.NET: How to binary serialize an object with attribute [DataContract]?

Question

Class marked as [DataContract] can't be ISerializable at the same time. OK, so how can I serialize this type of object to a binary stream?

private byte[] GetRoomAsBinary(Room room)
        {
            MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
            BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
            bf.Serialize(stream, room);
            return stream.ToArray();
        }

I can't make it work without Room being ISerializable. How can I get a byte array from object some other way?

Answer 1

That's the principle of binary serialization: only [Serializable] classes can be serialized (although I may have read that this restriction was lifted recently). If you want to take control of the serialization process, implement ISerializable.

If the Room class has non-serializable members, you will need ISerializable, too.

What are the members of Room ?

Answer 2

The solution is to use DataContractSerializer to serialize the object.