I'm working on some code that serializes and deserializes a complex data structure.
I have a data model in C# consisting of three classes: TypeA
, TypeB
, and TypeC
.TypeA
has a reference to TypeB
, TypeB
has a reference to TypeA
, and TypeC
has references to two instances of TypeB
.
When attempting to serialize these objects using System.Text.Json
, I encounter issues due to the circular dependencies.
Here's a simplified version of my code:
using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Text.Json;public class TypeA{ public int Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public TypeB LinkedB { get; set; }}public class TypeB{ public int Id { get; set; } public string Description { get; set; } public TypeA LinkedA { get; set; }}public class TypeC{ public int Id { get; set; } public string Note { get; set; } public TypeB Reference1 { get; set; } public TypeB Reference2 { get; set; }}public class ObjectToSerialize{ public List<TypeA> Data { get; set; } public List<TypeC> links { get; set; }}
I don't really care about what the serialized data looks like because I'm going to deserialize it back into the same data model with the same code.
I've already looked at RefrenceHandler
, but I feel like that only solves one of the two references and not both. (Correct me if I'm wrong)
I'm looking for a solution to serialize these objects using System.Text.Json
so that the original references stay intact.
How can I achieve this while staying close to the original data model and the default way System.Text.Json
serializes objects?I'm open to writing custom converters, modifying the data model, or using a different serialization library if necessary.
Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!