Serializing/Deserializing Command Object

Question

I'm attempting to serialize (and later deserialize) a command object to a string (preferably using the JavaScriptSerializer). My code compiles, however when I serialize my command object it returns an empty Json string, i.e. "{}". The code is shown below.

The aim is to serialize the command object, place it in a queue, then deserialize it later so it can be executed. If the solution can be achieved with .NET 4 then all the better.

ICommand

public interface ICommand
{
    void Execute();
}

Command Example

public class DispatchForumPostCommand : ICommand
{
    private readonly ForumPostEntity _forumPostEntity;

    public DispatchForumPostCommand(ForumPostEntity forumPostEntity)
    {
        _forumPostEntity = forumPostEntity;
    }

    public void Execute()
    {
        _forumPostEntity.Dispatch();
    }
}

Entity

public class ForumPostEntity : TableEntity
{
    public string FromEmailAddress { get; set; }
    public string Message { get; set; }

    public ForumPostEntity()
    {
        PartitionKey = System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
        RowKey = PartitionKey;
    }

    public void Dispatch()
    {
    }
}

Empty String Example

public void Insert(ICommand command)
{
   // ISSUE: This serialization returns an empty string "{}".
   var commandAsString = command.Serialize();
}

Serialization Extension Method

public static string Serialize(this object obj)
{
    return new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(obj);
}

Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Your DispatchForumPostCommand class has no properties to serialize. Add a public property to serialize it. Like this:

public class DispatchForumPostCommand : ICommand {
    private readonly ForumPostEntity _forumPostEntity;

    public ForumPostEntity ForumPostEntity { get { return _forumPostEntity; } }

    public DispatchForumPostCommand(ForumPostEntity forumPostEntity) {
        _forumPostEntity = forumPostEntity;
    }

    public void Execute() {
        _forumPostEntity.Dispatch();
    }
}

I now get the following as the serialized object (I removed the inheritance of TableEntity for testing purposes):

{"ForumPostEntity":{"FromEmailAddress":null,"Message":null}}

If you want to deserialize the object as well, then you will need to add the public setter for the property, else the deserializer will not be able to set it.