How can I ignore a property when serializing using the DataContractSerializer?

Question

I am using .NET 3.5SP1 and DataContractSerializer to serialize a class. In SP1, they changed the behavior so that you don't have to include DataContract/DataMember attributes on the class and it will just serialize the entire thing. This is the behavior I am using, but now I need to ignore one property from the serializer. I know that one way to do this is to add the DataContract attribute to the class, and just put the DataMember attribute on all of the members that I want to include. I have reasons, though, that this will not work for me.

So my question is, is there an attribute or something I can use to make the DataContractSerializer ignore a property?

Answer 1

You might be looking for IgnoreDataMemberAttribute.

Answer 2

Additionally, DataContractSerializer will serialize items marked as [Serializable] and will also serialize unmarked types in .NET 3.5 SP1 and later, to allow support for serializing anonymous types.

So, it depends on how you've decorated your class as to how to keep a member from serializing:

• If you used [DataContract], then remove the [DataMember] for the property.
• If you used [Serializable], then add [NonSerialized] in front of the field for the property.
• If you haven't decorated your class, then you should add [IgnoreDataMember] to the property.