C# “Enum” Serialization - Deserialization to Static Instance

Question

Suppose you have the following class:

class Test : ISerializable {

  public static Test Instance1 = new Test {
    Value1 = "Hello"
    ,Value2 = 86
  };
  public static Test Instance2 = new Test {
    Value1 = "World"
    ,Value2 = 26
  };

  public String Value1 { get; private set; }
  public int Value2 { get; private set; }

  public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context) {
    //Serialize an indicator of which instance we are - Currently 
    //I am using the FieldInfo for the static reference.
  }
}

I was wondering if it is possible / elegant to deserialize to the static instances of the class?

Since the deserialization routines (I'm using BinaryFormatter, though I'd imagine others would be similar) look for a constructor with the same argument list as GetObjectData() , it seems like this can't be done directly . . Which I would presume means that the most elegant solution would be to actually use an enum , and then provide some sort of translation mechanism for turning an enum value into an instance reference. However, I personally like that the "Enum"'s choices are directly linked with their data.

How might one go about this?

Answer 1

If you need more data with with the Enums, consider using attributes. Example below.

class Name : Attribute
{
    public string Text;

    public Name(string text)
    {
        this.Text = text;
    }
}


class Description : Attribute
{
    public string Text;

    public Description(string text)
    {
        this.Text = text;
    }
}
public enum DaysOfWeek
{
    [Name("FirstDayOfWeek")]
    [Description("This is the first day of 7 days")]
    Sunday = 1,

    [Name("SecondDayOfWeek")]
    [Description("This is the second day of 7 days")]
    Monday= 2,

    [Name("FirstDayOfWeek")]
    [Description("This is the Third day of 7 days")]
    Tuesday= 3,
}

Perhaps this will allow you to provide more information with the Enums. You can access the attributes through reflection. If you need an example to retrieve the attribute I can provide that as well but I'm trying to keep this somewhat short.

Answer 2

Use Enum.Parse ...Suppose you have the following:

Enum myEnum{
   Foo = 1,
   Bar = 2,
   Baz = 3
};

Then

myEnum myE = myEnum.Foo; /* Default! */
   myE = (myEnum)Enum.Parse(myE.GetType(), "Baz"); 
   /* Now, myE should be Baz! */
   Console.WriteLine("Enum Selected: {0}", myE.ToString());

The above sample serves to illustrate how to convert a string literal into an enum. I hope this is what you are looking for.