Improving serialization

src/abstractions/serialization/KiotaJsonSerializer.Serialization.cs

@@ -20,9 +20,21 @@ public static partial class KiotaJsonSerializer
     /// </summary>
     /// <typeparam name="T">Type of the object to serialize</typeparam>
     /// <param name="value">The object to serialize.</param>
+    /// <param name="serializeOnlyChangedValues">By default you'll only get the changed properties</param>
     /// <returns>The serialized representation as a stream.</returns>
-    public static Stream SerializeAsStream<T>(T value) where T : IParsable
-    => KiotaSerializer.SerializeAsStream(_jsonContentType, value);
+    public static Stream SerializeAsStream<T>(T value, bool serializeOnlyChangedValues = true) where T : IParsable
+    => KiotaSerializer.SerializeAsStream(_jsonContentType, value, serializeOnlyChangedValues);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Serializes the specified object as a string based JSON stream.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <typeparam name="T">The type of the value to serialize.</typeparam>
+    /// <param name="value">The object to serialize.</param>
+    /// <param name="serializeOnlyChangedValues">By default you'll only get the changed properties</param>
+    /// <returns>A <see cref="Stream"/> containing the serialized JSON data.</returns>
+
+    public static Stream SerializeAsJsonStream<T>(this T value, bool serializeOnlyChangedValues = true) where T : IParsable
+    => SerializeAsStream(value, serializeOnlyChangedValues);
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Serializes the given object into a string based on the content type.
@@ -49,9 +61,21 @@ public static Task<string> SerializeAsStringAsync<T>(T value, CancellationToken
     /// </summary>
     /// <typeparam name="T">Type of the object to serialize</typeparam>
     /// <param name="value">The object to serialize.</param>
+    /// <param name="serializeOnlyChangedValues">By default you'll only get the changed properties</param>
     /// <returns>The serialized representation as a stream.</returns>
-    public static Stream SerializeAsStream<T>(IEnumerable<T> value) where T : IParsable
-    => KiotaSerializer.SerializeAsStream(_jsonContentType, value);
+    public static Stream SerializeAsStream<T>(IEnumerable<T> value, bool serializeOnlyChangedValues = true) where T : IParsable
+    => KiotaSerializer.SerializeAsStream(_jsonContentType, value, serializeOnlyChangedValues);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Serializes the specified object as a string based JSON stream.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <typeparam name="T">The type of the object to serialize.</typeparam>
+    /// <param name="value">The enumerable of objects to serialize.</param>
+    /// <param name="serializeOnlyChangedValues">By default you'll only get the changed properties</param>
+    /// <returns>A <see cref="Stream"/> containing the serialized JSON data.</returns>
+
+    public static Stream SerializeAsJsonStream<T>(this IEnumerable<T> value, bool serializeOnlyChangedValues = true) where T : IParsable
+    => SerializeAsStream(value, serializeOnlyChangedValues);
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Serializes the given object into a string based on the content type.

src/abstractions/serialization/KiotaSerializer.Serialization.cs

@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 using System.IO;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Microsoft.Kiota.Abstractions.Store;
+
 #if NET5_0_OR_GREATER
 using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
 #endif
@@ -25,12 +27,25 @@ public static partial class KiotaSerializer
     /// <typeparam name="T">Type of the object to serialize</typeparam>
     /// <param name="contentType">Content type to serialize the object to </param>
     /// <param name="value">The object to serialize.</param>
+    /// <param name="serializeOnlyChangedValues">By default you'll only get the changed properties.</param>
     /// <returns>The serialized representation as a stream.</returns>
-    public static Stream SerializeAsStream<T>(string contentType, T value) where T : IParsable
+    public static Stream SerializeAsStream<T>(string contentType, T value, bool serializeOnlyChangedValues = true) where T : IParsable
     {
+        bool restoreInitializationCompleted = false;
+        if(!serializeOnlyChangedValues && value is IBackedModel backedModel)
+        {
+            // reset the initialization completed flag to ensure all properties are serialized
+            restoreInitializationCompleted = backedModel.BackingStore.InitializationCompleted;
+            backedModel.BackingStore.InitializationCompleted = false;
+        }
         using var writer = GetSerializationWriter(contentType, value);
-        writer.WriteObjectValue(string.Empty, value);
-        return writer.GetSerializedContent();
+        writer.WriteObjectValue(null, value);
+        var stream = writer.GetSerializedContent();
+        if(restoreInitializationCompleted)
+        {
+            (value as IBackedModel)!.BackingStore.InitializationCompleted = true;
+        }
+        return stream;
     }
     /// <summary>
     /// Serializes the given object into a string based on the content type.
@@ -64,12 +79,25 @@ public static Task<string> SerializeAsStringAsync<T>(string contentType, T value
     /// <typeparam name="T">Type of the object to serialize</typeparam>
     /// <param name="contentType">Content type to serialize the object to </param>
     /// <param name="value">The object to serialize.</param>
+    /// <param name="serializeOnlyChangedValues">By default you'll only get the changed properties.</param>
     /// <returns>The serialized representation as a stream.</returns>
-    public static Stream SerializeAsStream<T>(string contentType, IEnumerable<T> value) where T : IParsable
+    public static Stream SerializeAsStream<T>(string contentType, IEnumerable<T> value, bool serializeOnlyChangedValues = true) where T : IParsable
     {
+        bool resetInitializationCompleted = false;
+        if(!serializeOnlyChangedValues && value is IBackedModel backedModel)
+        {
+            // reset the initialization completed flag to ensure all properties are serialized
+            backedModel.BackingStore.InitializationCompleted = false;
+            resetInitializationCompleted = true;
+        }
         using var writer = GetSerializationWriter(contentType, value);
-        writer.WriteCollectionOfObjectValues(string.Empty, value);
-        return writer.GetSerializedContent();
+        writer.WriteCollectionOfObjectValues(null, value);
+        var stream = writer.GetSerializedContent();
+        if(resetInitializationCompleted)
+        {
+            (value as IBackedModel)!.BackingStore.InitializationCompleted = true;
+        }
+        return stream;
     }
     /// <summary>
     /// Serializes the given object into a string based on the content type.