Full Serialization in Worfklow 4.0 - xml-serialization

Question

I'm trying to serialize a workflow (using C#'s workflow 4.0) to retrieve the full workflow XAML and have hit a wall.
I've got an activity (myActivity) that I've created. The contents of the xaml file that describes this activity is:
<Activity mc:Ignorable="sap" x:Class="atest.MySuite" >
<Sequence sap:VirtualizedContainerService.HintSize="222,501">
<sap:WorkflowViewStateService.ViewState>
<scg3:Dictionary x:TypeArguments="x:String, x:Object">
<x:Boolean x:Key="IsExpanded">True</x:Boolean>
</scg3:Dictionary>
</sap:WorkflowViewStateService.ViewState>
<Sequence DisplayName="First Sequence" sap:VirtualizedContainerService.HintSize="200,99">
<sap:WorkflowViewStateService.ViewState>
<scg3:Dictionary x:TypeArguments="x:String, x:Object">
<x:Boolean x:Key="IsExpanded">True</x:Boolean>
</scg3:Dictionary>
</sap:WorkflowViewStateService.ViewState>
</Sequence>
<Sequence DisplayName="Second Sequence" sap:VirtualizedContainerService.HintSize="200,99">
<sap:WorkflowViewStateService.ViewState>
<scg3:Dictionary x:TypeArguments="x:String, x:Object">
<x:Boolean x:Key="IsExpanded">True</x:Boolean>
</scg3:Dictionary>
</sap:WorkflowViewStateService.ViewState>
</Sequence>
<Sequence DisplayName="Third Sequence" sap:VirtualizedContainerService.HintSize="200,99">
<sap:WorkflowViewStateService.ViewState>
<scg3:Dictionary x:TypeArguments="x:String, x:Object">
<x:Boolean x:Key="IsExpanded">True</x:Boolean>
</scg3:Dictionary>
</sap:WorkflowViewStateService.ViewState>
</Sequence>
</Sequence>
</Activity>
Note that the sub sequences show up in the XAML.
When I go to serialize this activity, I use the code I found on MSDN:
using (var sw = new StreamWriter(somePath))
{
sw.Write(a.Log.ToString());
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
StringWriter tw = new StringWriter(sb);
XamlWriter xw = ActivityXamlServices.CreateBuilderWriter(new XamlXmlWriter(tw, new XamlSchemaContext()));
XamlServices.Save(xw, myActivity);
string serializedActivity = sb.ToString();
}
But the string that comes out the other end is simply:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><MySuite xmlns="clr-namespace:atest;assembly=Wtf.Automation.atest" xmlns:sap="http://schemas.microsoft.com/netfx/2009/xaml/activities/presentation" />
I've poked around on MSDN and on stackoverflow, but haven't found a way to retrive the full XAML of a custom activity (given an instance of that activity) like what I've described in my xaml file, not just this truncated version.
Does anyone know if there's a way? Code samples and/or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Answer 1

I believe your issue is that ActivityXamlServices.CreateBuilderWriter works with ActivityBuilder instances. Try
XamlServices.Save(xw, new ActivityBuilder { Implementation = myActivity });

Answer 2

Serialize:
public static string ActivityToXaml(Activity activity)
{
StringBuilder xaml = new StringBuilder();
using (XmlWriter xmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(xaml, new XmlWriterSettings { Indent = true, OmitXmlDeclaration = false, }))
using (XamlWriter xamlWriter = new XamlXmlWriter(xmlWriter, new XamlSchemaContext()))
using (XamlWriter xamlServicesWriter = ActivityXamlServices.CreateBuilderWriter(xamlWriter))
{
XamlServices.Save(xamlServicesWriter, new ActivityBuilder { Implementation = activity });
}
return xaml.ToString();
}
Deserialize:
public static Activity ActivityFromXaml(string activityXaml)
{
using (var reader = new StringReader(activityXaml))
{
return ActivityXamlServices.Load(reader);
}
}