Formatters¶

Formatters are responsible for converting CLR objects to broker payloads and converting broker payloads back to CLR objects.

ServiceBus.Core keeps formatting separate from transport logic.

graph LR
    Object["CLR object"]
    Formatter["IDataFormatter"]
    Payload["byte[] payload"]
    Broker["Message broker"]

    Object --> Formatter
    Formatter --> Payload
    Payload --> Broker

Formatter Model¶

IDataFormatter works with the final binary payload used by the broker.

The general flow is:

graph LR
    Object["CLR object"]
    Json["JSON"]
    Encoding["Encoding"]
    Payload["byte[]"]

    Object --> Json
    Json --> Encoding
    Encoding --> Payload

The reverse flow is:

graph LR
    Payload["byte[]"]
    Encoding["Encoding"]
    Json["JSON"]
    Object["CLR object"]

    Payload --> Encoding
    Encoding --> Json
    Json --> Object

IDataFormatter vs IJsonSerializer¶

The formatter layer exposes two related but different abstractions.

Contract	Responsibility
`IDataFormatter`	Converts CLR objects to `byte[]` payloads and back.
`IJsonSerializer`	Converts CLR objects to JSON strings and back.

IDataFormatter is used by broker clients.

IJsonSerializer is used internally by formatter implementations when a string-based JSON serializer is needed.

Available Implementations¶

Package	Formatter
`ServiceBus.Formatters.Ms`	`MsJsonDataFormatter`
`ServiceBus.Formatters.Newtonsoft`	`JsonDataFormatter`
`ServiceBus.Formatters.Newtonsoft`	`RwJsonDataFormatter`

Serializer Implementations¶

Package	Serializer
`ServiceBus.Formatters.Ms`	`MsJsonSerializer`
`ServiceBus.Formatters.Newtonsoft`	`JsonNetSerializer`

Relationship With Clients¶

graph TD
    Publisher --> IDataFormatter
    Subscriber --> IDataFormatter
    IAsyncRestPublisher --> IDataFormatter
    IRestHostSubscriber --> IDataFormatter

Every client that sends or receives payloads requires an IDataFormatter.

Recommendation¶

Use one formatter implementation consistently across publishers and subscribers that exchange the same message contracts.

Both sides must agree on the payload format.