Can I serialize a C# Type object?

Question

I\'m trying to serialize a Type object in the following way:

Type myType = typeof (StringBuilder);
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Type));
TextWrit         


        

Answer 1

Brian's answer works well if the type is in the same assembly as the call (like GreyCloud pointed out in one of the comments). So if the type is in another assembly you need to use the AssemblyQualifiedName as GreyCloud also pointed out.

However as the AssemblyQualifiedName saves the version, if your assemblies have a different version than the one in the string where you have the type, it won't work.

In my case this was an issue and I solved it like this:

string typeName = typeof (MyClass).FullName;

Type type = GetTypeFrom(typeName);

object myInstance = Activator.CreateInstance(type);

GetTypeFrom Method

private Type GetTypeFrom(string valueType)
    {
        var type = Type.GetType(valueType);
        if (type != null)
            return type;

        try
        {
            var assemblies = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies();                

            //To speed things up, we check first in the already loaded assemblies.
            foreach (var assembly in assemblies)
            {
                type = assembly.GetType(valueType);
                if (type != null)
                    break;
            }
            if (type != null)
                return type;

            var loadedAssemblies = assemblies.ToList();

            foreach (var loadedAssembly in assemblies)
            {
                foreach (AssemblyName referencedAssemblyName in loadedAssembly.GetReferencedAssemblies())
                {
                    var found = loadedAssemblies.All(x => x.GetName() != referencedAssemblyName);

                    if (!found)
                    {
                        try
                        {
                            var referencedAssembly = Assembly.Load(referencedAssemblyName);
                            type = referencedAssembly.GetType(valueType);
                            if (type != null)
                                break;
                            loadedAssemblies.Add(referencedAssembly);
                        }
                        catch
                        {
                            //We will ignore this, because the Type might still be in one of the other Assemblies.
                        }
                    }
                }
            }                
        }
        catch(Exception exception)
        {
            //throw my custom exception    
        }

        if (type == null)
        {
            //throw my custom exception.
        }

        return type;
    }

I am posting this in case anyone needs it.