Can you use "where" to require an attribute in c#?

Question

I want to make a generic class that accepts only serializable classes, can it be done with the where constraint?

The concept I'm looking for is this:

public class MyClass<T> where T : //[is serializable/has the serializable attribute] 

Answer 1

Nope, I'm afraid not. The only things you can do with constraints are:

• where T : class - T must be a reference type
• where T : struct - T must be a non-nullable value type
• where T : SomeClass - T must be SomeClass or derive from it
• where T : ISomeInterface - T must be ISomeInterface or implement it
• where T : new() - T must have a public parameterless constructor

Various combinations are feasible, but not all. Nothing about attributes.

Answer 2

What I know; you can not do this. Have you though about adding an 'Initialize' method or something similar?

public void Initialize<T>(T obj) {      object[] attributes = obj.GetType().GetCustomAttributes(typeof(SerializableAttribute));      if(attributes == null || attributes.Length == 0)           throw new InvalidOperationException("The provided object is not serializable"); } 

I haven't tested this code, but I hope that you get my point.