converting object to byte[]

is there anyway to convert object (or class) to byte[] ?

like System.IO.DriveInfo to byte[]开发者_高级运维 ?

if so . how can I unconvert that ?

---

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    using (var stream = new MemoryStream())
    {
        // serialize object 
        var formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
        var foo = new Foo();
        formatter.Serialize(stream, foo);

            // get a byte array
            // (thanks to Matt for more concise syntax)
            var bytes = stream.GetBuffer(); 

        // deserialize object
        var foo2 = (Foo) formatter.Deserialize(stream);
    }
}

[Serializable]
class Foo:ISerializable
{
    public string data;

    #region ISerializable Members

    public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
    {
        info.AddValue("data",data);
    }

    #endregion
}

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If the class is Serializable you can use a BinaryFormatter to accomplish this. The followin code snippet can provide you with a start:

http://www.digitalcoding.com/Code-Snippets/C-Sharp/C-Code-Snippet-Object-to-byte-array.html

---

I think the term you are looking for is "serialization"

Resources:

• http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/objserial.aspx
• http://blog.kowalczyk.info/article/Serialization-in-C.html

---

You could use a BinaryFormatter to serialize an object to a MemoryStream, then get the bytes from that. BinaryFormatter can do the transformation back to object from byte[] array too (deserialization). The data will look very strange though. It is not the same as the memory image if that's what you want.