.CDB.JSON successor

[stefan-tb]

Moving forward we will probably change almost all usage of the .Net 1.1 and WinPower collections to their optimized System.Collections.Generic counterparts. CADability serializes type names into the .cdb.json json'ish file format. Therefore, if we do so:

the .cdb.json file format would break

We are currently looking into a newer System.Text.Json file format that only saves type information where necessary, allowing for more under-the-hood refactorings in the future.

Q: Is any contributing party using the current CADability file format to store data? Do we need a fully working migration path for existing data?

[dsn27]

@davidebazzi David are you using this file format?

[davidebazzi]

Yes we are using it

[dsn27]

Is there a chance to provide a smooth transition?

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/serialization/system-text-json/migrate-from-newtonsoft?pivots=dotnet-9-0

Perhaps a custom converter could help to transform from one type to the other?
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/serialization/system-text-json/converters-how-to

[stefan-tb]

This is not about System.Text.Json. We would need to teach the "classic" .cdb.json code de/serialize the new collection types with the lecacy type names in order to be able to load existing files into the new collection types.

[dsn27]

@Steinblock Jürgen are you using this file format internally to store your drawings?