Our website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience.
Accept
to the top
>
>
>
V3103. A private Ctor(SerializationInfo…
menu mobile close menu
Analyzer diagnostics
General Analysis (C++)
General Analysis (C#)
General Analysis (Java)
Micro-Optimizations (C++)
Diagnosis of 64-bit errors (Viva64, C++)
Customer specific requests (C++)
MISRA errors
AUTOSAR errors
OWASP errors (C++)
OWASP errors (C#)
Problems related to code analyzer
Additional information
toggle menu Contents

V3103. A private Ctor(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext) constructor in unsealed type will not be accessible when deserializing derived types.

May 10 2016

The analyzer detected a serialization constructor with a strange access modifier.

The following cases are treated as suspicious:

  • the constructor is declared with the 'public' access modifier;
  • the constructor is declared with the 'private' access modifier, but the type is unsealed.

A serialization constructor is called when an object is deserialized, and must not be called outside the type (except when called by a derived class), so it should not be declared as 'public' or 'internal'.

If a constructor is declared with the 'private' access modifier but the class is not sealed, derived classes will not be able to call this constructor; therefore, deserialization of the members of the base class will be impossible.

Consider the following example:

[Serializable]
class C1 : ISerializable
{
  ....
  private C1(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
  {
    ....
  }
  ....
}

The 'C1' class is unsealed, but the serialization constructor is declared as 'private'. As a result, derived classes will not be able to call this constructor and, therefore, the object will not be deserialized correctly. To fix this error, the access modifier should be changed to 'protected':

[Serializable]
class C1 : ISerializable
{
  ....
  protected C1(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
  {
    ....
  }
  ....
}

Note. This diagnostic has an additional parameter, which can be configured in the configuration file (*.pvsconfig). It has the following syntax:

//+V3103:CONF:{ IncludeBaseTypes: true }

With this parameter on, the analyzer examines not only how the 'ISerializable' interface is implemented by the class itself, but also how it is implemented by any of the base classes. This option is off by default.

To learn more about configuration files, see this page.

close form

Fill out the form in 2 simple steps below:

Your contact information:

Step 1
Congratulations! This is your promo code!

Desired license type:

Step 2
Team license
Enterprise license
** By clicking this button you agree to our Privacy Policy statement
close form
Request our prices
New License
License Renewal
--Select currency--
USD
EUR
* By clicking this button you agree to our Privacy Policy statement

close form
Free PVS‑Studio license for Microsoft MVP specialists
* By clicking this button you agree to our Privacy Policy statement

close form
To get the licence for your open-source project, please fill out this form
* By clicking this button you agree to our Privacy Policy statement

close form
I am interested to try it on the platforms:
* By clicking this button you agree to our Privacy Policy statement

close form
check circle
Message submitted.

Your message has been sent. We will email you at


If you do not see the email in your inbox, please check if it is filtered to one of the following folders:

  • Promotion
  • Updates
  • Spam