What is DataContract attribute?

[DataContract] attribute specifies the data, which is to serialize (in short conversion of structured data into some format like Binary, XML etc.) and deserialize(opposite of serialization) in order to exchange between the client and the Service.

What is data member attribute?

Data Member are the fields or properties of your Data Contract class. You must specify [DataMember] attribute on the property or the field of your Data Contract class to identify it as a Data Member.

What is a DataContract C#?

A datacontract is a formal agreement between a client and service that abstractly describes the data to be exchanged. In WCF, the most common way of serialization is to make the type with the datacontract attribute and each member as datamember.

Why do we use DataContract?

It is used to get or set the order of serialization and deserialization of a member. It instructs the serialization engine that member must be present while reading or deserializing. It gets or sets the DataMember name. It will specify whether the default value to be serialized.

When to use datacontract and datamember attributes?

We need to include System.Runtime.Serialization reference to the project. This assembly holds the DataContract and DataMember attribute. Data contract: It specifies that your entity class is ready for Serialization process. Data members: It specifies that the particular field is part of the data contract and it can be serialized.

What is a data contract in.net framework?

Many .NET Framework types also have existing data contracts. You can find the full article here. A data contract is a formal agreement between a service and a client that abstractly describes the data to be exchanged.

When to use datacontractattribute in Windows Communication Foundation?

If you send or receive messages by using the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) infrastructure, you should also apply the DataContractAttribute to any classes that hold and manipulate data sent in messages. For more information about data contracts, see Using Data Contracts.

When to apply datacontractattribute to a derived class?

When you apply the DataContractAttribute to a base class, the derived types do not inherit the attribute or the behavior. However, if a derived type has a data contract, the data members of the base class are serialized. However, you must apply the DataMemberAttribute to new members in a derived class to make them serializable.