Unity3: can I serialize non-POD types? (Color, Vector3, etc.)?

[anon35426692]

The following code gives me the error: Type UnityEngine.Color is not marked as Serializable. I get the same using Vector3... if I change to float, it works? What's the deal??? Thx!

[System.Serializable ()]
public class ColorPreset : ISerializable 
{
    public Color clrStageBG = new Color(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f); 

    public ColorPreset () 
    {

   }

    public ColorPreset (SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
    {
        //Get the values from info and assign them to the appropriate properties
        clrStageBG = (Color)info.GetValue("clrStageBG", typeof(Color));
    }

    //Serialization function.

    public void GetObjectData (SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
    {
    info.AddValue("clrStageBG",clrStageBG);
    }
}

[anon35426692]

Using Binary Formatter, I added values of POD types as so:

[System.Serializable]
public class ColorPreset : ISerializable 
{
    public Color clrStageBG = new Color(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f); 

    public ColorPreset () 
    {
    }
    public ColorPreset (SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
    {
        //Get the values from info and assign them to the appropriate properties
        clrStageBG.r = (float)info.GetValue("clrStageBG_R", typeof(float));
        clrStageBG.g = (float)info.GetValue("clrStageBG_G", typeof(float));
        clrStageBG.b = (float)info.GetValue("clrStageBG_B", typeof(float));
        clrStageBG.a = (float)info.GetValue("clrStageBG_A", typeof(float));

    }

    public void GetObjectData (SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt)
    {
        info.AddValue("clrStageBG_R",clrStageBG.r);
        info.AddValue("clrStageBG_G",clrStageBG.g);
        info.AddValue("clrStageBG_B",clrStageBG.b);
        info.AddValue("clrStageBG_A",clrStageBG.a);
    }

};

As a note, my string values are a bit verbose, and I do see it adds the strings in full (not hashed) to the exported file... still a bit smaller than XML, but not as small as it could be... I'll just try to keep my AddValue strings short, i guess.

[Paulius-Liekis]

Try this:

[System.Serializable]
public class ColorPreset : ISerializable 
{
    public Color clrStageBG = new Color(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f); 

    public ColorPreset () 
    {
    }

    // no need for serialization functions, at least I don't use them and everything works for me
}

[anon35426692]

Still doing testing, but from extensive searching, I found this link:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/7766-Vector3-not-serializable

Which makes me think that my original code will work with the XMLSerializer, but not with BinaryFormatter, which must use POD types.

[MidnightStudiosInc]

GameObject Serializer Pro can serialize Vectors, Colors, and even complex subclasses of UnityEngine.Object like Components, Meshes, and Textures. It’s much more efficient than XMLSerializer and unlike BinaryFormatter is forward-compatible.

[Voxel-Busters]

You won’t be able to serialise Vectors, Colors and Quaternions directly as they are not Serializable classes. But c# allows you to implement serialization extensions classes using ISerializationSurrogate. Check this link for more info SurrogateSelector Class (System.Runtime.Serialization) | Microsoft Learn

But if you want to avoid all the trouble and save time, then check out Runtime Serialization for Unity fast and efficient plugin designed to handle serialization of c# class object as well Unity Objects like GameObject, Transform, Textures etc.

[Marrt]

i use properties and implicit operators
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

[System.Serializable]
public class SerializableColor{
	
	public	float[]			colorStore = new float[4]{1F,1F,1F,1F};
	public	Color			Color{
		get{ return new Color( colorStore[0], colorStore[1], colorStore[2], colorStore[3] );}
		set{ colorStore = new float[4]{ value.r, value.g, value.b, value.a  };				}
	}

	//makes this class usable as Color, Color normalColor = mySerializableColor;
	public static implicit operator Color		( SerializableColor instance ){
		return instance.Color;
	}

	//makes this class assignable by Color, SerializableColor myColor = Color.white;
	public static implicit operator SerializableColor		( Color color ){
		return new SerializableColor{ Color = color};
	}
}