Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml
Imports System.Xml.Serialization
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary

''' <summary>
''' Contains function for serializing/deserializing an object to and from a byte array.
''' </summary>
Public Class ObjectPacker

    ''' <summary>
    ''' Serializes an object to a byte array.
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="obj">The object to be serialized.</param>
    Public Shared Function GetBytes(ByVal obj As Object) As Byte()
        If obj.GetType Is GetType(Byte).MakeArrayType Then
            Return CType(obj, Byte())
        End If
        Dim ret() As Byte = Nothing
        Dim blnRetAfterClose As Boolean = False
        Dim ms As New MemoryStream()
        Dim bf As New BinaryFormatter()
        Try
            bf.Serialize(ms, obj)
        Catch ex As Exception
            blnRetAfterClose = True
        Finally
            ms.Close()
        End Try
        If blnRetAfterClose Then Return ret
        ret = ms.ToArray()
        Return ret
    End Function

    ''' <summary>
    ''' Deserializes an object from a byte array.
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="byt">The byte array from which to obtain the object.</param>
    Public Shared Function GetObject(ByVal byt() As Byte) As Object
        Dim ms As New MemoryStream(byt, False)
        Dim bf As New BinaryFormatter()
        Dim x As Object
        Try
            x = bf.Deserialize(ms)
        Catch ex As Exception
            x = byt
        Finally
            ms.Close()
        End Try
        Return x
    End Function

End Class