Persistence

The implementation demonstrated in this article can also be reviewed in the Persist LocalDataSourceProvider SDK Example of the SDK Examples Browser

In this article we will show you how to persist the current state of LocalDataSourceProvider via Telerik's RadPersistenceFramework.

Persistence Framework

In this article we will show you how to serialize and deserialize LocalDataSourceProvider and all of its settings via RadPersistenceFramework. You can use this feature to save the current state of the provider and load it next time the application is started.

Persist LocalDataSourceProvider

We've added the DataContract attribute to all classes used by LocalDataSourceProvider. So you can easily serialize it by using DataContractSerializer.

So lets create a simple class that we'll use to save and load DataProviderSettings. You have to add the DataContract attribute to the new class and DataMember attribute for its properties.

[DataContract] 
public class DataProviderSettings 
{ 
    [DataMember] 
    public object[] Aggregates { get; set; } 
 
    [DataMember] 
    public object[] Filters { get; set; } 
 
    [DataMember] 
    public object[] Rows { get; set; } 
 
    [DataMember] 
    public object[] Columns { get; set; } 
 
    [DataMember] 
    public int AggregatesLevel { get; set; } 
 
    [DataMember] 
    public PivotAxis AggregatesPosition { get; set; } 
} 

<DataContract> _ 
Public Class DataProviderSettings 
    <DataMember> _ 
    Public Property Aggregates() As Object() 
 
    <DataMember> _ 
    Public Property Filters() As Object() 
 
    <DataMember> _ 
    Public Property Rows() As Object() 
 
    <DataMember> _ 
    Public Property Columns() As Object() 
 
    <DataMember> _ 
    Public Property AggregatesLevel() As Integer 
 
    <DataMember> _ 
    Public Property AggregatesPosition() As PivotAxis 
End Class 

The next step is to create a new class, which implements Telerik.Windows.Persistence.Services.IValueProvider. IValueProvider has two methods that you will have to implement - ProvideValue and RestoreValue. The first one is used when the data is saved. The second one is used when the data is restored from a previously saved state. When saving the provider, you have to create an instance of DataProviderSettings class and set all of the properties. After that you can save the instance to a file or a stream. When using DataContractSerializer you have to give a collection of KnownTypes to the serializer. That's why we've created a new PivotSerializationHelper class which has a static member - KnownTypes. It consists of all types you'll need in order to serialize LocalDataSourceProvider. Here's an example how to implement it:

public abstract class DataProviderValueProvider : IValueProvider 
{ 
    public abstract IEnumerable<Type> KnownTypes { get; } 
 
    public string ProvideValue(object context) 
    { 
        string serialized = string.Empty; 
 
        IDataProvider dataProvider = context as IDataProvider; 
        if (dataProvider != null) 
        { 
            MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(); 
 
            DataProviderSettings settings = new DataProviderSettings() 
            { 
                Aggregates = dataProvider.Settings.AggregateDescriptions.OfType<object>().ToArray(), 
                Filters = dataProvider.Settings.FilterDescriptions.OfType<object>().ToArray(), 
                Rows = dataProvider.Settings.RowGroupDescriptions.OfType<object>().ToArray(), 
                Columns = dataProvider.Settings.ColumnGroupDescriptions.OfType<object>().ToArray(), 
                AggregatesLevel = dataProvider.Settings.AggregatesLevel, 
                AggregatesPosition = dataProvider.Settings.AggregatesPosition 
            }; 
 
            DataContractSerializer serializer = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(DataProviderSettings), KnownTypes); 
            serializer.WriteObject(stream, settings); 
 
            stream.Position = 0; 
            var streamReader = new StreamReader(stream); 
            serialized += streamReader.ReadToEnd(); 
        } 
 
        return serialized; 
    } 
 
    public void RestoreValue(object context, string savedValue) 
    { 
        IDataProvider dataProvider = context as IDataProvider; 
        if (dataProvider != null) 
        { 
            var stream = new MemoryStream(); 
            var tw = new StreamWriter(stream); 
            tw.Write(savedValue); 
            tw.Flush(); 
            stream.Position = 0; 
 
            DataContractSerializer serializer = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(DataProviderSettings), KnownTypes); 
            var result = serializer.ReadObject(stream); 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.AggregateDescriptions.Clear(); 
            foreach (var aggregateDescription in (result as DataProviderSettings).Aggregates) 
            { 
                dataProvider.Settings.AggregateDescriptions.Add(aggregateDescription); 
            } 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.FilterDescriptions.Clear(); 
            foreach (var filterDescription in (result as DataProviderSettings).Filters) 
            { 
                dataProvider.Settings.FilterDescriptions.Add(filterDescription); 
            } 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.RowGroupDescriptions.Clear(); 
            foreach (var rowDescription in (result as DataProviderSettings).Rows) 
            { 
                dataProvider.Settings.RowGroupDescriptions.Add(rowDescription); 
            } 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.ColumnGroupDescriptions.Clear(); 
            foreach (var columnDescription in (result as DataProviderSettings).Columns) 
            { 
                dataProvider.Settings.ColumnGroupDescriptions.Add(columnDescription); 
            } 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.AggregatesPosition = (result as DataProviderSettings).AggregatesPosition; 
            dataProvider.Settings.AggregatesLevel = (result as DataProviderSettings).AggregatesLevel; 
        } 
    } 
} 
 
 
public class LocalDataSourceValueProvider : DataProviderValueProvider 
{ 
    public override IEnumerable<Type> KnownTypes 
    { 
        get 
        { 
            return PivotSerializationHelper.KnownTypes; 
        } 
    } 
} 

Public MustInherit Class DataProviderValueProvider 
    Implements IValueProvider 
 
    Public MustOverride ReadOnly Property KnownTypes() As IEnumerable(Of Type) 
 
    Public Function ProvideValue(ByVal context As Object) As String 
        Dim serialized As String = String.Empty 
 
        Dim dataProvider As IDataProvider = TryCast(context, IDataProvider) 
        If dataProvider IsNot Nothing Then 
            Dim stream As New MemoryStream() 
 
            Dim settings As New DataProviderSettings() With {.Aggregates = dataProvider.Settings.AggregateDescriptions.OfType(Of Object)().ToArray(), .Filters = dataProvider.Settings.FilterDescriptions.OfType(Of Object)().ToArray(), .Rows = dataProvider.Settings.RowGroupDescriptions.OfType(Of Object)().ToArray(), .Columns = dataProvider.Settings.ColumnGroupDescriptions.OfType(Of Object)().ToArray(), .AggregatesLevel = dataProvider.Settings.AggregatesLevel, .AggregatesPosition = dataProvider.Settings.AggregatesPosition} 
 
            Dim serializer As New DataContractSerializer(GetType(DataProviderSettings), KnownTypes) 
            serializer.WriteObject(stream, settings) 
 
            stream.Position = 0 
            Dim streamReader = New StreamReader(stream) 
            serialized &= streamReader.ReadToEnd() 
        End If 
 
        Return serialized 
    End Function 
 
    Public Sub RestoreValue(ByVal context As Object, ByVal savedValue As String) 
        Dim dataProvider As IDataProvider = TryCast(context, IDataProvider) 
        If dataProvider IsNot Nothing Then 
            Dim stream = New MemoryStream() 
            Dim tw = New StreamWriter(stream) 
            tw.Write(savedValue) 
            tw.Flush() 
            stream.Position = 0 
 
            Dim serializer As New DataContractSerializer(GetType(DataProviderSettings), KnownTypes) 
            Dim result = serializer.ReadObject(stream) 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.AggregateDescriptions.Clear() 
            For Each aggregateDescription In (TryCast(result, DataProviderSettings)).Aggregates 
                dataProvider.Settings.AggregateDescriptions.Add(aggregateDescription) 
            Next aggregateDescription 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.FilterDescriptions.Clear() 
            For Each filterDescription In (TryCast(result, DataProviderSettings)).Filters 
                dataProvider.Settings.FilterDescriptions.Add(filterDescription) 
            Next filterDescription 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.RowGroupDescriptions.Clear() 
            For Each rowDescription In (TryCast(result, DataProviderSettings)).Rows 
                dataProvider.Settings.RowGroupDescriptions.Add(rowDescription) 
            Next rowDescription 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.ColumnGroupDescriptions.Clear() 
            For Each columnDescription In (TryCast(result, DataProviderSettings)).Columns 
                dataProvider.Settings.ColumnGroupDescriptions.Add(columnDescription) 
            Next columnDescription 
 
            dataProvider.Settings.AggregatesPosition = (TryCast(result, DataProviderSettings)).AggregatesPosition 
            dataProvider.Settings.AggregatesLevel = (TryCast(result, DataProviderSettings)).AggregatesLevel 
        End If 
    End Sub 
End Class 
 
 
Public Class LocalDataSourceValueProvider 
    Inherits DataProviderValueProvider 
 
    Public Overrides ReadOnly Property KnownTypes() As IEnumerable(Of Type) 
        Get 
            Return PivotSerializationHelper.KnownTypes 
        End Get 
    End Property 
End Class 

So the last step is to register a persistence provider and implement the logic to save and load the state of LocalDataSourceProvider:

Stream stream = new MemoryStream(); 
 
ServiceProvider.RegisterPersistenceProvider<IValueProvider>(typeof(LocalDataSourceProvider), new LocalDataSourceValueProvider()); 
//saving 
PersistenceManager manager = new PersistenceManager(); 
this.stream = manager.Save(this.pivotGrid.DataProvider); 
 
//loading  
this.stream.Position = 0; 
PersistenceManager manager = new PersistenceManager(); 
manager.Load(this.pivotGrid.DataProvider, this.stream); 

Dim stream As Stream = New MemoryStream() 
 
ServiceProvider.RegisterPersistenceProvider(Of IValueProvider)(GetType(LocalDataSourceProvider), New LocalDataSourceValueProvider()) 
'saving 
Dim manager As New PersistenceManager() 
Me.stream = manager.Save(Me.pivotGrid.DataProvider) 
 
'loading  
Me.stream.Position = 0 
Dim manager As New PersistenceManager() 
manager.Load(Me.pivotGrid.DataProvider, Me.stream) 

Persist custom types

If you have implemented your own custom types, for example CustomGroupDescription, and you want to persist your data, you have to do the following:

• Set the DataContract attribute on each of your custom classes.

• Set the DataMember attribute on each of the properties that you want to serialize.

• Add all custom classes to the KnownTypes collection.

So if you have implemented a custom group description, it should be similar to this:

[DataContract] 
public class CustomGroupDescription : PropertyGroupDescriptionBase 
{ 
    [DataMember] 
    public string MyCustomProperty { get; set; } 
 
    protected override void CloneOverride(Cloneable source) 
    { 
        this.MyCustomProperty = (source as CustomGroupDescription).MyCustomProperty; 
    } 
 
    protected override Cloneable CreateInstanceCore() 
    { 
        return new CustomGroupDescription(); 
    } 
} 

<DataContract> _ 
Public Class CustomGroupDescription 
    Inherits PropertyGroupDescriptionBase 
 
    <DataMember> _ 
    Public Property MyCustomProperty() As String 
 
    Protected Overrides Sub CloneOverride(ByVal source As Cloneable) 
        Me.MyCustomProperty = (TryCast(source, CustomGroupDescription)).MyCustomProperty 
    End Sub 
 
    Protected Overrides Function CreateInstanceCore() As Cloneable 
        Return New CustomGroupDescription() 
    End Function 
End Class 

And here's the change in LocalDataSourceValueProvider class:

public class LocalDataSourceValueProvider : DataProviderValueProvider 
{ 
    private IEnumerable<Type> myKnownTypes = PivotSerializationHelper.KnownTypes.Concat<Type>(new List<Type>() { typeof(CustomGroupDescription) }); 
 
    public override IEnumerable<Type> KnownTypes 
    { 
        get 
        { 
            return myKnownTypes; 
        } 
    } 
} 

Public Class LocalDataSourceValueProvider 
    Inherits DataProviderValueProvider 
 
    Private myKnownTypes As IEnumerable(Of Type) = PivotSerializationHelper.KnownTypes.Concat(New List(Of Type)() From {GetType(CustomGroupDescription)}) 
 
    Public Overrides ReadOnly Property KnownTypes() As IEnumerable(Of Type) 
        Get 
            Return myKnownTypes 
        End Get 
    End Property 
End Class 

See Also

• Getting Started

• RadPivotFieldList

• LocalDataSourceProvider

• Features

• Serialization