How to prevent auto implemented properties from being serialized?

Question

How can I prevent a auto implemented property from being serialized by the binary formatter? The [NonSerialized] attribute can only be used with fields. And the field is hidden when using auto implemented properties.

Answer 1

It´s not supported for auto implemented properties. You have to use a backing field and set the NonSerializedAttribute on it.

public class ClassWithNonSerializedProperty {

  [NonSerialized]
  private object _data;  // Backing field of Property Data that is not serialized

  public object Data{
    get { return _data; }
    set { _data = value; }
  }
}

Answer 2

// This works for the underlying delegate of the `event` add/remove mechanism.
[field:NonSerialized]
public event EventHandler SomethingHappened;

But it doesn't seem to for auto-implemented properties. I thought it was worth mentioning because it's useful to know when serializing an object with event subscribers attached to it.

Answer 3

If you're serializing to Json and using the Json.NET serializer (which I'd highly recommend as it has a lot more to offer than a number of other serializers on the market) then you can achieve your desired outcome on properties using [JsonIgnore].

You don't need to create a field.

So your code would be:

public class ClassName
{
     [JsonIgnore]   
     public object IgnoreMe { get; set; } 

     public object DoNotIgnoreMe { get; set; } 
}