ObjectDumper.NET

ObjectDumper is a utility which aims to serialize C# objects to string for debugging and logging purposes.

This is a fork with some improvements (e.g. dumping of value types). This version is NOT available on NuGet!

The Purpose of ObjectDumper

Serialization, the process of converting a complex object to a machine-readable or over-the-wire transmittable string, is a technique often used in software engineering. A well-known serializer is Newtonsoft.JSON which serializes .NET objects to the data representation format JSON.

ObjectDumper.NET provides two excellent ways to visualize in-memory .NET objects:

DumpStyle.Console: serialize objects to human-readable strings, often used to write complex C# objects to log files.
DumpStyle.CSharp: serialize objects to C# initializer code, which can be used to compile a C# object again.

API Usage

Dumping C# Objects to Console.WriteLine

The following sample program uses DumpStyle.Console to write C# objects to the console output:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var persons = new List<Person>
    {
        new Person { Name = "John", Age = 20, },
        new Person { Name = "Thomas", Age = 30, },
    };

    var personsDump = ObjectDumper.Dump(persons);

    Console.WriteLine(personsDump);
    Console.ReadLine();
}

//CONSOLE OUTPUT:
{ObjectDumperSample.Netfx.Person}
  Name: "John"
  Age: 20
{ObjectDumperSample.Netfx.Person}
  Name: "Thomas"
  Age: 30

Dumping C# initializer code from in-memory objects to Console.WriteLine

The following sample program uses DumpStyle.CSharp to write C# initializer code from in-memory to the console output:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var persons = new List<Person>
    {
        new Person { Name = "John", Age = 20, },
        new Person { Name = "Thomas", Age = 30, },
    };

    var personsDump = ObjectDumper.Dump(persons, DumpStyle.CSharp);

    Console.WriteLine(personsDump);
    Console.ReadLine();
}

//CONSOLE OUTPUT:
var listOfPersons = new List<Person>
{
  new Person
  {
    Name = "John",
    Age = 20
  },
  new Person
  {
    Name = "Thomas",
    Age = 30
  }
};

HSchwichtenberg/ObjectDumper

ObjectDumper.NET

The Purpose of ObjectDumper

API Usage

Dumping C# Objects to Console.WriteLine

Dumping C# initializer code from in-memory objects to Console.WriteLine

License