Question

I have some issue with mongo c# driver. I have such class:

class MongoEntity<T>
{
    public ObjectId Id {get; set;}
    public DateTime CreatedAt { get; set; }
    public DateTime UpdatedAt { get; set; }
    public int Version { get; set; }
    public T Entity { get; set; }
}

And during serialization my entities to database I have such document:

"_id" : "510654cf33d22e1774d5a2a9",
"CreatedAt" : {
    "DateTime" : ISODate("2013-01-28T10:37:02.932Z"),
    "Ticks" : NumberLong("634949662229321756")
 },
 "UpdatedAt" : {
    "DateTime" : ISODate("2013-01-28T10:37:02.932Z"),
    "Ticks" : NumberLong("634949662229321756")
 },
 "Version" : 1,
 "Entity" : {
    "EntityKey" : "[e-mail]",
    "Password" : "ICy5YqxZB1uWSwcVLSNLcA==",        
    "Email" : "[e-mail]",
    "Name" : "Tom Anderson"
 }

What I really want is to have all properties of entity object in my document in the same level as properties of MongoEntity object like this:

"_id" : "510654cf33d22e1774d5a2a9",
"CreatedAt" : {
    "DateTime" : ISODate("2013-01-28T10:37:02.932Z"),
    "Ticks" : NumberLong("634949662229321756")
 },
 "UpdatedAt" : {
    "DateTime" : ISODate("2013-01-28T10:37:02.932Z"),
    "Ticks" : NumberLong("634949662229321756")
 },
 "Version" : 1,
 "EntityKey" : "[e-mail]",
 "Password" : "ICy5YqxZB1uWSwcVLSNLcA==",        
 "Email" : "[e-mail]",
 "Name" : "Tom Anderson"

without Entity embedded object. How can I implement this in easiest way ?

P.S. What I am really looking for is some configuration of driver or writing custom serializer, maybe some workaround with dynamic, I do not want to change current class structure Enteties <-> MongoEntity

Thx for help.

Answer 1

There is no way to configure the built-in serializers to produce the document format you want (where the Entity fields are lifted one level up).

You would have to write a custom serializer, but it would be difficult because you either have to write a new serializer for each <T>, or you would have to write a sophisticated serializer that works for any <T>.

WiredPrairie’s suggestion (Person : MongoEntityBase) is the recommended solution.