.NET Core Configuration Serialization - configuration

Question

Is there a way to serialize an object so that it could then be rehydrated by .Net Core Configuration Binder?
Basically, I'd like to get this Test to pass:
[Test]
public void Can_Serialize_And_Rehydrate()
{
var foo = new Foo{ Prop1 = 42; Prop2 = "Test" }
Dictionary<string, string> serialized = Serialize(Foo);
var deserializedFoo = new Foo();
new ConfigurationBuilder()
.AddInMemoryCollection(serialized)
.Build()
.Bind(deserializedFoo);
Assert.AreEqual(deserializedFoo.Prop1, 42);
Assert.AreEqual(deserializedFoo.Prop2, "Test");
}
Is there a Serializer out-of-the-box, or am I'm going to need to write my own Serialize() method?

Answer 1

AddInMemoryCollection's signature is like below, so why are you trying to serialize your dictionary here? You could just use it as it is.
public static IConfigurationBuilder AddInMemoryCollection(
this IConfigurationBuilder configurationBuilder,
IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, string>> initialData)
If you like to know more about how to test your custom configurations, I would suggest to look here:
https://github.com/aspnet/Configuration/blob/1.0.0/test/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder.Test/ConfigurationBinderTests.cs

Answer 2

I was able to get this working by "hijacking" a JsonConfigurationProvider and plugging serialized Json directly into it. Not sure if this is the best way, but it does work:
public class ConfigurationSerializer
{
private class CustomJsonProvider : JsonConfigurationProvider
{
public CustomJsonProvider() : base(new JsonConfigurationSource())
{
}
public IDictionary<string, string> GetData(Stream s)
{
Load(s);
// Return the Configuration Dictionary
return Data;
}
}
public Dictionary<string, string> Serialize(object o)
{
var serialized =
JsonConvert.SerializeObject(
o,
new JsonSerializerSettings {NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore});
using (var ms = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(serialized)))
{
var jsonProvider = new CustomJsonProvider();
return jsonProvider
.GetData(ms)
.ToDictionary(key => key.Key, value => value.Value);
}
}
}