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Object Storage

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The Object Storage Helper will help you handle storage of generic objects within UWP applications, both locally and across all devices (roaming).

Try it in the sample app

Constructors

LocalObjectStorageHelper and RoamingObjectStorageHelper have the same constructor with an optional parameter:

Constructor Description
ObjectStorageHelper(IObjectSerializer = null) Initializes a new instance of the ObjectStorageHelper class with the provided IObjectSerializer, that will be used when serializing and deserializing data in Settings or in Storage; if no serializer is provided, a default JSON serializer will be used.

Properties

Property Type Description
Folder StorageFolder Gets or sets storage folder
Settings ApplicationDataContainer Gets or sets settings container

Methods

Methods Return Type Description
FileExistsAsync(String) Task<bool> Detect if a file already exists
KeyExists(String) bool Detect if a setting already exists
KeyExists(String, String) bool Detect if a setting already exists in composite
Read(String, T) T Retrieve single item by its key
Read(String, String, T) T Retrieve single item by its key in composite
ReadFileAsync(String, T) Task<T> Retrieve object from file
Save(String, IDictionary) void Save a group of items by its key in a composite. This method should be considered for objects that do not exceed 8k bytes during the lifetime of the application (refers to SaveFileAsync<T>(String, T) for complex/large objects) and for groups of settings which need to be treated in an atomic way
Save(String, T) void Save single item by its key. This method should be considered for objects that do not exceed 8k bytes during the lifetime of the application (refers to SaveFileAsync<T>(String, T) for complex/large objects)
SaveFileAsync(String, T) Task<StorageFile> Save object inside file. There is no limitation to use this method (refers to Save<T>(String, T) method for simple objects)

Example

Local Storage

If you need to handle local saves of any object (generic), you can use LocalObjectStorageHelper.

var helper = new LocalObjectStorageHelper();

// Read simple objects
string keySimpleObject = "simple";
if (helper.KeyExists(keySimpleObject))
{
    string result = helper.Read<string>(keySimpleObject);
}

// Read simple objects in a composite
string keyCompositeObject = "composite";
if (helper.KeyExists(keyCompositeObject, keySimpleObject))
{
    string result = helper.Read<string>(keyCompositeObject, keySimpleObject);
}

// Save simple objects
helper.Save(keySimpleObject, 47);

// Save simple objects in a composite
Dictionary<string, object> simpleObjects = new Dictionary<string, object>();
simpleObjects.Add("simpleObjectValueOne", 47);
simpleObjects.Add("simpleObjectValueTwo", "hello!");
helper.Save(keyCompositeObject, simpleObjects);

// Read complex/large objects 
string keyLargeObject = "large";
if (await helper.FileExistsAsync(keyLargeObject))
{
    var result = await helper.ReadFileAsync<MyLargeObject>(keyLargeObject);
}

// Save complex/large objects 
var o = new MyLargeObject
{
    ...
};
await helper.SaveFileAsync(keySimpleObject, o);

Dim helper = New LocalObjectStorageHelper()

' Read simple objects
Dim keySimpleObject As String = "simple"
If helper.KeyExists(keySimpleObject) Then
    Dim result As String = helper.Read(Of String)(keySimpleObject)
End If

' Read simple objects in a composite
Dim keyCompositeObject As String = "composite"
If helper.KeyExists(keyCompositeObject, keySimpleObject) Then
    Dim result As String = helper.Read(Of String)(keyCompositeObject, keySimpleObject)
End If

' Save simple objects
helper.Save(keySimpleObject, 47)

' Save simple objects in a composite
Dictionary(Of String, Object) simpleObjects = New Dictionary(Of String, Object)()
simpleObjects.Add("simpleObjectValueOne", 47)
simpleObjects.Add("simpleObjectValueTwo", "hello!")
helper.Save(keyCompositeObject, simpleObjects)

' Read complex/large objects 
Dim keyLargeObject As String = "large"
If Await helper.FileExistsAsync(keyLargeObject) Then
    Dim result = Await helper.ReadFileAsync(Of MyLargeObject)(keyLargeObject)
End If

' Save complex/large objects
Dim o = New MyLargeObject With {
    ...
}
Await helper.SaveFileAsync(keySimpleObject, o)

Roaming Storage

In the same way, if you need to handle roaming saves across all of user devices, you can use RoamingObjectStorageHelper. The implementation of the RoamingObjectStorageHelper is absolutely similar to LocalObjectStorageHelper.

var helper = new RoamingObjectStorageHelper();

// Read simple objects
string keySimpleObject = "simple";
if (helper.KeyExists(keySimpleObject))
{
    string result = helper.Read<string>(keySimpleObject);
}

// Read simple objects in a composite
string keyCompositeObject = "composite";
if (helper.KeyExists(keyCompositeObject, keySimpleObject))
{
    string result = helper.Read<string>(keyCompositeObject, keySimpleObject);
}

// Save simple objects
helper.Save(keySimpleObject, 47);

// Save simple objects in a composite
Dictionary<string, object> simpleObjects = new Dictionary<string, object>();
simpleObjects.Add("simpleObjectValueOne", 47);
simpleObjects.Add("simpleObjectValueTwo", "hello!");
helper.Save(keyCompositeObject, simpleObjects);

// Read complex/large objects 
string keyLargeObject = "large";
if (await helper.FileExistsAsync(keyLargeObject))
{
    var result = await helper.ReadFileAsync<MyLargeObject>(keyLargeObject);
}

// Save complex/large objects 
var o = new MyLargeObject
{
    ...
};
await helper.SaveFileAsync(keySimpleObject, o);

Dim helper = New RoamingObjectStorageHelper()

' Read simple objects
Dim keySimpleObject As String = "simple"
If helper.KeyExists(keySimpleObject) Then
    Dim result As String = helper.Read(Of String)(keySimpleObject)
End If

' Read simple objects in a composite
Dim keyCompositeObject As String = "composite"
If helper.KeyExists(keyCompositeObject, keySimpleObject) Then
    Dim result As String = helper.Read(Of String)(keyCompositeObject, keySimpleObject)
End If

' Save simple objects
helper.Save(keySimpleObject, 47)

' Save simple objects in a composite
Dictionary(Of String, Object) simpleObjects = New Dictionary(Of String, Object)()
simpleObjects.Add("simpleObjectValueOne", 47)
simpleObjects.Add("simpleObjectValueTwo", "hello!")
helper.Save(keyCompositeObject, simpleObjects)

' Read complex/large objects 
Dim keyLargeObject As String = "large"
If Await helper.FileExistsAsync(keyLargeObject) Then
    Dim result = Await helper.ReadFileAsync(Of MyLargeObject)(keyLargeObject)
End If

' Save complex/large objects 
Dim o = New MyLargeObject With {
    ...
}
Await helper.SaveFileAsync(keySimpleObject, o)

Sample Project

Object Storage sample page Source. You can see this in action in the Windows Community Toolkit Sample App.

Requirements

Device family Universal, 10.0.16299.0 or higher
Namespace Microsoft.Toolkit.Uwp
NuGet package Microsoft.Toolkit.Uwp

API