I am creating a custom dropdown control that has a property of an array of SqlParameters. The property makes a neat little dialog to manage and add SqlParameters. But how do I serialize this property. After, using that dialog to add some parameters it inserts the following attribute to the control's tag:

parameters="SqlParameter[] Array"

Here's the property code:

private SqlParameter[] _parameters = new SqlParameter[0];


[ToolboxItem("SqlParameter[]"), Category("DropDown Data"),Description("These are the SqlParameters used by the command.")]


public SqlParameter[] Parameters


{


	get


	{


		return _parameters;


	}


	set


	{


		_parameters = value;


	}


}

I already have it persisting in the veiwstate by converting them back and forth into a hashtable. but how do I serialize the designer attributes?

Take a look at the 'DesignerSerializationVisibility' Class. Here is an example:

protected StyleClass cssStyle = new StyleClass();


  [Browsable(true), 


  NotifyParentProperty(true),


  PersistenceMode(PersistenceMode.InnerProperty),


  DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content)]


public StyleClass CssStyle


{


    get


    {


        return this.cssStyle;


    }


    set


    {


        this.cssStyle = value;


    }


}

THis article may be of interest to you as well:

http://www.codeproject.com/aspnet/WebUserControl.asp