CODEWITHSUNDEEP
.netarraysvb.netlistserialization
Mr Dog
Mr Dog

Reputation: 396

Alternative to using Arrays and Redim Preserve

I have just one main requirement, that everything is Serializable.

I initially wanted to use List and Constructors with passable variables which made everything looked nice but then found out both those are not easily serializable.

So, currently I am using an Array and ReDim Preserve but what is a good way to store multiple items and still be able to serialize them? Every time I go down one path I seem to hit a limitation/dead end.

I have my main class 'MARKFILE' and it contains a number of 'Markers'

Public Class MARKFILE
    Private _Name As String 
    Public ReadOnly Property Name
        Get
            Return _Name
        End Get
    End Property

    Public Property _Markers() As Marker()

  Public Sub Add_Marker(ByRef Aa As String, ByRef Bb As String, Cc As Double)
        Dim Mark As New Marker
        Mark.A= Aa 
        Mark.B= Bb 
        Mark.C= Cc 

       If IsNothing(_Markers) Then
            ReDim _Markers(0)
            _Markers(_Markers.Length - 1) = Mark
        Else
            ReDim Preserve _Markers(_Markers.Length)
            _Markers(_Markers.Length - 1) = Mark
        End If

    End Sub
End Class

Public Class Marker

    Public A As String
    Public B As String
    Public C As String
    Public D As String
End Class

Upvotes: 0

Views: 507

Answers (1)

Ňɏssa Pøngjǣrdenlarp
Ňɏssa Pøngjǣrdenlarp

Reputation: 38875

There are a number of problems with the code, starting with it wont compile as posted:

Public Sub Add_Marker(ByRef Aa As String, ByRef Bb As String, Cc As Double)
    ...
    Mark.C = Cc     ' Mark.C is String, cannot assign Double To String!

So, first turn on Option Strict.

To make a List(of Marker) serializable, you need to add an attribute:

<Serializable>
Public Class Marker
    Public Property A As String
    Public Property B As String
    Public Property C As String
    Public Property D As String
End Class

I would also use properties (as shown) rather than Fields. The collection class needs the attribute as well:

<Serializable>
Public Class Markers
    Private _Name As String
    Public ReadOnly Property Name As String
        Get
            Return _Name
        End Get
    End Property

    Public Property Markers As List(Of Marker)

    Public Sub New()
        Markers = New List(Of Marker)
    End Sub

    Public Sub Add(Aa As String, Bb As String, Cc As String)

        Markers.Add(New Marker With {.A = Aa, .B = Bb, .C = Cc})

    End Sub
End Class

Serializing the data is simple:

Dim col As New Markers

col.Add("A", "B", "C")

Using fs As New FileStream("C:\temp\marks.bin", FileMode.OpenOrCreate)
    Dim bf As New BinaryFormatter
    bf.Serialize(fs, col)
End Using

The error you were likely getting was not about the List but that the stuff in the List was not marked as serializable.

There are also a number of refinements which could (should) be done to the collection class. Rather than exposing the collection/List, there should likely be Add, Remove, Clear, Count, Item etc type functions on it to actually manage the list rather than just hold onto it and expose it to the world. Add could be overloaded to take a Marker object as well.

It also seems like the Name Property ought to be on the little data class (Marker) rather than the collection. As it is (ReadOnly) it is useless because there is no way to set it.

Upvotes: 4

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