I wrote a custom serializer that works by setting object properties by reflection. Serializable classes are tagged with serializable attribute and all serializable properties are also tagged. For example, the following class is serializable:
[Serializable]
public class Foo
{
[SerializableProperty]
public string SomethingSerializable {get; set;}
public string SometthingNotSerializable {get; set;}
}
When the serializer is asked to deserialize SomethingSerializable
, it gets the set method of the property and uses it to set it by doing something like this:
PropertyInfo propertyInfo; //the property info of the property to set
//...//
if (propertyInfo.CanWrite && propertyInfo.GetSetMethod() != null)
{
propertyInfo.GetSetMethod().Invoke(obj, new object[]{val});
}
This works fine, however, how can I make the property setter accessible only to the serializer? If the setter is private:
public string SomethingSerializable {get; private set;}
then the call to propertyInfo.GetSetMethod()
returns null in the serializer. Is there any way to access the private setter or any other way to ensure that only the serializer can access the setter? The serializer is not guaranteed to be in the same assembly.
Best Answer
As you already figured out, one way to access a non-public setter is as follows:
There is another way, though:
Coming here from a search engine?
This question is specifically about accessing a non-public setter in a public property.
BindingFlags.Public
flag.GetProperty
, you won't be able to access it. You'll need to callGetProperty
on a type to which the property is visible. (This doesn't affect private setters as long as the property itself is visible.)new
keyword), these examples will target the property that is immediately visible to the type on whichGetProperty
is called. For example, if class A declares Property usingpublic int Property
, and class B re-declares Property viapublic new int Property
,typeof(B).GetProperty("Property")
will return the property declared in B, whiletypeof(A).GetProperty("Property")
will return the property declared in A.