Develop Reference

Object element from XML De-serialization not filling Attributes are

I am receiving back from a Web Service XML that looks like this:
<RESULT>
<GRP ID="INP">
<FLD NAME="SORDNO" TYPE="Char"></FLD>
<FLD NAME="SITENO" TYPE="Char">999</FLD>
</GRP>
<TAB DIM="100" ID="POS" SIZE="0"/>
<TAB DIM="500" ID="ERR" SIZE="2">
<LIN NUM="1">
<FLD NAME="ERRORS" TYPE="Char"/>
</LIN>
<LIN NUM="2">
<FLD NAME="ERRORS" TYPE="Char">Site code 999 is not valid</FLD>
</LIN>
</TAB>
I want to codify the XML into an object so I created a class that seems to match the XML structure:
namespace DropShipmentFulfillment.SagePOCreateProcess
{
public class SagePOCreateResponse1
{
[XmlRoot("RESULT")]
public class RESULT
{
[XmlElement("GRP")]
public RESULTGRP GRP;
[XmlElement("TAB")]
public RESULTTAB[] TAB;
}
public partial class RESULTGRP
{
[XmlAttribute("ID")]
public string ID;
[XmlElement("FLD")]
public RESULTFLD[] FLD;
}
public partial class RESULTTAB
{
[XmlAttribute("DIM")]
public string DIM;
[XmlAttribute("ID")]
public string ID;
[XmlAttribute("SIZE")]
public string SIZE;
[XmlElement("LIN")]
public RESULTLIN[] LIN;
}
public partial class RESULTLIN
{
[XmlAttribute("NUM")]
public string NUM;
[XmlElement("FLD")]
public RESULTFLD FLD;
}
public partial class RESULTFLD
{
[XmlAttribute("NAME")]
public string NAME;
[XmlAttribute("TYPE")]
public string TYPE;
}
}
}
When I perform the serialization I execute this code:
private SagePOCreateResponse1.RESULT GetPOResponse(SageWeb.CAdxResultXml sageSvcResponse)
{
string xml = sageSvcResponse.resultXml;
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(SagePOCreateResponse1.RESULT));
StringReader rdr = new StringReader(xml);
SagePOCreateResponse1.RESULT resultingMessage = (SagePOCreateResponse1.RESULT)serializer.Deserialize(rdr);
return resultingMessage;
}
When I execute the program I do not get an error indicating that the class structure does not match the XML structure, but specifically, the FLD element does not contain a value. For example, if I stop to take a look at a specific field (FLD), in GRP I get the attributes values but not the value of the element:
?objectResponse.GRP.FLD[0]
{DropShipmentFulfillment.SagePOCreateProcess.SagePOCreateResponse1.RESULTFLD}
NAME: "SORDNO"
TYPE: "Char"
It seems like the serializer is not putting the element value in place though I think I have named it right and I get no errors.
What am I missing? Why would it resolve the attributes and not the element values?
I did try doing the XSD creation to C# Class route, but when I had to deal with dynamic lines (LIN) I tried creating my own class.

Thanks to jdweng I was able to find a solution. Keeping all things the same from my question I changed one class:
public partial class RESULTFLD
{
[XmlAttribute("NAME")]
public string NAME;
[XmlAttribute("TYPE")]
public string TYPE;
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTextAttribute()]
public string Value;
}
I needed this line "[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTextAttribute()]" instead of just the "[XmlText]" line.
The class now deserilizes the XML so I get both attribute values and innerText values.

Serialize Class to XML issue with XmlRoot Declaration

Im serializing my class to XML. I have an issue with the root element of one of my classes is NOT being named properly.
The complete XML structure should look like the following.
<Workflow>
<Name>My Workflow</Name>
<Description />
<Modules>
<Module Name="Intro" MenuText="IntroText" />
</Modules>
</Workflow>
However Im getting this result
<Workflow>
<Name>My Workflow</Name>
<Description />
<Modules>
<WorkflowModule Name="Intro" MenuText="IntroText" />
</Modules>
</Workflow>
I want the element "WorkflowModule" to be called "Module" however the problem is that I already have another class called Module. So to get around this problem I called it a WorkflowModule and put a class XmlRoot() declartion like so;
[XmlRoot("Module")]
public class WorkflowModule
{...}
But when I serialize the Workflow class it still comes up with WorkflowModule.
Here are my 2 classes classes;
[XmlRoot("Workflow")]
public class Workflow
{
private string _name;
private string _description;
private List<WorkflowModule> _modules = new List<WorkflowModule>();
[XmlElement("Name")]
public String Name
{
get { }
set { }
}
[XmlElement("Description")]
public String Description
{
get { }
set { }
}
[XmlArrayItem(typeof(WorkflowModule))]
public List<WorkflowModule> Modules
{
get { }
set { }
}
}
[XmlRoot("Module")]
public class WorkflowModule
{
private string _name;
private string _menu_text;
public WorkflowModule()
{
}
[XmlAttribute("Name")]
public String Name
{
get { }
set { }
}
[XmlAttribute("MenuText")]
public String MenuText
{
get { }
set { }
}
}
}

Set the element name within XmlArrayItem attrubute:
[XmlArrayItem(typeof(WorkflowModule), ElementName = "Module")]

There are many ways to control it as defined in this duplicate post How do I Set XmlArrayItem Element name for a List<Custom> implementation?
These attribute control serialize from the this object's perspective as it transverses nested objects
[XmlArray("RootArrayElementNameGoesHere")]
[XmlArrayItem(typeof(Workflow), ElementName="ArrayItemElementNameGoesHere")]
public List<WorkflowModule> Modules
This attribute redefining the element name but can be overwritten with the local [XmlArrayItem] or [XmlElement] attributes to provides local override from the owning objects serialization
[XmlType(TypeName = "UseThisElementNameInsteadOfClassName")]
public class WorkflowModule
This attribute is only honored when its the direct object being serialized
[XmlRoot("UseThisElementNameWhenItIsTheRoot")]
public class WorkflowModule

Set XML serialziation resulting doc root

I've got another problem (which might not be an issue in terms of coding problems) but more of principle..been bugging me for a while. I have this c# class, as follows:
namespace SMCProcessMonitor
{
public class Config
{
[XmlElement("Recipient")]
public string recipient;
[XmlElement("Server-port")]
public int serverport;
[XmlElement("Username")]
public string username;
[XmlElement("Password")]
public string password;
[XmlElement("Program")]
public List<Programs> mPrograms = new List<Programs>();
[Serializable]
[XmlRoot("Email-Config")]
public class Email
{
public string Recipient
{
get
{
return SMCProcessMonitor.ConfigManager.mConfigurations.recipient;
}
set
{
SMCProcessMonitor.ConfigManager.mConfigurations.recipient = value;
}
}
public int ServerPort
{
get
{
return SMCProcessMonitor.ConfigManager.mConfigurations.serverport;
}
set
{
SMCProcessMonitor.ConfigManager.mConfigurations.serverport = value;
}
}
public string Username
{
get
{
return SMCProcessMonitor.ConfigManager.mConfigurations.username;
}
set
{
SMCProcessMonitor.ConfigManager.mConfigurations.username = value;
}
}
public string Password { get; set; }
}
}
I can serialize this almost fine. (i recently changed simple get; set; to the full-works as seen above, but when serialising i get something like this;
<Config xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<Recipient>sd</Recipient>
<Server-port>1234</Server-port>
<Username>dk</Username>
<Password>kdkdk</Password>
</Config>
Basically I want to wrap these 4 tags in an "email-settings" tag.

Add the Serializable() and XmlRoot attributes up to the base class:
[Serializable()]
[XmlRoot("Email-Settings")]
public class Config

There are attributes to control aspects of xml serialization like this, see Controlling XML Serialization Using Attributes.
I think the one you want specifically is XmlRootAttribute.

You'll need to create an EmailSettings class that contains those 4 properties, and then make an instance of the EmailSettings class a member of your Config class.

A question about writing data to a custom section?

below is my class thanks to the article found at:
URL: Derik Whittaker
My Code:
public class FavsSection : ConfigurationSection
{
public override bool IsReadOnly()
{
return base.IsReadOnly();
}
public FavsSection() // default Constructor.
{ }
[ConfigurationProperty("Items", IsRequired=true)]
public FavouritesCollection FavsItems
{
get
{
return (FavouritesCollection)(base ["Items"]);
}
}
}
[ConfigurationCollection(typeof(FavouriteElement))]
public class FavouritesCollection : ConfigurationElementCollection
{
protected override ConfigurationElement CreateNewElement()
{
return new FavouriteElement();
}
protected override object GetElementKey(ConfigurationElement element)
{
return ((FavouriteElement)(element)).ItemType;
}
public FavouriteElement this[int idx]
{
get
{
return (FavouriteElement)BaseGet(idx);
}
}
public override bool IsReadOnly()
{
return base.IsReadOnly();
}
}
public class FavouriteElement : ConfigurationElement
{
[ConfigurationProperty("id", DefaultValue = "", IsKey = true, IsRequired = true)]
public string ID
{
get
{
return ((string)(base["id"]));
}
set
{
base["id"] = value;
}
}
[ConfigurationProperty("path", DefaultValue = "", IsKey = false, IsRequired = false)]
public string Path
{
get
{
return ((string)(base["path"]));
}
set
{
base["path"] = value;
}
}
}
My config file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<section name="FavouritesMenu" type="MyFileExplorer.FavsSection, MyFileExplorer" />
</configSections>
<FavouritesMenu>
<Items>
<add id="1" path="c:\foo" />
<add id="2" path="C:\foo1" />
</Items>
</FavouritesMenu>
</configuration>
As you can see I am trying to write data into my custom section called 'Favourites Menu'. I think I have got the basic gist of the idea but I don;t see how to make my next step ... something got do with the 'IsReadOnly' method? Can someone please help me fill in the blanks? Feel free to rename things to make it easier to read? I thought I would make a half decent effort before I asked for help ...
RESEARCH: StackOverFlow - SAME QUESTION!
---------- Got lost on Pike65's comment ... cannot write to collection because it is set to read only.
I presume the collection needs setting to IsReadOnly false and some helper methods are needed to add data into the collection? This part is all alittle hazy to me ...
Thanks for reading,
Ibrar

I have been doing some basic testing and to 'NO' surprise ... the above actually works. You just need to make sure that when you want to pass data to your config section, then by default they are read only. So you will need to override the 'isReadOnly()' method inorder for the above code to work.
So the solution is that the above peice of code, does work ... you just need to override an extra method to allow you to access the collection responsible for holding your element data and manipulate its contents via the properties you define in the class that extends or inherits from the Configuration Element class.
UPDATE:
The above code sample I pasted in allows you to edit what already exists in the config file inside your custom section. In order to add a new item for example like the following:
FavsSection favconfig = (FavsSection)config.GetSection("FavouritesMenu");
ToolStripMenuItem menu = (ToolStripMenuItem)returnMenuComponents("favouritesToolStripMenuItem", form);
ToolStripItemCollection items = menu.DropDownItems;
for (int i = 0; i < items.Count; i++)
{
//favconfig.FavsItems[i].ID = i.ToString();
//favconfig.FavsItems[i].Path = items[i].Text;
favconfig.FavsItems[i] = new FavouriteElement()
{
ID = i.ToString(),
Path = items[i].Text
};
}
As you can see above, I am physically adding a new 'FavouriteElement' object into the collection returned by the property 'favconfig.FavItems'. In order to to do this, one property needs extending to support this.
public FavouriteElement this[int idx]
{
get
{
return (FavouriteElement)BaseGet(idx);
}
set
{
base.BaseAdd(value);
}
}
This indexer or paramterful property as 'Jeffrey Richter' calls them needs to have it's 'Set' accessor implemented as shown above in the code snippet. I have pasted it in here as it did not take long to figure out and most of the code is changed using a template I have used from Derik Whittaker's Article. Hopefully this will alow other coders to implement something similar.
Another solution would be to simply rather than 'getting' the collection all the time that 'lassoes' together all my 'FavouriteElements', you could implement the 'set' accessor for the related property. I have not tested this but I might be worth trying out.

How to get configuration element

Helo
Can anybody explain me how to get configuration element from .config file.
I know how to handle attributes but not elements. As example, I want to parse following:
<MySection enabled="true">
<header><![CDATA[ <div> .... </div> ]]></header>
<title> .... </title>
</MySection>
My c# code looks like this so far:
public class MyConfiguration : ConfigurationSection
{
[ConfigurationProperty("enabled", DefaultValue = "true")]
public bool Enabled
{
get { return this["enabled"].ToString().ToLower() == "true" ? true : false; }
}
[ConfigurationProperty("header")]
public string header
{
???
}
}
It works with attributes, how do I do with elements (header property in above code) ?

There is another approach for doing the same thing.
We could create an element by overriding DeserializeElement method to get string value:
public class EmailTextElement : ConfigurationElement {
public string Value { get; private set; }
protected override void DeserializeElement(XmlReader reader, bool s) {
Value = reader.ReadElementContentAs(typeof(string), null) as string;
}
}

Here's a pretty good custom config section designer tool you can use (and it's free):
Configuration Section Designer
EDIT:
I was looking into MSDN and it seems that custom config sections can't do what you want, ie. getting the config value from an element. Custom config elements can contain other config elements, but the config values always come from attributes.
Maybe you can put your html snippets into other files and refer to them from the config, like this.
<MySection enabled="true">
<header filename="myheader.txt" />
<title filename="mytitle.txt" />
</MySection>

Inherit the ConfigurationElement class and override its deserialize method. Use the new class to represent elements with text content.
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/XML/ConfigurationTextElement.aspx

Working with your example, you are going to override the Deserialization of "header" in the ConfigurationElement to get the CDATA value.
<MySection enabled="true">
<header name="foo"><![CDATA[ <div> .... </div> ]]></header>
<title> .... </title>
</MySection>
public sealed class HeaderSection: ConfigurationElement {
private string __Name, __CDATA;
[ConfigurationProperty("name", IsRequired = true)]
public string Name {
get {
return this.__Name;
}
set {
this.__Name = value;
}
}
[ConfigurationProperty("value", IsRequired = true)]
public string Value {
get {
return this.__CDATA;
}
set {
this.__CDATA = value;
}
}
protected override void DeserializeElement(System.Xml.XmlReader reader, bool s) {
this.Name = reader.GetAttribute("name").Trim();
string cdata = reader.ReadElementContentAs(typeof(string), null) as string;
this.Value = cdata.Trim();
}
}

You can use the ConfigurationManager.GetSection("SectionName") method for getting the configuration section in the config files.

I finally found one way to do it.
There is IConfigurationSectionHandler interface that allows for things I want. It requires the one to write the method
public object Create(object parent, object configContext, XmlNode section)
After it, u parse section on your own so I was able to fetch XmlElement's without a problem:
header = s["header"] != null ? s["header"].InnerText : String.Empty;
title = s["title"] != null ? s["title"].InnerText : String.Empty;
The down side of this is that interface is outdated but MSDN states that it will not be removed from future versions of the frameworks as it is used internally.

You can create a class that inherits from System.Configuration.ConfigurationElement that represents an element in your configuration section.
There's a simple example in the MSDN documentation for ConfigurationElement.

According to MSDN, in .NET 4 there's a new CurrentConfiguration property which gives you a reference to the top-level Configuration instance that represents the configuration hierarchy that the current ConfigurationElement instance belongs to.