Serialize Value Objects | Vogen (original) (raw)

Vogen integrates with various serializers, including:

… and many others. See the Conversions attribute for a full list.

This conversion code can be generated in the same project as the value object or in a different project. Using a different project is allows you to follow architecture patterns where you separate infrastructure from other layers.

Conversion code in the same project

Here are two types where we want serializers for MessagePack and Mongo's BSON format:

[ValueObject( conversions: Conversions.MessagePack | Conversions.Bson)] public readonly partial struct Name { } [ValueObject( conversions: Conversions.MessagePack | Conversions.Bson)] public readonly partial struct Age { }

If you're following an architecture pattern where you separate infrastructure from other layers, then you'll want the generated converters to live in another project. This is described below.

Conversion code in a different project

Create a partial class (not a struct), and specify what converters you want for what type. For the two examples above, it'd be:

[BsonSerializer<Domain.Name>] [BsonSerializer<Domain.Age>] public partial class BsonConversions; [MessagePack<Domain.Name>] [MessagePack<Domain.Age>] public partial class MessagePackConversions;

... or just have them in one class:

[BsonSerializer<Domain.Name>] [MessagePack<Domain.Name>] [BsonSerializer<Domain.Age>] [MessagePack<Domain.Age>] public partial class Conversions;

And reference them with something like Conversions.NameBsonSerializer etc. Here's an example to register all MessagePack formatters:

var customResolver = MessagePack.Resolvers.CompositeResolver.Create( Conversions.MessagePackFormatters, [MessagePack.Resolvers.StandardResolver.Instance] );

Integrations

For generating conversions in the same project, use the conversions parameter in the ValueObject attribute:

using System; namespace Vogen; ///

/// Converters used to convert/serialize/deserialize Value Objects /// [Flags] public enum Conversions { // Used with HasFlag, so needs to be 1, 2, 4 etc /// /// Don't create any converters for the value object /// None = 0, /// /// Use the default converters for the value object. /// This will be the value provided in the /// , which falls back to /// and /// Default = TypeConverter | SystemTextJson, /// /// Creates a for converting from the /// value object to and from a string /// TypeConverter = 1 << 1, /// /// Creates a Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConverter for serializing the /// value object to its primitive value /// NewtonsoftJson = 1 << 2, /// /// Creates a System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonConverter for /// serializing the value object to its primitive value /// SystemTextJson = 1 << 3, /// /// Creates an EF Core Value Converter for extracting the /// primitive value /// EfCoreValueConverter = 1 << 4, /// /// Creates a Dapper TypeHandler for converting to and /// from the type /// DapperTypeHandler = 1 << 5, /// /// Creates a LinqToDb ValueConverter for converting to and /// from the type /// LinqToDbValueConverter = 1 << 6, /// /// Sets the SerializeFn and DeSerializeFn members in JsConfig /// in a static constructor. /// ServiceStackDotText = 1 << 7, /// /// Creates a BSON serializer for each value object. /// Bson = 1 << 8, /// /// Creates and registers a codec and copier /// for Microsoft Orleans. /// This feature requires .NET 8 and C#12 and /// cannot be polly-filled. /// Orleans = 1 << 9, /// /// Generates implementation of IXmlSerializable. /// XmlSerializable = 1 << 10, /// /// Generates implementation of IMessagePackFormatter. /// MessagePack = 1 << 11 }

The default, as specified above in the Defaults property, is TypeConverter and SystemTextJson.

If you don't want any conversions, then specify Conversions.None.

If you want your own conversion, then again specify none and implement them yourself, just like any other type. Be aware that even serializers will get the same compilation errors for new and default when trying to create VOs.

There may be other steps that you need to do to use these integrations, for instance, for Dapper, register it—something like this:

SqlMapper.AddTypeHandler(new Customer.DapperTypeHandler());

See the examples folder for more information.

Last modified: 06 June 2025