Changes due to the deprecation of Microsoft’s BinaryFormatter 

What Changed

Microsoft deprecated BinaryFormatter in .NET 9. The impact of this decision and modifications we made as a result of this change impacts/affects the following capabilities:

Copy to Clipboard

Previously, many DevExpress WPF controls placed row values (custom type objects) and text (converted from selected rows or cells) onto the clipboard. This means that serializable data objects were passed onto the clipboard, allowing you to obtain them using code similar to the following:

C#
gridControl1.DataSource = new List<DataObj> {
    new DataObj{ ID = 1, Name = "John Smith" }
};
gridView1.SelectAll();
gridView1.CopyToClipboard();
// Then, you could expect that your DataObj objects would be available via the IDataObject API:
IDataObject dataObj = Clipboard.GetDataObject();
ArrayList array = dataObj.GetData(typeof(ArrayList)) as ArrayList;

Visual Basic
gridControl1.DataSource = New List(Of DataObj) From {
      New DataObj With {
          .ID = 1,
          .Name = "John Smith"
      }
}
gridView1.SelectAll()
gridView1.CopyToClipboard()
' Then, you could expect that your DataObj objects would be available via the IDataObject API:
Dim dataObj As IDataObject = Clipboard.GetDataObject()
Dim array As ArrayList = TryCast(dataObj.GetData(GetType(ArrayList)), ArrayList)

At present, you cannot obtain clipboard data as described above, you can only obtain text; a Clipboard.GetDataObject().GetData(typeof(ArrayList)) method call will return null. To obtain text, call the Clipboard.GetText or Clipboard.GetText(TextDataFormat.UnicodeText) method.

At present, you cannot obtain clipboard data as described above (you can only obtain text values). A Clipboard.GetDataObject().GetData(typeof(ArrayList)) method call will return null. To obtain text, call the Clipboard.GetText or Clipboard.GetText(TextDataFormat.UnicodeText) method instead.

You cannot revert to the previous behavior (except for the Scheduler).

Affected WPF components:

• GridControl
• TreeListControl
• Gantt
• Scheduler. Note that to revert to the previous behavior, you can use the approach described in the next section (enable EnableDataObjectBinarySerialization and install the BinaryFormatter compatibility package).

Affected WinForms APIs:

Grids

• BaseView.CopyToClipboard
• TreeList.CopyToClipboard
• VGridControlBase.CopyToClipboard

Editors

• TextEdit.Copy

Drag & Drop

If using v24.1.8 and 24.2.2, Drag & Drop operations no longer work because DevExpress WPF UI controls use DataObject to translate data between WPF components (see the list below). In turn, DataObject uses BinaryFormatter APIs when System.Windows.DataObject.GetData is called to retrieve data that originated from another component (when/if type is not intrinsically handled).

Note: Drag & Drop operations within the same application are available for v24.1.11 through 24.2.6. You need to update your project to these versions or newer. Alternatively, use the compatibility package as documented below.

Drag & Drop Behavior in Different Versions

To revert to the previous behavior, you can install the BinaryFormatter compatibility package and set the DeserializationSettings.EnableDataObjectBinarySerialization property to true:

C#
namespace DXApplication1 {
    public partial class App : Application {
        static App() {
            DevExpress.Utils.DeserializationSettings.EnableDataObjectBinarySerialization = true;
            //...
        }
    }
}

Visual Basic
Namespace DXApplication1
    Public Partial Class App
        Inherits Application

        Private Shared Sub New()
            DevExpress.Utils.DeserializationSettings.EnableDataObjectBinarySerialization = True
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

We expect to update our drag & drop logic and eliminate the use of BinaryFormatter in the future.

Affected WPF controls:

• GridControl
• TreeListControl
• ListBoxEdit
• Gantt
• Scheduler and legacy Scheduler

Reasons for Change

Starting with .NET 9, Microsoft no longer includes an implementation of BinaryFormatter in its runtime (due to security risks). Although BinaryFormatter APIs are available, their use generates a PlatformNotSupportedException error.

Impact on Existing Apps

If you use any functionality implemented via BinaryFormatter APIs, you will encounter a PlatformNotSupportedException.

See Also

• BinaryFormatter migration guide