CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#ajaxasp.net-mvc
Darren
Darren

Reputation: 223

Getting serialization exception when storing a list of object to session variable

I have a form which I want to store input field values to session variables. The form is used to create new user: an admin user would put in an username of new user, go to next page to add other info, and then create the user. So, I want to store the info they put on the first page to session variables to be able to use it later. Problem is that I'm getting a serialization exception.

This is the ajax I'm using, when going from first page to second page:

function holdUserData() {
    //pass in username and a list of club IDs
    var data = {
        username: $('#tbUsername').val(), 
        clubs: this.clubs
    };

    $.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: '/Users/GoManageClub', //store in GoManageClub controller
        data: data,
        success: function (data) {
            //redirect to ManageClubAccess controller when done
            window.location = '/Users/ManagClubAccess';
        }
    })
}

And my GoManageClub controller, storing the data to session:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult GoManagePolicy(string username, List<ClubVM> clubs)
{
    Session["Username"] = username;
    Session["Clubs"] = clubs;

    return this.Json(new { success = true });
}

When I only store the username string, there are no problems and the variable is successfully stored. But when I'm storing the List<ClubVM>, I get the serialization exception:

Type 'myOrganization.ClubVM' in Assembly 'myorg, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' is not marked as serializable

My ClubVM:

public class ClubVM
{
    public int ID { get; set; }
    /* ... */
}

What should I do so I can save List<ClubVM> clubs?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1636

Answers (1)

Scott Hannen
Scott Hannen

Reputation: 29252

The class to be serialized needs a Serializable attribute.

This indicates that you intend for the class to be serialized (stored as set of bytes.) That's what happens when you save an object to Session. Depending on the implementation of Session the object could be stored in memory or it could be saved to a database. 

[Serializable()]
public class ClubVM
{
    public int ID { get; set; }
    /* ... */
}

Value types like int are already serializable. But if ClubVM contains references to other types then those types must also be serializable unless you mark them with a NonSerialized attribute. And so on. But if you mark something NonSerialized that means that when you deserialize the object (retrieve it from Session) that property will be missing because it wasn't included when the rest of the object was serialized.

Upvotes: 1

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