Convert structure to byte array in .NET

Question

I wish to write a structure made up of fixed length strings to a file using My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllBytes or the like.

I am using a VB6 project with fixed length strings that I have converted in to VB.Net.

    Structure Record
        <VBFixedString(22),System.Runtime.InteropServices.MarshalAs(System.Runtime.InteropServices.UnmanagedType.ByValArray,SizeConst:=22)> Public tim() As Char
        <VBFixedString(130),System.Runtime.InteropServices.MarshalAs(System.Runtime.InteropServices.UnmanagedType.ByValArray,SizeConst:=130)> Public des() As Char
        <VBFixedString(2),System.Runtime.InteropServices.MarshalAs(System.Runtime.InteropServices.UnmanagedType.ByValArray,SizeConst:=2)> Public crlf() As Char
    End Structure

Still new to marshalling in C#, but how would I get this structure to an array of bytes to write to a file. Is there some marshalling trick or am I going to have to write a custom method?

Answer 1

Use serialization mechanisms provided by the .NET framework:

Dim formatter As New BinaryFormatter
formatter.Serialize(outputFileStream, objectInstance)

You should add <Serializable()> attribute to your type.