Serialization and Deserialization

Passing complex objects in the Query String

ServiceStack uses the JSV-Format (JSON without quotes) to parse QueryStrings.

JSV lets you embed deep object graphs in QueryString as seen this example url:

https://test.servicestack.net/json/reply/StoreLogs?Loggers=[{Id:786,Devices:[{Id:5955,Type:Panel,
Channels:[{Name:Temperature,Value:58},{Name:Status,Value:On}]},
{Id:5956,Type:Tank,TimeStamp:1199303309,
Channels:[{Name:Volume,Value:10035},{Name:Status,Value:Full}]}]}]

If you want to change the default binding ServiceStack uses, you can register your own Custom Request Binder.

Custom Media Types

ServiceStack serializes and deserializes your DTOs automatically. If you want to override the default serializers or you want to add a new format, you have to register your own Content-Type:

Register a custom format

string contentType = "application/yourformat"; //To override JSON eg, write "application/json"
var serialize = (IRequest req, object response, Stream stream) => ...;
var deserialize = (Type type, Stream stream) => ...;

//In AppHost Configure method
//Pass two delegates for serialization and deserialization
this.ContentTypes.Register(contentType, serialize, deserialize);	

Encapsulate inside a plugin

If you're looking to standardize on a custom implementation, it's recommended to wrap the registration inside a plugin.

E.g. here's how you can change ServiceStack to use .NET's XmlSerializer instead of its DataContractSerializer default:

public class XmlSerializerFormat : IPlugin
{
    public static void Serialize(IRequest req, object response, Stream stream)
    {
        var serializer = new XmlSerializer(response.GetType());
        serializer.Serialize(stream, response);
    }

    public static object Deserialize(Type type, Stream stream)
    {
        var serializer = new XmlSerializer(type.GetType());
        var obj = (Type) serializer.Deserialize(stream);
        return obj;
    }

    public void Register(IAppHost appHost)
    {
        appHost.ContentTypes.Register(MimeTypes.Xml, Serialize, Deserialize);
    }
}

Where it can then be easily registered as a regular plugin:

Plugins.Add(new XmlSerializerFormat());

Other ContentType Examples

The Protobuf-format shows an example of registering a new format whilst the Northwind VCard Format shows an example of creating a custom media type in ServiceStack.

For reference see registration examples of ServiceStack's different Formats:

Async ContentTypes Formats

The async registration APIs are for Content-Type Formats which perform Async I/O, most serialization formats don't except for HTML View Engines which can perform Async I/O when rendering views, which are all registered using the RegisterAsync APIs:

appHost.ContentTypes.RegisterAsync(MimeTypes.Html, SerializeToStreamAsync, null);
appHost.ContentTypes.RegisterAsync(MimeTypes.JsonReport, SerializeToStreamAsync, null);
appHost.ContentTypes.RegisterAsync(MimeTypes.MarkdownText, SerializeToStreamAsync, null);

Reading in and De-Serializing ad-hoc custom requests

There are 2 ways to deserialize your own custom format, via attaching a custom request binder for a particular service or marking your service with IRequiresRequestStream which will skip auto-deserialization and inject the ASP.NET Request stream instead.

Create a custom request dto binder

You can register custom binders in your AppHost by using the example below:

appHost.RegisterRequestBinder<MyRequest>(httpReq => ... requestDto);      // or:
appHost.RequestBinders.Add(typeof(MyRequest), httpReq => ... requestDto);

This gives you access to the IHttpRequest object letting you parse it manually so you can construct and return the strong-typed Request DTO manually which will be passed to the service instead.

Uploading Files

You can access uploaded files independently of the Request DTO using Request.Files. e.g:

public object Post(MyFileUpload request)
{
    if (this.Request.Files.Length > 0)
    {
        var uploadedFile = base.Request.Files[0];
        uploadedFile.SaveTo(MyUploadsDirPath.CombineWith(file.FileName));
    }
    return HttpResult.Redirect("/");
}

ServiceStack's imgur.netcore.io example shows how to access the byte stream of multiple uploaded files, e.g:

public object Post(Upload request)
{
    foreach (var uploadedFile in base.Request.Files
       .Where(uploadedFile => uploadedFile.ContentLength > 0))
    {
        using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
        {
            uploadedFile.WriteTo(ms);
            WriteImage(ms);
        }
    }
    return HttpResult.Redirect("/");
}

Reading directly from the Request Stream

Instead of registering a custom binder you can skip the serialization of the Request DTO, you can add the IRequiresRequestStream interface to directly retrieve the stream without populating the Request DTO.

//Request DTO
public class RawBytes : IRequiresRequestStream
{
    /// <summary>
    /// The raw Http Request Input Stream
    /// </summary>
    Stream RequestStream { get; set; }
}

Which tells ServiceStack to skip trying to deserialize the request so you can read in the raw HTTP Request body yourself, e.g:

public async Task<object> PostAsync(RawBytes request)
{
    byte[] bytes = await request.RequestStream.ReadFullyAsync();
    string text = bytes.FromUtf8Bytes(); //if text was sent
}

Buffering the Request and Response Streams

ServiceStack's Request and Response stream are non-buffered (i.e. forward-only) by default. This can be changed at runtime using a PreRequestFilters to allow the Request Body and Response Output stream to be re-read multiple times should your Services need it:

appHost.PreRequestFilters.Add((httpReq, httpRes) => {
    httpReq.UseBufferedStream = true;  // Buffer Request Input
    httpRes.UseBufferedStream = true;  // Buffer Response Output
});

Which you'll then be able to re-read the Request Input Stream with:

string textBody = await httpReq.GetRawBodyAsync(); //read as string

ReadOnlySpan<byte> bytes = ((MemoryStream)httpReq.InputStream).GetBufferAsSpan(); //read as bytes

Raw SOAP Message

You can access raw WCF Message when accessed with the SOAP endpoints in your Service with IHttpRequest.GetSoapMessage() extension method, e.g:

Message requestMsg = base.Request.GetSoapMessage();

To tell ServiceStack to skip Deserializing the SOAP request entirely, add the IRequiresSoapMessage interface to your Request DTO, e.g:

public class RawWcfMessage : IRequiresSoapMessage {
    public Message Message { get; set; }
}

public object Post(RawWcfMessage request) { 
    request.Message... //Raw WCF SOAP Message
}