C#•3mo ago

Saving Feature Help

I got a list I use in my app want to add a saving feature but don't know which filetype to use besides txt whats your recommendation?

21 Replies

𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀•3mo ago

It depends heavily on the file's content encoding .dat/.bin for Binary files .config/.cfg/.env for environmental configuration (generaly in plain text) .json/.xml/.html for structured readable information (commonly serializable) NO EXTENSION for special files like lockfile What do you think? @naber top

naber top•3mo ago

probably i will use .json im trying to learn how to use it actually rn

𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀•3mo ago

Take a look on how to use json with a Newtonsoft.json (library) @naber top

var myjObject = new 
{
  Name = "Dummy",
  IsHappy = true
  Value = 10000
};

var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myjObject, Formatting.None);
// will result in something like { "Name": "Dummy", "IsHappy": true, "Value": 10000 }

var bringBack = JsonConvert.DeserializeAnonymousType(json, myjObject);

bringBack == myjObject; // true

var myjObject = new 
{
  Name = "Dummy",
  IsHappy = true
  Value = 10000
};

var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myjObject, Formatting.None);
// will result in something like { "Name": "Dummy", "IsHappy": true, "Value": 10000 }

var bringBack = JsonConvert.DeserializeAnonymousType(json, myjObject);

bringBack == myjObject; // true

if you want a prettified json output you can use Formatting.Idented

naber top•3mo ago

would this work this the observable collections?

Jimmacle•3mo ago

newtonsoft.json is more or less obsolete system.text.json is what you should be using unless it can't do what you want for some reason

mindhardt•3mo ago

And please don't use anonymous objects

Mustafa•3mo ago

you could use System.Text.Json to save content (should be able to install it through nuget)

mindhardt•3mo ago

For netfx yes, for .net it comes as a part of the bcl

Mustafa•3mo ago

for whatever reason it wasn't included by default in my .net project

𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀•3mo ago

If it doesn't work with the observable collections and you don't want to implement it manually I don't see anything wrong with extracting the collection content to an array then serializing to the file, you can after retrieve the objects when deserializing and recreating the collection from the start I use anonymous types when desserializing responses from client's APIs, they can be pretty gigantic, creating classes to them would be a waste of time just for a single piece of information needed.

var definition = new[] {
  new {
    OrderId = (string) default!,
    ClientName = (string) default!,
    OrderPrice = (float) 0   
  }
}.ToList();


// api response | i dont know exacly why but it's not that uncommon to see a json string text inside a json from an api response
// probably shouldn't be like that but it is what it is
var ordersJsonText = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JObject>()!.SelectToken("response.invoicing.orders")
var orders = JsonConvert.DeserializeAnonymousType(ordersJsonText, definition);

var definition = new[] {
  new {
    OrderId = (string) default!,
    ClientName = (string) default!,
    OrderPrice = (float) 0   
  }
}.ToList();


// api response | i dont know exacly why but it's not that uncommon to see a json string text inside a json from an api response
// probably shouldn't be like that but it is what it is
var ordersJsonText = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JObject>()!.SelectToken("response.invoicing.orders")
var orders = JsonConvert.DeserializeAnonymousType(ordersJsonText, definition);

Jimmacle•3mo ago

you don't need to model every property, just the ones you need there is no reason to use an anonymous type for ths, it just makes the code more error prone

naber top•3mo ago

what do you mean by modeling mvvm? :oh:

Jimmacle•3mo ago

no, i mean making a class that matches the shape of the json

naber top•3mo ago

Jimmacle•3mo ago

public record OrderInfo(string OrderId, string ClientName, float OrderPrice);

JsonSerializer.Deserialize<List<OrderInfo>>(json);

public record OrderInfo(string OrderId, string ClientName, float OrderPrice);

JsonSerializer.Deserialize<List<OrderInfo>>(json);

would be the safe way to do james's example the code is actually shorter than the "convenient" anonymous method 😛

naber top•3mo ago

what is anonymous in this context i still don't understand :Smadge:

Jimmacle•3mo ago

  new {
    OrderId = (string) default!,
    ClientName = (string) default!,
    OrderPrice = (float) 0   
  }

  new {
    OrderId = (string) default!,
    ClientName = (string) default!,
    OrderPrice = (float) 0   
  }

is an anonymous object, because it isn't a named type

𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀•3mo ago

YEA! Records. SCIENCE!

naber top•3mo ago

is it normal that stuff kind of overwhelms me to get it together am I in the wrong path or its just a part of the process

Jimmacle•3mo ago

depends how much experience you have with C#, if not a lot then it's understandable

naber top•3mo ago

well im a beginner I just know the foundational c# stuff (the only thing I completed as a course)

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Saving Feature Help