C#•6mo ago

Binary serialization / deserialization where you don't control the format

I wrote this:

public static string ReadPascalString(BinaryReader reader) => System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(reader.ReadBytes(reader.ReadUInt16()));
public static void WritePascalString(BinaryWriter writer, string s)
{
    writer.Write((ushort)s.Length);
    writer.Write(System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(s));
}
[Serializable]
public readonly record struct HeaderChunk(
    string Name,
    string Type,
    int ID,
    int ReferenceID,
    bool Visible,
    bool Locked,
    uint Color,
    float PivotX,
    float PivotY,
    float PivotZ) : ISerializable
{
    public static HeaderChunk Read(Stream stream)
    {
        BinaryReader reader = new(stream);
        return new(
            Name: ReadPascalString(reader),
            Type: ReadPascalString(reader),
            ID: reader.ReadUInt16(),
            ReferenceID: reader.ReadUInt16(),
            Visible: reader.ReadBoolean(),
            Locked: reader.ReadBoolean(),
            Color: reader.ReadUInt32(),
            PivotX: reader.ReadSingle(),
            PivotY: reader.ReadSingle(),
            PivotZ: reader.ReadSingle());
    }

    public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();//Help?
    }

    public void Write(Stream stream)
    {
        BinaryWriter writer = new(stream);
        WritePascalString(writer, Name);
        WritePascalString(writer, Type);
        writer.Write(ID);
        writer.Write(ReferenceID);
        writer.Write(Visible);
        writer.Write(Locked);
        writer.Write(Color);
        writer.Write(PivotX);
        writer.Write(PivotY);
        writer.Write(PivotZ);
    }
}

public static string ReadPascalString(BinaryReader reader) => System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(reader.ReadBytes(reader.ReadUInt16()));
public static void WritePascalString(BinaryWriter writer, string s)
{
    writer.Write((ushort)s.Length);
    writer.Write(System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(s));
}
[Serializable]
public readonly record struct HeaderChunk(
    string Name,
    string Type,
    int ID,
    int ReferenceID,
    bool Visible,
    bool Locked,
    uint Color,
    float PivotX,
    float PivotY,
    float PivotZ) : ISerializable
{
    public static HeaderChunk Read(Stream stream)
    {
        BinaryReader reader = new(stream);
        return new(
            Name: ReadPascalString(reader),
            Type: ReadPascalString(reader),
            ID: reader.ReadUInt16(),
            ReferenceID: reader.ReadUInt16(),
            Visible: reader.ReadBoolean(),
            Locked: reader.ReadBoolean(),
            Color: reader.ReadUInt32(),
            PivotX: reader.ReadSingle(),
            PivotY: reader.ReadSingle(),
            PivotZ: reader.ReadSingle());
    }

    public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();//Help?
    }

    public void Write(Stream stream)
    {
        BinaryWriter writer = new(stream);
        WritePascalString(writer, Name);
        WritePascalString(writer, Type);
        writer.Write(ID);
        writer.Write(ReferenceID);
        writer.Write(Visible);
        writer.Write(Locked);
        writer.Write(Color);
        writer.Write(PivotX);
        writer.Write(PivotY);
        writer.Write(PivotZ);
    }
}

The purpose of this is binary serialization/deserialization to/from a file format I don't control. It has to exactly match that format. The question is, how would I convert my naïve Read and Write methods into something that would properly implement Serializable and ISerializable the idiomatic C# way?

1 Reply

BenMcLeanOP•6mo ago

This is just the header to a larger file format .NET Standard 2.0 with PolySharp letting me use more recent language features. What is the right way to do binary serialization/deserialization of a file format I don't control then? Is there no standard interface for reading and writing? A standard interface which marks a type as one that can be binary serialized or deserialized, so that outside code can reference this aspect of the type without knowing more about the type, which is what I thought ISerializable was for. OK, I thought that my Read(Stream stream) and Write(Stream stream) methods were supposed to be implementing some standard C# interface, but you're telling me that in reality, it's just the wild west and everyone does their own thing. Since there are no standards, I'm adding my own:

using System.IO;

namespace Voxel2Pixel.Interfaces
{
    public interface IBinaryWritable
    {
        void Write(Stream stream);
    }
}

using System.IO;

namespace Voxel2Pixel.Interfaces
{
    public interface IBinaryWritable
    {
        void Write(Stream stream);
    }
}

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Binary serialization / deserialization where you don't control the format