using Newtonsoft.Json.Converters;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
public interface IApplicationData { }
public class ApplicationData : IApplicationData {
public string ExampleData { get; set; }
public override string ToString() {
IApplicationData Data { get; }
public abstract class Task : ITask, ICloneable {
protected Task(IApplicationData data = null) {
public IApplicationData Data { get; }
var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings() {
TypeNameHandling = TypeNameHandling.All
settings.Converters.Add(new TaskCreator(Data));
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(this, settings);
var expectedParameters = new Type[] { typeof(string), typeof(JsonSerializerSettings) };
var method = typeof(JsonConvert).GetMethods().Where(mi => mi.IsGenericMethod && mi.IsStatic && mi.IsPublic && mi.GetParameters().Select(pi => pi.ParameterType).SequenceEqual(expectedParameters)).Single();
return method.MakeGenericMethod(this.GetType()).Invoke(null, new object[] { json, settings });
public class NoDataTask : Task {
public class DataTask : Task {
public DataTask(IApplicationData data) : base(data) { }
public class TaskCreator : CustomCreationConverter<Task> {
private readonly IApplicationData _data;
public TaskCreator(IApplicationData data) {
public override Task Create(Type objectType) {
var hasDataConstructor = objectType.GetConstructor(new Type[] { typeof(IApplicationData) }) != null;
return hasDataConstructor ? (Task)Activator.CreateInstance(objectType, _data) : (Task)Activator.CreateInstance(objectType);
public List<ITask> Tasks { get; set; }
public static void Main()
var data = new ApplicationData { ExampleData = "Hello World" };
var dataTask = new DataTask(data);
var dataTaskCloneData = ((DataTask)dataTask.Clone()).Data;
Console.WriteLine($"{nameof(dataTaskCloneData)}: {dataTaskCloneData}");
var project = new Project {
Tasks = new List<ITask> {
var serialiserSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings {
TypeNameHandling = TypeNameHandling.All
serialiserSettings.Converters.Add(new TaskCreator(data));
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(project, serialiserSettings);
var projectCopy = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Project>(json, serialiserSettings);
var projectCopyTask2Data = projectCopy.Tasks[1].Data;
Console.WriteLine($"{nameof(projectCopyTask2Data)}: {projectCopyTask2Data}");