c# comparing objects without creating dto

Question

Currently I am creating a DTO of an object to compare new and old values. It was fine when it was one object, but in the future that's going to change. I tried creating an extension method to serialize and deserialize for a deep copy, but PostSharp is throwing an error.

Type 'PostSharp.Patterns.Model.NotifyPropertyChanged.ChangeTracking.ChildPropertyChangedProcessor' in Assembly 'PostSharp.Patterns.Model, Version=4.2.28.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=e7f631e6ce13f078' is not marked as serializable. (SerializationException)

Here is my extension method and the error is being thrown at formatter.Serialize(stream, source).

public static T Clone<T>(this T source)
{
    if (!typeof(T).IsSerializable)
    {
        return default(T);
    }

    if (ReferenceEquals(source, null))
    {
        return default(T);
    }

    var formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
    Stream stream = new MemoryStream();
    using (stream)
    {
        formatter.Serialize(stream, source);
        stream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
        return (T) formatter.Deserialize(stream);
    }
}

Is there a way to fix this error or do I have to do this another way? If I do have to find another way what approach should I take?

Did you try upgrade to PostSharp 4.3? How does your class enhanced by NotifyPropertyChanged aspect look like? — Jakub Linhart
– Jakub Linhart, Commented Nov 11, 2016 at 11:34

Eyal Perry · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-10 23:48:30Z

2

You could use AutoMapper for this as well: (Every app should use it anyway, so what's the harm?)

var clone = new Poco();
Mapper.CreateMap<Poco, Poco>();
Mapper.Map<Poco, Poco>(source, clone);

answered Nov 10, 2016 at 23:48

Eyal Perry

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Comments

PhillipH · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-10 23:24:43Z

1

There are many references to reflection based deep object graph comparison libraries; https://github.com/GregFinzer/Compare-Net-Objects as an example should do what you want without serialization

answered Nov 10, 2016 at 23:24

PhillipH

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3 Comments

Train Over a year ago

Would this actually create a deep copy as well?

PhillipH Over a year ago

No - but the method they use for walking the object tree can be easily adapted to create a copy.

Train Over a year ago

Thanks for this I think it could come in handy in the future but AutoMapper might be a better solution for now.

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