Serialization and Deserialization in WPF Ribbon

7 May 202115 minutes to read

State persistence is a combined process of serialization and deserialization. Serialization is the process of converting the state of the object to the format in which it can be stored as a file in the memory. Deserialization is a complement process of serialization that converts into the object from the stored state information.

The Ribbon control has built-in serialization support to serialize the entire Ribbon control state and details of the layout mode. It also provides supports to save and load the Ribbon at any time while running the application, either with simplified or normal layout.

The following ribbon control states can persist separately.

1. Quick Access Tool Bar

   a. Quick Access Tool Bar Items

   b. Quick Access Tool Bar State (Above Ribbon, Below Ribbon)

2. Ribbon

   a. Ribbon State (Normal, Hide)

   b. Layout Mode (Normal, Simplified)

3. Ribbon Window

   a. Window Width

   b. Window Height

   c. Window Left

   d. Window Top

Use case scenarios

The Ribbon State Persistence feature helps users to load the state of the Ribbon control that existed when the application was closed. State Persistence feature gives a more consistent workflow for an application that is executed for a long time.

Persist ribbon states at application exit and load

To persist the Ribbon States at application exit and load, use AutoPersist property. It is also possible to handle the persisting states in Ribbon control by handling the AutoPersist property individually in Ribbon, QAT and Ribbon window.

The following code snippet shows how to handle the property in Ribbon elements.

XAML

<syncfusion:RibbonWindow
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:syncfusion="http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf" x:Class="RibbonStatePersistence.MainWindow"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525" AutoPersist="True" x:Name="RibbonWindow" WindowStyle="SingleBorderWindow" WindowStartupLocation="CenterScreen" WindowState="Normal" syncfusion:SkinStorage.VisualStyle="Office2013" Loaded="RibbonWindow_Loaded">
<Grid>
<syncfusion:Ribbon x:Name="MyRibbon" AutoPersist="True" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<syncfusion:Ribbon.QuickAccessToolBar>
<syncfusion:QuickAccessToolBar AutoPersist="True">
</syncfusion:QuickAccessToolBar>
</syncfusion:Ribbon.QuickAccessToolBar>
</syncfusion:Ribbon>
</Grid>
</syncfusion:RibbonWindow>

Persist ribbon states any time while running the application

WPF Ribbon control supports the persistence of its states any time while running the application. Ribbon states can be saved and loaded at any time by using SaveRibbonState and LoadRibbonState methods

Before calling the methods, it is important to specify the persisting Ribbon elements in PersistElements collection.This collection can be changed at any time. Save and Load states at runtime are fully based on this collection details. The following code snippet shows how to add Ribbon elements that are required to retain its state.

C#

private void RibbonWindow_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    this.MyRibbon.PersistElements.Add(RibbonElements.Ribbon);
    this.MyRibbon.PersistElements.Add(RibbonElements.RibbonWindow);
    this.MyRibbon.PersistElements.Add(RibbonElements.QuickAccessToolbar);
}

VB.NET

Private Sub RibbonWindow_Loaded(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
Me.MyRibbon.PersistElements.Add(RibbonElements.Ribbon)
Me.MyRibbon.PersistElements.Add(RibbonElements.RibbonWindow)
Me.MyRibbon.PersistElements.Add(RibbonElements.QuickAccessToolbar)
End Sub

Saving ribbon states

Ribbon State can be saved and loaded dynamically at run time. To save the current Ribbon State, use SaveRibbonState method in Ribbon.

This method has two overloaded methods for customizing the Save state process as follows:

1. void SaveRibbonState()

2. void SaveRibbonState(IsolatedStorageFile isoStorage, string storeFileName)

In the first method, there is no parameters. Current state of the Ribbon Control is saved to the default Isolated Storage file, which is built in the source.

C#

private void SaveRibbonState_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    this.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState();
}

VB.NET

Private Sub SaveRibbonState_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
Me.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState()
End Sub

To store the current Ribbon State in the custom Isolated Storage file, use the second overloaded method. This method has two arguments namely IsolatedStorageFile and storeFileName.

C#

private void SaveRibbonState_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User | IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null);
    this.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState(storage,"Customfilename.dat");
}

VB.NET

Private Sub SaveRibbonState_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User Or IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null)
Me.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState(storage,"Customfilename.dat")
End Sub

Loading ribbon states

Load state process is also having the similar procedures of save states. We can load the Ribbon State at any time from the last saved Isolated Storage file. LoadRibbonState method is used to load the Ribbon state from the last saved state. This method has two overloaded methods as follows:

1. void LoadRibbonState()

2. void LoadRibbonState(IsolatedStorageFile isoStorage, string storeFileName)

The first method with no arguments loads the Ribbon State from the last saved state in the default Isolated Storage file, which is stored by the SaveRibbonState method.

C#

private void LoadRibbonState_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    this.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState();
}

VB.NET

Private Sub LoadRibbonState_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
Me.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState()
End Sub

The second overloaded method loads the Ribbon State from the given file name in the mentioned Isolated Storage file.

C#

private void LoadRibbonState_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User | IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null);
    this.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState(storage, "Customfilename.dat");
}

VB.NET

Private Sub LoadRibbonState_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User Or IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null)
Me.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState(storage, "Customfilename.dat")
End Sub

Save and load many ribbon states

Ribbon control states can easily be maintained in the Isolated Storage files. Further, It supports to Save the consecutive or different states of the Ribbon control in different Isolated Storage files and also load any saved state from the Isolated Storage files which is in old state.

C#

private void SaveLevel1State_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User | IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null);
    this.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState(storage,"RibbonState1.dat");
}
private void SaveLevel2State_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User | IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null);
    this.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState2.dat");
}
private void SaveLevel3State_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User | IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null);
    this.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState3.dat");
}

VB.NET

Private Sub SaveLevel1State_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User Or IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null)
Me.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState(storage,"RibbonState1.dat")
End Sub
Private Sub SaveLevel2State_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User Or IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null)
Me.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState2.dat")
End Sub
Private Sub SaveLevel3State_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User Or IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null)
Me.MyRibbon.SaveRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState3.dat")
End Sub

After saving the different states of the Ribbon Control, load the Ribbon state to any of the old states

C#

private void LoadLevel1State_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User | IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null);
    this.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState1.dat");
}
private void LoadLevel2State_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User | IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null);
    this.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState2.dat");
}
private void LoadLevel3State_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User | IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null);
    this.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState3.dat");
}

VB.NET

Private Sub LoadLevel1State_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User Or IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null)
Me.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState1.dat")
End Sub
Private Sub LoadLevel2State_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User Or IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null)
Me.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState2.dat")
End Sub
Private Sub LoadLevel3State_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User Or IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null)
Me.MyRibbon.LoadRibbonState(storage, "RibbonState3.dat")
End Sub

Persisting ribbon states by XML writer

The WPF Ribbon control supports state persistence in the XML file created by the user. The ribbon states can be saved and loaded in the XML file by overloading the following methods:

• SaveRibbonState(XmlWriter xmlWriter)
• LoadRibbonState(XmlReader xmlReader)

The following code illustrates this

XAML

<syncfusion:Ribbon Name="PART_Ribbon" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<syncfusion:Ribbon.PersistElements>
<syncfusion:RibbonElements>QuickAccessToolbar</syncfusion:RibbonElements>
</syncfusion:Ribbon.PersistElements>
<syncfusion:Ribbon.BackStage>
<syncfusion:Backstage />
</syncfusion:Ribbon.BackStage>
<syncfusion:Ribbon.QuickAccessToolBar>
<syncfusion:QuickAccessToolBar />
</syncfusion:Ribbon.QuickAccessToolBar>
<syncfusion:RibbonTab Caption="RibbonTab">
<syncfusion:RibbonBar Header="RibbonBar">
<syncfusion:SplitButton Label="SplitButton" SizeForm="Large">
<syncfusion:RibbonMenuItem Header="RibbonMenuItem" />
</syncfusion:SplitButton>
</syncfusion:RibbonBar>
</syncfusion:RibbonTab>
<syncfusion:RibbonTab Caption="Disk" IsChecked="False">
<syncfusion:RibbonBar>
<syncfusion:RibbonButton Click="OnSaveDisk" Label="Save to disk" />
<syncfusion:RibbonButton Click="OnLoadDisk" Label="Load from disk" />
</syncfusion:RibbonBar>
</syncfusion:RibbonTab>
</syncfusion:Ribbon>

C#

private const string SaveLocation = @"D:\temp1.xml";
private void OnLoadDisk(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    if (!File.Exists(SaveLocation))
    {
        return;
    }
    using (var reader = new StringReader(File.ReadAllText(SaveLocation)))
    {
        this.PART_Ribbon.LoadRibbonState(reader);
    }
}
private void OnSaveDisk(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    using (var stream = new FileStream(SaveLocation, FileMode.Create))
    using (var writer = XmlWriter.Create(stream))
    {
        this.PART_Ribbon.SaveRibbonState(writer);
    }
}

VB.NET

Private Const SaveLocation As String = "D:\temp1.xml"
Private Sub OnLoadDisk(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
If Not File.Exists(SaveLocation) Then
Return
End If
Using reader = New StringReader(File.ReadAllText(SaveLocation))
Me.PART_Ribbon.LoadRibbonState(reader)
End Using
End Sub
Private Sub OnSaveDisk(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
Using stream = New FileStream(SaveLocation, FileMode.Create)
Using writer = XmlWriter.Create(stream)
Me.PART_Ribbon.SaveRibbonState(writer)
End Using
End Using
End Sub

Reset Ribbon States

To load the Normal (Initial) Ribbon state at runtime call the ResetRibbonState method. This is a parameter less method. This loads the Normal state of the Ribbon control. Resetting the Ribbon state is applicable while AutoPersist is enabled in Ribbon elements.

C#

private void ResetState_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    this.MyRibbon.ResetRibbonState();
}

VB.NET

Private Sub ResetState_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
Me.MyRibbon.ResetRibbonState()
End Sub

Delete ribbon states

To delete the unused saved Isolated Storage files, use the DeleteRibbonState method.

C#

private void DeleteRibbonState_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    this.MyRibbon.DeleteRibbonState();
}

VB.NET

Private Sub DeleteRibbonState_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
Me.MyRibbon.DeleteRibbonState()
End Sub

Also this method is used to delete any file from specified Isolated Storage location.

C#

private void DeleteRibbonState_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User | IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null);
    this.MyRibbon.DeleteRibbonState(storage,"RibbonState1.dat");
}

VB.NET

Private Sub DeleteRibbonState_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
IsolatedStorageFile storage = IsolatedStorageFile.GetStore(IsolatedStorageScope.User Or IsolatedStorageScope.Assembly, null, null)
Me.MyRibbon.DeleteRibbonState(storage,"RibbonState1.dat")
End Sub