Serialize Class containing Dictionary member

Question

Expanding upon my earlier problem, I've decided to (de)serialize my config file class which worked great.

I now want to store an associative array of drive letters to map (key is the drive letter, value is the network path) and have tried using Dictionary, HybridDictionary, and Hashtable for this but I always get the following error when calling ConfigFile.Load() or ConfigFile.Save():

There was an error reflecting type 'App.ConfigFile'. [snip] System.NotSupportedException: Cannot serialize member App.Configfile.mappedDrives [snip]

From what I've read Dictionaries and HashTables can be serialized, so what am I doing wrong?

[XmlRoot(ElementName="Config")]
public class ConfigFile
{
    public String guiPath { get; set; }
    public string configPath { get; set; }
    public Dictionary<string, string> mappedDrives = new Dictionary<string, string>();

    public Boolean Save(String filename)
    {
        using(var filestream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.OpenOrCreate,FileAccess.ReadWrite))
        {
            try
            {
                var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(ConfigFile));
                serializer.Serialize(filestream, this);
                return true;
            } catch(Exception e) {
                MessageBox.Show(e.Message);
                return false;
            }
        }
    }

    public void addDrive(string drvLetter, string path)
    {
        this.mappedDrives.Add(drvLetter, path);
    }

    public static ConfigFile Load(string filename)
    {
        using (var filestream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
        {
            try
            {
                var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(ConfigFile));
                return (ConfigFile)serializer.Deserialize(filestream);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(ex.Message + ex.ToString());
                return new ConfigFile();
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

You can use ExtendedXmlSerializer. If you have a class:

public class ConfigFile
{
    public String guiPath { get; set; }
    public string configPath { get; set; }
    public Dictionary<string, string> mappedDrives {get;set;} 

    public ConfigFile()
    {
        mappedDrives = new Dictionary<string, string>();
    }
}

and create instance of this class:

ConfigFile config = new ConfigFile();
config.guiPath = "guiPath";
config.configPath = "configPath";
config.mappedDrives.Add("Mouse", "Logitech MX Master");
config.mappedDrives.Add("keyboard", "Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000");

You can serialize this object using ExtendedXmlSerializer:

ExtendedXmlSerializer serializer = new ExtendedXmlSerializer();
var xml = serializer.Serialize(config);

Output xml will look like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ConfigFile type="Program+ConfigFile">
    <guiPath>guiPath</guiPath>
    <configPath>configPath</configPath>
    <mappedDrives>
        <Item>
            <Key>Mouse</Key>
            <Value>Logitech MX Master</Value>
        </Item>
        <Item>
            <Key>keyboard</Key>
            <Value>Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000</Value>
        </Item>
    </mappedDrives>
</ConfigFile>

You can install ExtendedXmlSerializer from nuget or run the following command:

Install-Package ExtendedXmlSerializer

Here is online example

Answer 2

You can't serialize a class that implements IDictionary. Check out this link.

Q: Why can't I serialize hashtables?

A: The XmlSerializer cannot process classes implementing the IDictionary interface. This was partly due to schedule constraints and partly due to the fact that a hashtable does not have a counterpart in the XSD type system. The only solution is to implement a custom hashtable that does not implement the IDictionary interface.

So I think you need to create your own version of the Dictionary for this. Check this other question.

Answer 3

You should explore Json.Net, quite easy to use and allows Json objects to be deserialized in Dictionary directly.

james_newtonking

example:

string json = @"{""key1"":""value1"",""key2"":""value2""}";
Dictionary<string, string> values = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, string>>(json); 
Console.WriteLine(values.Count);
// 2
Console.WriteLine(values["key1"]);
// value1

Answer 4

I wanted a SerializableDictionary class that used xml attributes for key/value so I've adapted Paul Welter's class.

This produces xml like:

<Dictionary>
  <Item Key="Grass" Value="Green" />
  <Item Key="Snow" Value="White" />
  <Item Key="Sky" Value="Blue" />
</Dictionary>"

Code:

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Linq;
using System.Xml.Serialization;

namespace DataTypes {
    [XmlRoot("Dictionary")]
    public class SerializableDictionary<TKey, TValue>
        : Dictionary<TKey, TValue>, IXmlSerializable {
        #region IXmlSerializable Members
        public System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema GetSchema() {
            return null;
        }

        public void ReadXml(XmlReader reader) {
            XDocument doc = null;
            using (XmlReader subtreeReader = reader.ReadSubtree()) {
                doc = XDocument.Load(subtreeReader);
            }
            XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(SerializableKeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>));
            foreach (XElement item in doc.Descendants(XName.Get("Item"))) {
                using(XmlReader itemReader =  item.CreateReader()) {
                    var kvp = serializer.Deserialize(itemReader) as SerializableKeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>;
                    this.Add(kvp.Key, kvp.Value);
                }
            }
            reader.ReadEndElement();
        }

        public void WriteXml(System.Xml.XmlWriter writer) {
            XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(SerializableKeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>));
            XmlSerializerNamespaces ns = new XmlSerializerNamespaces();
            ns.Add("", "");
            foreach (TKey key in this.Keys) {
                TValue value = this[key];
                var kvp = new SerializableKeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>(key, value);
                serializer.Serialize(writer, kvp, ns);
            }
        }
        #endregion

        [XmlRoot("Item")]
        public class SerializableKeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> {
            [XmlAttribute("Key")]
            public TKey Key;

            [XmlAttribute("Value")]
            public TValue Value;

            /// <summary>
            /// Default constructor
            /// </summary>
            public SerializableKeyValuePair() { }
        public SerializableKeyValuePair (TKey key, TValue value) {
            Key = key;
            Value = value;
        }
    }
}
}

Unit Tests:

using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Linq;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;

namespace DataTypes {
    [TestClass]
    public class SerializableDictionaryTests {
        [TestMethod]
        public void TestStringStringDict() {
            var dict = new SerializableDictionary<string, string>();
            dict.Add("Grass", "Green");
            dict.Add("Snow", "White");
            dict.Add("Sky", "Blue");
            dict.Add("Tomato", "Red");
            dict.Add("Coal", "Black");
            dict.Add("Mud", "Brown");

            var serializer = new System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(dict.GetType());
            using (var stream = new MemoryStream()) {
                // Load memory stream with this objects xml representation
                XmlWriter xmlWriter = null;
                try {
                    xmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(stream);
                    serializer.Serialize(xmlWriter, dict);
                } finally {
                    xmlWriter.Close();
                }

                // Rewind
                stream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);

                XDocument doc = XDocument.Load(stream);
                Assert.AreEqual("Dictionary", doc.Root.Name);
                Assert.AreEqual(dict.Count, doc.Root.Descendants().Count());

                // Rewind
                stream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
                var outDict = serializer.Deserialize(stream) as SerializableDictionary<string, string>;
                Assert.AreEqual(dict["Grass"], outDict["Grass"]);
                Assert.AreEqual(dict["Snow"], outDict["Snow"]);
                Assert.AreEqual(dict["Sky"], outDict["Sky"]);
            }
        }

        [TestMethod]
        public void TestIntIntDict() {
            var dict = new SerializableDictionary<int, int>();
            dict.Add(4, 7);
            dict.Add(5, 9);
            dict.Add(7, 8);

            var serializer = new System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(dict.GetType());
            using (var stream = new MemoryStream()) {
                // Load memory stream with this objects xml representation
                XmlWriter xmlWriter = null;
                try {
                    xmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(stream);
                    serializer.Serialize(xmlWriter, dict);
                } finally {
                    xmlWriter.Close();
                }

                // Rewind
                stream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);

                XDocument doc = XDocument.Load(stream);
                Assert.AreEqual("Dictionary", doc.Root.Name);
                Assert.AreEqual(3, doc.Root.Descendants().Count());

                // Rewind
                stream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
                var outDict = serializer.Deserialize(stream) as SerializableDictionary<int, int>;
                Assert.AreEqual(dict[4], outDict[4]);
                Assert.AreEqual(dict[5], outDict[5]);
                Assert.AreEqual(dict[7], outDict[7]);
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 5

Dictionaries and Hashtables are not serializable with XmlSerializer. Therefore you cannot use them directly. A workaround would be to use the XmlIgnore attribute to hide those properties from the serializer and expose them via a list of serializable key-value pairs.

PS: constructing an XmlSerializer is very expensive, so always cache it if there is a chance of being able to re-use it.

Answer 6

There is a solution at Paul Welter's Weblog - XML Serializable Generic Dictionary

For some reason, the generic Dictionary in .net 2.0 is not XML serializable. The following code snippet is a xml serializable generic dictionary. The dictionary is serialzable by implementing the IXmlSerializable interface.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Xml.Serialization;

[XmlRoot("dictionary")]
public class SerializableDictionary<TKey, TValue>
    : Dictionary<TKey, TValue>, IXmlSerializable
{
    public SerializableDictionary() { }
    public SerializableDictionary(IDictionary<TKey, TValue> dictionary) : base(dictionary) { }
    public SerializableDictionary(IDictionary<TKey, TValue> dictionary, IEqualityComparer<TKey> comparer) : base(dictionary, comparer) { }
    public SerializableDictionary(IEqualityComparer<TKey> comparer) : base(comparer) { }
    public SerializableDictionary(int capacity) : base(capacity) { }
    public SerializableDictionary(int capacity, IEqualityComparer<TKey> comparer) : base(capacity, comparer) { }

    #region IXmlSerializable Members
    public System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema GetSchema()
    {
        return null;
    }

    public void ReadXml(System.Xml.XmlReader reader)
    {
        XmlSerializer keySerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(TKey));
        XmlSerializer valueSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(TValue));

        bool wasEmpty = reader.IsEmptyElement;
        reader.Read();

        if (wasEmpty)
            return;

        while (reader.NodeType != System.Xml.XmlNodeType.EndElement)
        {
            reader.ReadStartElement("item");

            reader.ReadStartElement("key");
            TKey key = (TKey)keySerializer.Deserialize(reader);
            reader.ReadEndElement();

            reader.ReadStartElement("value");
            TValue value = (TValue)valueSerializer.Deserialize(reader);
            reader.ReadEndElement();

            this.Add(key, value);

            reader.ReadEndElement();
            reader.MoveToContent();
        }
        reader.ReadEndElement();
    }

    public void WriteXml(System.Xml.XmlWriter writer)
    {
        XmlSerializer keySerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(TKey));
        XmlSerializer valueSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(TValue));

        foreach (TKey key in this.Keys)
        {
            writer.WriteStartElement("item");

            writer.WriteStartElement("key");
            keySerializer.Serialize(writer, key);
            writer.WriteEndElement();

            writer.WriteStartElement("value");
            TValue value = this[key];
            valueSerializer.Serialize(writer, value);
            writer.WriteEndElement();

            writer.WriteEndElement();
        }
    }
    #endregion
}