Data Object Manipulation

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hello, as example i have a class Client :

C#

Class Client
   {
        public Client(string name)
          {
            Name = name;
          }
        private string Name
          {
            get;
            set;
          }
    }
/*This is not my class case, i might have any other class, i need a general solution not depending on class internal structures and fields */

so, i used:

C#

Client CLI = new Client("John");

i need to convert my data object CLI to a byte[] equivalent representation
how can i ?
thank's for any help :)

Posted 6-Apr-12 19:57pm

F. Aro

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F. Aro 7-Apr-12 2:15am

i need something like :

byte[] CL = ConvertFrom(CLI);//ConvertFrom a written method to convert Object CLI to a byte...

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OriginalGriff · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-06T21:12:00

Solution 1

It's not as simple as that: it depends on what you class contains. If it has references to other classes (as it probably does) then you need to include those as well.
To convert it to a raw byte array is pretty simple:

C#

private static byte[] ToByteArraySimple(object o)
    {
    int length = Marshal.SizeOf(o);
    byte[] bytes = new byte[length];
    IntPtr start = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(length);
    Marshal.StructureToPtr(o, start, false);
    Marshal.Copy(start, bytes, 0, length);
    Marshal.FreeHGlobal(start);
    return bytes;
    }

But to be safe, mark your class with the Serializable attribute (and all referenced classes) and use a Binary Formatter:

C#

private static byte[] ToByteArrayBetter(object o)
    {
    var formatter = new BinaryFormatter();
    using (var stream = new MemoryStream())
        {
        formatter.Serialize(stream, o);
        return stream.ToArray();
        }
    }

Posted 6-Apr-12 21:12pm

OriginalGriff

Comments

F. Aro 7-Apr-12 3:28am

Thank for help,
(my namespace is "Test",contains class "Client")
i have some trouble (Exceptions thrown), i did :

Client Cl = new Client("John");
byte[] b = ToByteArrayBetter(Cl);

when i used ToByteArrayBetter :
Type 'Test.Client' in Assembly 'Test, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' is not marked as serializable.

even when i used ToByteArraySimple :

Type 'Test.Client' cannot be marshaled as an unmanaged structure; no meaningful size or offset can be computed.

how can i handle ?

OriginalGriff 7-Apr-12 3:30am

Did you add the Serializable attribute to your class?

F. Aro 7-Apr-12 3:39am

Aha it's ok, i missed to add it !
it works only with ToByteArrayBetter.
other method still throwing same exception.
anw thank you, i think this method is working fine with me :)

F. Aro 7-Apr-12 3:44am

by the way i asked a question before, but no one gave me a solution, if you have any idea:

i need a funtion that executes bytecode :
if i load byte[] b of an executable (byte[] b = File.ReadAllBytes(string path))
how can i execute the executable using the byte[] b
//i don't want to use Process.Start ...
//i need to execute an executable by a byte[] variable

OriginalGriff 7-Apr-12 4:00am

Why on earth would you want to?

F. Aro 7-Apr-12 4:02am

hehe :)
don't you have any idea :S ?

OriginalGriff 7-Apr-12 4:11am

The only ones I can think of would be to try and bypass malicious code detection.

F. Aro 7-Apr-12 4:20am

but i'm trying to get more skills, or maybe learn something how it works in binaries ...
i also wish to know how to get the bytes[] of a function:
if i wrote a function in c#, how can i get it bytecode, also execute it. maybe similar to the Object byte conversion...
(how the computer or machine read it codes low level, not affected by C# language)
are these steps dangerous or not appreciated ?
is there any book or step to learn ? i didn't find a right book on the internet

OriginalGriff 7-Apr-12 4:36am

C# is a bad example to start with for that kind of thing because it does not compile directly to native machine code - it goes via an intermediate language.

If you really want to know how computers work from a low level, get yourself a micro controller board (Arduino is quite popular - http://www.arduino.cc/ - or one of the PIC range - http://www.microchip.com/ - the latter are more expensive demo boards but the processor is used EVERYWHERE) and a book on assembler programming and try it - you will learn a lot more than trying to fudge around C#!

F. Aro 7-Apr-12 4:39am

okey, i'll search.
thank's for help an advices.