Saving the FileSystemInfo array to a file

Question

I am trying to save an array of FileInfo and DirectoryInfo objects for use as a log file. The goal is to capture the catalog image (and subdirectories) at a specific point in time for subsequent comparison. I am currently using this class to store information:

public class myFSInfo { public FileSystemInfo Dir; public string RelativePath; public string BaseDirectory; public myFSInfo(FileSystemInfo dir, string basedir) { Dir = dir; BaseDirectory = basedir; RelativePath = Dir.FullName.Substring(basedir.Length + (basedir.Last() == '\\' ? 1 : 2)); } private myFSInfo() { } /// <summary> /// Copies a FileInfo or DirectoryInfo object to the specified path, creating folders and overwriting if necessary. /// </summary> /// <param name="path"></param> public void CopyTo(string path) { if (Dir is FileInfo) { var f = (FileInfo)Dir; Directory.CreateDirectory(path.Substring(0,path.LastIndexOf("\\"))); f.CopyTo(path,true); } else if (Dir is DirectoryInfo) Directory.CreateDirectory(path); } } 

I tried XML and binary serialization of my class with no luck. I also tried to create a new class that does not contain the actual FileInfo, but only the selected attributes:

 public class myFSModInfo { public Type Type; public string BaseDirectory; public string RelativePath; public string FullName; public DateTime DateModified; public DateTime DateCreated; public myFSModInfo(FileSystemInfo dir, string basedir) { Type = dir.GetType(); BaseDirectory = basedir; RelativePath = dir.FullName.Substring(basedir.Length + (basedir.Last() == '\\' ? 1 : 2)); FullName = dir.FullName; DateModified = dir.LastWriteTime; DateCreated = dir.CreationTime; } private myFSModInfo() { } /// <summary> /// Copies a FileInfo or DirectoryInfo object to the specified path, creating folders and overwriting if necessary. /// </summary> /// <param name="path"></param> public void CopyTo(string path) { if (Type == typeof(FileInfo)) { Directory.CreateDirectory(path.Substring(0, path.LastIndexOf("\\"))); File.Copy(FullName,path, true); } else if (Type == typeof(DirectoryInfo)) Directory.CreateDirectory(path); } public void Delete() { if (Type == typeof(FileInfo)) File.Delete(FullName); else if (Type == typeof(DirectoryInfo)) Directory.Delete(FullName); } } 

I also failed to serialize this. I could list the errors that I encountered with my various attempts, but it would probably be easier to choose the best approach. Here is my serialization code:

 public void SaveLog(string savepath, string dirpath) { var dirf = new myFSModInfo[1][]; string[] patharr = {dirpath}; GetFSInfo(patharr, dirf); var mySerializer = new System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(typeof(myFSModInfo[])); var myWriter = new StreamWriter(savepath); mySerializer.Serialize(myWriter, dirf[0]); myWriter.Close(); /*var bf = new System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter(); FileStream fs = new FileStream(savepath, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write); bf.Serialize(fs, dirf[0]); */ } 

Answer 1

FileSystemInfo is not serializable because it is not a simple type . FileInfo is not serialized because it does not have an empty default constructor.

So, if you want to save this information, you need to create your own class with simple types that wrap information from FileInfo or FileSystemInfo.

 [Serializable] public class MyFileInfo { public string Name { get; set; } public long Length { get; set;} /// <summary> /// An empty ctor is needed for serialization. /// </summary> public MyFileInfo(){ } /// <summary> /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="test.MyFileInfo"/> class. /// </summary> /// <param name="fileInfo">File info.</param> public MyFileInfo(string path) { FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo (path); this.Length = fileInfo.Length; this.Name = fileInfo.Name; // TODO: add and initilize other members } } 

Usage example:

 List<MyFileInfo> list = new List<MyFileInfo> (); foreach (string entry in Directory.GetFiles(@"c:\temp")) { list.Add (new MyFileInfo (entry)); } XmlSerializer xsSubmit = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<MyFileInfo>)); StringWriter sww = new StringWriter(); XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(sww); xsSubmit.Serialize(writer, list); Console.WriteLine (sww.ToString());