Saving an array in C# for local scoreboard

Question

I am developing an app for Windows 8 that has a localized leader board. The data for that leader board is stored in two arrays: the name and the score. (Yes, a collection probably would have worked better, but using the arrays was vastly easier in my code). I would now like to know how I can save both of these arrays and reload them.

All of the examples on saving data that I have looked at so far only show how to save settings and my 800 page C# book happened to skip saving data altogether.

My two arrays are currently declared as such:

static string[] names = new string[100];
static int[] scores = new int[100];

I am using Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8 on a system running Windows 8.1 Pro.

Thank you for the help.

Look at using serialization to convert the data to a nice format for saving to a file. Xml, Json, or Binary would all work. — Grax32, Mar 20 '14 at 17:31
Have a look at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms233843.aspx and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4360089/serializing-an-array-in-c-sharp — John Yost, Mar 20 '14 at 17:31
what 800 page book do you have? it had to have mentioned isolated storage — RadioSpace, Mar 20 '14 at 17:32
It's strongly recommended that you create a proper data model that contains all the data you need as opposed to loose unrelated arrays of value types. — Federico Berasategui, Mar 20 '14 at 17:42
@user3439632 if you just need to save and retrieve a simple file format like a dictionary is good enough at this point — Dexters, Mar 20 '14 at 18:07

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 20 '14 at 17:47

To get you started here's a bit of example code for serializing and saving in a Windows 8 app. As others have suggested, looking at the XmlObjectSerialzation stuff is useful.

string[] names = new string[100];
StorageFolder folder = ApplicationData.Current.RoamingFolder;
XmlWriterSettings set = new XmlWriterSettings();
set.Encoding = Encoding.Unicode;

XmlObjectSerializer serializer = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(string[]));
Stream stream = await folder.OpenStreamForWriteAsync("filename", CreationCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(stream, set);
serializer.WriteObject(writer, names);

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 20 '14 at 18:06

Look at the below methods in link.

What you are trying to save is just (name|score) pair. Its similar to dictionary. The below link explains it.

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/42872/Save-Key-Value-Pairs-in-a-File

This should be fairly simple if your application is simple. But as others have mentioned , you should try serialization and xmls files if you want to expand beyond just scores or develop a complex application

Saving an array in C# for local scoreboard

2 Answers2