the longer KnownTypeAttribute.

You can either apply exactly one KnownTypeAttribute instance with the MethodName property set, or one or more KnownTypeAttribute instances with the Type property set.

Constructors

KnownTypeAttribute(String)	Initializes a new instance of the KnownTypeAttribute class with the name of a method that returns an IEnumerable of known types.
KnownTypeAttribute(Type)	Initializes a new instance of the KnownTypeAttribute class with the specified type.

Properties

MethodName	Gets the name of a method that will return a list of types that should be recognized during serialization or deserialization.
Type	Gets the type that should be recognized during serialization or deserialization by the DataContractSerializer.
TypeId	When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute. (Inherited from Attribute)

Methods

Equals(Object)	Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute)
GetHashCode()	Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from Attribute)
GetType()	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object)
IsDefaultAttribute()	When overridden in a derived class, indicates whether the value of this instance is the default value for the derived class. (Inherited from Attribute)
Match(Object)	When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute)
MemberwiseClone()	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object)
ToString()	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object)

See also

• DataContractAttribute
• DataMemberAttribute
• DataContractSerializer
• Data Contract Known Types