Configuring Deserialization

By default, the SOSS Object Browser attempts to use the .NET Framework’s BinaryFormatter to deserialize your objects in order to display them in the Object Info tab. The BinaryFormatter is the default serialization mechanism used by ScaleOut’s .NET APIs, but it is possible to use other serializers with the APIs. To view objects that were serialized through other means in the Object Browser, click Default Deserialization… under the Tools menu to specify an alternative deserializer:

Custom deserialization screenshot

In the example above, the Object Browser is configured to deserialize objects using the NetDataContractSerializer that is provided by WCF. An assembly, type, and method must be provided for the Object Browser to perform custom deserialization. Note that not all methods in a class will be available in the drop down list–the Object Browser will only list appropriate methods that have a single parameter of type System.IO.Stream and do not return void.

Cache-Specific Deserialization

In addition to specifying a default deserializer for the entire Object Browser, it is possible to override this default setting for individual application caches. In the list of applications, right click on an item to bring up a menu that allows you to configure how its objects are deserialized:

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Click Deserialization… to bring up the Configure Deserialization dialog for the selected application namespace.