Serialize/Deserialize collections in SerializableGraphSourceBase

[Christos]

Following your Serialize a Databound Diagram article
I was wondering whether the RadDiagram Serialization/Deserialization system supports serialization of a collection within the GraphSource Nodes. In particular I am interested on using an ObservableCollection:

01.public class OrgItem : HierarchicalNodeViewModel
02.{
03.    public OrgItem()
04.    {
05.       this.MyCollection = new ObservableCollection<string>();
06.    }
07.    public ObservableCollection<string> MyCollection
08.    {
09.        get;
10.    }
11.…
12.…
13.…
14.}
15.private void BindGraphSource()
16.{
17.    int uniqueIdCounter = 0;
18.    GraphSource source = new GraphSource();
19.    OrgItem rootItem = new OrgItem()
20.    {
21.        Title = "CEO",
22.        Position = new Point(200, 20),
23.        Id = (uniqueIdCounter++).ToString()
24.    };
25.    rootItem.MyCollection.Add(new MyClass(“Test1”));
26.    rootItem.MyCollection.Add(new MyClass(“Test2”));
27.    source.AddNode(rootItem);
28.…
29.…
30.…
31.}
32.public class MyClass
33.{
34.    public MyClass(){};
35.    public MyClass(string myValue)
36.    {
37.        this.MyValue = myValue;
38.    }
39.    public string MyValue { get; set; }
40.}

 

Could I possibly Serialize/Deserialize the ObservableCollection in the OrgItem?

If that is possible how should i serialize/deserialize the collection in the GraphSource?

01.public class GraphSource : SerializableGraphSourceBase<OrgItem, OrgLink>
02.{
03.    public override string GetNodeUniqueId(OrgItem node)
04.    {
05.        return node.Id;
06.    }
07.    public override void SerializeNode(OrgItem node,
08.        Telerik.Windows.Diagrams.Core.SerializationInfo info)
09.    {
10.        base.SerializeNode(node, info);
11.        info["Title"] = node.Title;
12.    }
13.    public override OrgItem DeserializeNode(
14.        Telerik.Windows.Diagrams.Core.IShape shape,
15.        Telerik.Windows.Diagrams.Core.SerializationInfo info)
16.    {
17.        base.DeserializeNode(shape, info);
18.        if (info["Title"] != null)
19.        {
20.            return new OrgItem(info["Title"].ToString());
21.        }
22.        return null;
23.    }
24.}

 

Many thanks in advance,

Christos

[Martin Ivanov]

Hello Christos,

The RadDiagram's serialization service doesn't support saving complex objects. In order to save such you will need to serialize it with custom code. For example, you can save the properties of the object in the SerializationInfo and then use them in the deserialization process to create a new object. Or you can use the native XmlSerializer class to serialize the object (or collection) in xml string and then deserialize it.

For your convenience I prepared a sample project demonstrating the approach with the XmlSerializer. Please give it a try and let me know if it works for you.

Regards,
Martin
Telerik

[Christos]

Hello Martin,

 

Thank you for your reply, I used DataContractSerializer and it worked like a charm :)