How can I ignore a property when serializing using the DataContractSerializer?
Solution 1
You might be looking for IgnoreDataMemberAttribute
.
Solution 2
Additionally, DataContractSerializer will serialize items marked as [Serializable] and will also serialize unmarked types in .NET 3.5 SP1 and later, to allow support for serializing anonymous types.
So, it depends on how you've decorated your class as to how to keep a member from serializing:
- If you used
[DataContract]
, then remove the[DataMember]
for the property. - If you used
[Serializable]
, then add[NonSerialized]
in front of the field for the property. - If you haven't decorated your class, then you should add
[IgnoreDataMember]
to the property.
Solution 3
In XML Serializing, you can use the [XmlIgnore] attribute (System.Xml.Serialization.XmlIgnoreAttribute) to ignore a property when serializing a class.
This may be of use to you (Or it just may be of use to anyone who found this question when attempting to find out how to ignore a property when Serializing in XML, as I was).
Solution 4
Try marking the field with [NonSerialized()] attribute. This will tell the serializer to ignore the field.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.nonserializedattribute(v=vs.110).aspx
NotDan
Bootstrap Themes Make #regions suck less If you have to deal with Visual Studio regions, use this tool to regain some sanity. Learn the states and capitals game Learn the U.S. states and capitals.
Updated on July 08, 2022Comments
-
NotDan almost 2 years
I am using .NET 3.5SP1 and
DataContractSerializer
to serialize a class. In SP1, they changed the behavior so that you don't have to includeDataContract
/DataMember
attributes on the class and it will just serialize the entire thing. This is the behavior I am using, but now I need to ignore one property from the serializer. I know that one way to do this is to add theDataContract
attribute to the class, and just put theDataMember
attribute on all of the members that I want to include. I have reasons, though, that this will not work for me.So my question is, is there an attribute or something I can use to make the
DataContractSerializer
ignore a property? -
NotDan over 14 yearsYou can find the doc here (3rd paragraph, 2nd sentence): msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms733127.aspx
-
NotDan over 14 yearsYou're right about the link you posted though, I'm not sure why they don't mention it there, too.
-
Tom over 12 yearsNot when using DataContractSerializer
-
Pluc about 11 yearsMy domain layer didn't have the proper assembly reference, then I miss-read the documentation and ended up thinking it was a new feature of .NET 4.5. Tried to find back this thread to delete my comment without success (was in a hurry). Besides, looking at this answer's date should have ringed a bell.... 2009 .NET 4.5 post...) Sorry for wasting your time.
-
Kris Adams over 10 yearsAh negative vote. Just thought I would post that because when I searched for how to ignore a property when serializing a class, this post came up. And I wanted to put it here if anyone found this post the same way I did.
-
SparK over 10 yearsOn .NET 4.5 here: System.Runtime.Serialization.IgnoreDataMemberAttribute works for any thing
-
SparK over 10 years[in meta] I think they voted negative because you should open another (more especific) question about XMLSerialization and answer it, so people would find that question more relevant in their search
-
aclave1 over 9 yearsThis answer is exactly what I was looking for
-
alamin over 8 yearswhat did you mean by "decorated your class" pls explain ?
-
Doug over 8 yearsIf you haven't used any attributes on your class, like [DataContract] or [Serializable], then you would add [IgnoreDataMember] to the property you don't want to serialize. See Paul's answer or checkoutall.com/Blog/Index/201410240204236271/…
-
Doug over 8 yearsEven 3rd-party libraries have added support for [IgnoreDataMember], like JSON.NET.
-
pvgoran over 7 yearsThis is much more informative than the accepted answer.
-
ryanwebjackson over 6 yearsIs there any way to ignore that member and continue serializing the data structure/class?
-
TaW over 5 yearsHe asked about properties not fields!
-
TaW over 5 yearsWouldn't a short example make this an answer actually worth of the votes?
-
Daniel about 5 yearsHow about excluding a PROPERTY when [Serializable] was used ?
-
Doug about 5 years[Serializable] doesn't serialize the properties, it serializes fields. If you use auto-generated property (e.g. public string Property { get; set; }) then you won't be able to change its serialization. You'll need to add a storage field to the property and add [NonSerialized] in front of that field.
-
Alex Fainshtein almost 4 yearsThis answer is incomplete and thus misleading.
[IgnoreDataMember]
would not work if the class has[Serializable]
attribute. See details in the answer by Doug. -
Florian Winter about 3 yearsIn a class annotated with
[DataContract]
, the data contract serializer (as well as other serializers supporting data contract annotations, such as JSON.NET) ignore unannotated properties by default, so[IgnoreDataMember]
has no effect. -
DankMemester 'Andrew Servania' almost 2 yearsThis is precisely what I needed.