Serialise specific properties only

[lonix1]

Supposing these types:

public class Parent
{
  public int Foo { get; set; }
  public bool Bar { get; set; }
}

public class Chid
{
  public Parent Parent { get; set; }
  public string Baz { get; set; }
  public int Qux { get; set; }                // serialise this
  public string Spam { get; set; }
  public bool Ham { get; set; }               // serialise this
  public double Eggs { get; set; }            // serialise this
}

If I serialise Child, it will include its entire object graph - all public properties, including Parent.

How do I serialise specific properties only? For example: Qux, Ham and Eggs, only.

(I don't want to specify which properties to "exclude", but rather those to "include".)

[EdwardCooke]

To restate what you're looking for, to make sure I understand clearly, is to make it so by default nothing would get serialized unless there was an attribute on the property? The opposite of the way it currently is. Is that right?

I believe the only way we can exclude things is by decorating the properties you want to exclude with the YamlIgnore attribute.

[lonix1]

Yes that's right. But that's too messy and interferes with my domain, so I went in a different direction - I created a DTO and serialise that instead. Thanks.