Develop Reference

Generic Interface for deserializing and returning XML objects [duplicate]

When using XML serialization in C#, I use code like this:
public MyObject LoadData()
{
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyObject));
using (TextReader reader = new StreamReader(settingsFileName))
{
return (MyObject)xmlSerializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
}
(and similar code for deserialization).
It requires casting and is not really nice. Is there a way, directly in .NET Framework, to use generics with serialization? That is to say to write something like:
public MyObject LoadData()
{
// Generics here.
XmlSerializer<MyObject> xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer();
using (TextReader reader = new StreamReader(settingsFileName))
{
// No casts nevermore.
return xmlSerializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
}

An addition to #Oded, you can make the method Generic aswell:
public T ConvertXml<T>(string xml)
{
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
return (T)serializer.Deserialize(new StringReader(xml));
}
This way you don't need to make the whole class generic and you can use it like this:
var result = ConvertXml<MyObject>(source);

Make your serialization class/method generic:
public T LoadData<T>()
{
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
using (TextReader reader = new StreamReader(settingsFileName))
{
return (T)xmlSerializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
}

A simple generic wrapper:
public class GenericSerializer<T> : XmlSerializer
{
public GenericSerializer(): base(typeof(T)) { }
}
This will serialize your object to the bin/debug folder:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Person p = new Person { Name = "HelloWorld" };
GenericSerializer<Person> ser = new GenericSerializer<Person>();
ser.Serialize(new StreamWriter("person.xml"), p);
}

Try this.
public class SerializeConfig<T> where T : class
{
public static void Serialize(string path, T type)
{
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(type.GetType());
using (var writer = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Create))
{
serializer.Serialize(writer, type);
}
}
public static T DeSerialize(string path)
{
T type;
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
using (var reader = XmlReader.Create(path))
{
type = serializer.Deserialize(reader) as T;
}
return type;
}
}

always work's for me
public static string ObjectToXmlSerialize<T>(T dataToSerialize)
{
try
{
var stringwriter = new System.IO.StringWriter();
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
serializer.Serialize(stringwriter, dataToSerialize);
return stringwriter.ToString();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
}
return null;
}
and this is for Deserialize:
public static T XmlDeserializeToObject<T>(string xmlText)
{
try
{
var stringReader = new System.IO.StringReader(xmlText);
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
return (T)serializer.Deserialize(stringReader);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
}
return default(T);
}

Can't cast objects from Dictionary after using json.net deserialization

I have a problem with deserialized Dictionary. I can't cast objects from Dictionary to my type Remiza... I'm using Json.net and what I can see is that objects in Dictionary are JObject not Object and I can't cast them to my type. Here is my serialization/deserialization code:
private static Dictionary<Type, List<Object>> _ekstensje = new Dictionary<Type, List<Object>>();
public static void SerializeDictionary()
{
string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(_ekstensje);
System.IO.StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter(#"c:\tmp\dictionary.json");
file.WriteLine(json);
file.Close();
}
public static void DeserializeDictionary()
{
string json;
System.IO.StreamReader file = new System.IO.StreamReader(#"c:\tmp\dictionary.json");
json = file.ReadToEnd();
file.Close();
_ekstensje = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<Type, List<Object>>>(json);//Deserializacja Dictionary
Debug.WriteLine(_ekstensje);
}
public static List<Object> GetEkstensja(Type className)
{
List<Object> list = _ekstensje[className];
return list;
}
Exectution:
ObjectPlus.DeserializeDictionary();
List<Object> list = ObjectPlus.GetEkstensja(typeof(Remiza));
foreach (Object o in list)
{
Remiza r = (Remiza) o;
listaRemiz.Add(r);
}
My problem is when casting to "Remiza" I have that exception:
An exception of type 'System.InvalidCastException' occurred in Osek_MAS_WPF.exe but was not handled in user code. Additional information: Unable to cast object of type 'Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject' to type 'Osek_MAS_WPF.Remiza'.
Thanks for any help!

This should allow you to convert the JObect to your Remiza type.
ObjectPlus.DeserializeDictionary();
List<Object> list = ObjectPlus.GetEkstensja(typeof(Remiza));
foreach (Object o in list)
{
Remiza r = o.ToObject<Remiza>();
listaRemiz.Add(r);
}
I got this from the stackoverflow answer at the link below. If what I put doesn't work take a look at the link and it should help you to get it running.
https://stackoverflow.com/a/10221594/634769

In order to successfully serialize and deserialize polymorphic types with Json.NET, you need to set TypeNameHandling = TypeNameHandling.Auto, like so:
public class ObjectPlus
{
// Replace with whatever file name is appropriate. My computer doesn't have a "c:\tmp" directory.
static string JsonFileName { get { return Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), "dictionary.json"); } }
static JsonSerializerSettings JsonSettings { get { return new JsonSerializerSettings { TypeNameHandling = TypeNameHandling.Auto, Formatting = Formatting.Indented }; } }
private static Dictionary<Type, List<Object>> _ekstensje = new Dictionary<Type, List<Object>>();
public static void SerializeDictionary()
{
var path = JsonFileName;
using (var stream = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.Read))
using (var writer = new StreamWriter(stream))
{
var serializer = JsonSerializer.CreateDefault(JsonSettings);
serializer.Serialize(writer, _ekstensje);
}
}
public static void DeserializeDictionary()
{
var path = JsonFileName;
try
{
using (var stream = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read))
using (var reader = new StreamReader(stream))
using (var jsonReader = new JsonTextReader(reader))
{
var serializer = JsonSerializer.CreateDefault(JsonSettings);
_ekstensje = serializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<Type, List<Object>>>(jsonReader);
}
}
catch (FileNotFoundException)
{
// File was not created yet, dictionary should be empty.
_ekstensje.Clear();
}
}
public static List<Object> GetEkstensja(Type className)
{
List<Object> list = _ekstensje[className];
return list;
}
public static void AddEkstensja<T>(T obj)
{
List<Object> list;
if (!_ekstensje.TryGetValue(obj.GetType(), out list))
list = _ekstensje[obj.GetType()] = new List<object>();
list.Add(obj);
}
internal static string ShowJsonContents()
{
if (!File.Exists(JsonFileName))
return string.Empty;
return File.ReadAllText(JsonFileName);
}
}
You should now be able to serialize and deserialize your dictionary when it contains an instance of Remiza.
This will work for types that serialize to objects or collections. However, if your dictionary contains types that serialize to JSON primitives -- for instance an enum or a long -- you may need to encapsulate them in a type wrapper along the lines of Deserialize specific enum into system.enum in Json.Net.
(Incidentally, your _ekstensje dictionary isn't thread-safe.)

Convert an object to an XML string

I have got a class named WebserviceType I got from the tool xsd.exe from an XSD file.
Now I want to deserialize an instance of an WebServiceType object to a string.
How can I do this?
The MethodCheckType object has as params a WebServiceType array.
My first try was like I serialized it: with a XmlSerializer and a StringWriter (while serializing I used a StringReader).
This is the method in which I serialize the WebServiceType object:
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MethodCheckType));
MethodCheckType output = null;
StringReader reader = null;
// catch global exception, logg it and throw it
try
{
reader = new StringReader(path);
output = (MethodCheckType)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
catch (Exception)
{
throw;
}
finally
{
reader.Dispose();
}
return output.WebService;
Edit:
Maybe I could say it in different words: I have got an instance of this MethodCheckType object an on the other hand I have got the XML document from which I serialized this object. Now I want to convert this instance into a XML document in form of a string. After this I have to proof if both strings (of XML documents) are the same. This I have to do, because I make unit tests of the first method in which I read an XML document into a StringReader and serialize it into a MethodCheckType object.

Here are conversion method for both ways.
this = instance of your class
public string ToXML()
{
using(var stringwriter = new System.IO.StringWriter())
{
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(this.GetType());
serializer.Serialize(stringwriter, this);
return stringwriter.ToString();
}
}
public static YourClass LoadFromXMLString(string xmlText)
{
using(var stringReader = new System.IO.StringReader(xmlText))
{
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(YourClass ));
return serializer.Deserialize(stringReader) as YourClass ;
}
}

I realize this is a very old post, but after looking at L.B's response I thought about how I could improve upon the accepted answer and make it generic for my own application. Here's what I came up with:
public static string Serialize<T>(T dataToSerialize)
{
try
{
var stringwriter = new System.IO.StringWriter();
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
serializer.Serialize(stringwriter, dataToSerialize);
return stringwriter.ToString();
}
catch
{
throw;
}
}
public static T Deserialize<T>(string xmlText)
{
try
{
var stringReader = new System.IO.StringReader(xmlText);
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
return (T)serializer.Deserialize(stringReader);
}
catch
{
throw;
}
}
These methods can now be placed in a static helper class, which means no code duplication to every class that needs to be serialized.

public static string Serialize(object dataToSerialize)
{
if(dataToSerialize==null) return null;
using (StringWriter stringwriter = new System.IO.StringWriter())
{
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(dataToSerialize.GetType());
serializer.Serialize(stringwriter, dataToSerialize);
return stringwriter.ToString();
}
}
public static T Deserialize<T>(string xmlText)
{
if(String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(xmlText)) return default(T);
using (StringReader stringReader = new System.IO.StringReader(xmlText))
{
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
return (T)serializer.Deserialize(stringReader);
}
}

public static class XMLHelper
{
/// <summary>
/// Usage: var xmlString = XMLHelper.Serialize<MyObject>(value);
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">Kiểu dữ liệu</typeparam>
/// <param name="value">giá trị</param>
/// <param name="omitXmlDeclaration">bỏ qua declare</param>
/// <param name="removeEncodingDeclaration">xóa encode declare</param>
/// <returns>xml string</returns>
public static string Serialize<T>(T value, bool omitXmlDeclaration = false, bool omitEncodingDeclaration = true)
{
if (value == null)
{
return string.Empty;
}
try
{
var xmlWriterSettings = new XmlWriterSettings
{
Indent = true,
OmitXmlDeclaration = omitXmlDeclaration, //true: remove <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
Encoding = Encoding.UTF8,
NewLineChars = "", // remove \r\n
};
var xmlserializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
{
using (var xmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(memoryStream, xmlWriterSettings))
{
xmlserializer.Serialize(xmlWriter, value);
//return stringWriter.ToString();
}
memoryStream.Position = 0;
using (var sr = new StreamReader(memoryStream))
{
var pureResult = sr.ReadToEnd();
var resultAfterOmitEncoding = ReplaceFirst(pureResult, " encoding=\"utf-8\"", "");
if (omitEncodingDeclaration)
return resultAfterOmitEncoding;
return pureResult;
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception("XMLSerialize error: ", ex);
}
}
private static string ReplaceFirst(string text, string search, string replace)
{
int pos = text.IndexOf(search);
if (pos < 0)
{
return text;
}
return text.Substring(0, pos) + replace + text.Substring(pos + search.Length);
}
}

This is my solution, for any list object you can use this code for convert to xml layout. KeyFather is your principal tag and KeySon is where start your Forech.
public string BuildXml<T>(ICollection<T> anyObject, string keyFather, string keySon)
{
var settings = new XmlWriterSettings
{
Indent = true
};
PropertyDescriptorCollection props = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(typeof(T));
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
using (XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(builder, settings))
{
writer.WriteStartDocument();
writer.WriteStartElement(keyFather);
foreach (var objeto in anyObject)
{
writer.WriteStartElement(keySon);
foreach (PropertyDescriptor item in props)
{
writer.WriteStartElement(item.DisplayName);
writer.WriteString(props[item.DisplayName].GetValue(objeto).ToString());
writer.WriteEndElement();
}
writer.WriteEndElement();
}
writer.WriteFullEndElement();
writer.WriteEndDocument();
writer.Flush();
return builder.ToString();
}
}

Serialize an object to XElement and Deserialize it in memory

I want to serialize an object to XML, but I don't want to save it on the disk. I want to hold it in a XElement variable (for using with LINQ), and then Deserialize back to my object.
How can I do this?

You can use these two extension methods to serialize and deserialize between XElement and your objects.
public static XElement ToXElement<T>(this object obj)
{
using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
{
using (TextWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter(memoryStream))
{
var xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
xmlSerializer.Serialize(streamWriter, obj);
return XElement.Parse(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(memoryStream.ToArray()));
}
}
}
public static T FromXElement<T>(this XElement xElement)
{
var xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
return (T)xmlSerializer.Deserialize(xElement.CreateReader());
}
USAGE
XElement element = myClass.ToXElement<MyClass>();
var newMyClass = element.FromXElement<MyClass>();

You can use XMLSerialization
XML serialization is the process of converting an object's public
properties and fields to a serial format (in this case, XML) for
storage or transport. Deserialization re-creates the object in its
original state from the XML output. You can think of serialization as
a way of saving the state of an object into a stream or buffer. For
example, ASP.NET uses the XmlSerializer class to encode XML Web
service messages
and XDocument Represents an XML document to achieve this
using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Linq;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
namespace ConsoleApplication5
{
public class Person
{
public int Age { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Person));
Person p = new Person();
p.Age = 35;
p.Name = "Arnold";
Console.WriteLine("\n Before serializing...\n");
Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Age = {0} Name = {1}", p.Age,p.Name));
XDocument d = new XDocument();
using (XmlWriter xw = d.CreateWriter())
xs.Serialize(xw, p);
// you can use LINQ on elm now
XElement elm = d.Root;
Console.WriteLine("\n From XElement...\n");
elm.Elements().All(e => { Console.WriteLine(string.Format("element name {0} , element value {1}", e.Name, e.Value)); return true; });
//deserialize back to object
Person pDeserialized = xs.Deserialize((d.CreateReader())) as Person;
Console.WriteLine("\n After deserializing...\n");
Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Age = {0} Name = {1}", p.Age, p.Name));
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
and here is output

(Late answer)
Serialize:
var doc = new XDocument();
var xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyClass));
using (var writer = doc.CreateWriter())
{
xmlSerializer.Serialize(writer, obj);
}
// now you can use `doc`(XDocument) or `doc.Root` (XElement)
Deserialize:
MyClass obj;
using(var reader = doc.CreateReader())
{
obj = (MyClass)xmlSerializer.Deserialize(reader);
}

ToXelement without Code Analysis issues, same answer as Abdul Munim but fixed the CA issues (except for CA1004, this cannot be resolved in this case and is by design)
public static XElement ToXElement<T>(this object value)
{
MemoryStream memoryStream = null;
try
{
memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
using (TextWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter(memoryStream))
{
memoryStream = null;
var xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
xmlSerializer.Serialize(streamWriter, value);
return XElement.Parse(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(memoryStream.ToArray()));
}
}
finally
{
if (memoryStream != null)
{
memoryStream.Dispose();
}
}
}

What about
public static byte[] BinarySerialize(Object obj)
{
byte[] serializedObject;
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter();
try
{
b.Serialize(ms, obj);
ms.Seek(0, 0);
serializedObject = ms.ToArray();
ms.Close();
return serializedObject;
}
catch
{
throw new SerializationException("Failed to serialize. Reason: ");
}
}

C# - Deserialize a List<String>

I can serialize a list really easy:
List<String> fieldsToNotCopy =new List<String> {"Iteration Path","Iteration ID"};
fieldsToNotCopy.SerializeObject("FieldsToNotMove.xml");
Now I need a method like this:
List<String> loadedList = new List<String();
loadedList.DeserializeObject("FieldsToNotMove.xml");
Is there such a method? Or am I going to need to create an XML reader and load it in that way?
EDIT: Turns out there is no built in SerialzeObject. I had made one earlier in my project and forgot about it. When I found it I thought it was built in. In case you are curious this is the SerializeObject that I made:
// Save an object out to the disk
public static void SerializeObject<T>(this T toSerialize, String filename)
{
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(toSerialize.GetType());
TextWriter textWriter = new StreamWriter(filename);
xmlSerializer.Serialize(textWriter, toSerialize);
textWriter.Close();
}

There is no such builtin method as SerializeObject but it's not terribly difficult to code one up.
public void SerializeObject(this List<string> list, string fileName) {
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<string>));
using ( var stream = File.OpenWrite(fileName)) {
serializer.Serialize(stream, list);
}
}
And Deserialize
public void Deserialize(this List<string> list, string fileName) {
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<string>));
using ( var stream = File.OpenRead(fileName) ){
var other = (List<string>)(serializer.Deserialize(stream));
list.Clear();
list.AddRange(other);
}
}

These are my serialize/deserialize extension methods that work quite well
public static class SerializationExtensions
{
public static XElement Serialize(this object source)
{
try
{
var serializer = XmlSerializerFactory.GetSerializerFor(source.GetType());
var xdoc = new XDocument();
using (var writer = xdoc.CreateWriter())
{
serializer.Serialize(writer, source, new XmlSerializerNamespaces(new[] { new XmlQualifiedName("", "") }));
}
return (xdoc.Document != null) ? xdoc.Document.Root : new XElement("Error", "Document Missing");
}
catch (Exception x)
{
return new XElement("Error", x.ToString());
}
}
public static T Deserialize<T>(this XElement source) where T : class
{
try
{
var serializer = XmlSerializerFactory.GetSerializerFor(typeof(T));
return (T)serializer.Deserialize(source.CreateReader());
}
catch //(Exception x)
{
return null;
}
}
}
public static class XmlSerializerFactory
{
private static Dictionary<Type, XmlSerializer> serializers = new Dictionary<Type, XmlSerializer>();
public static XmlSerializer GetSerializerFor(Type typeOfT)
{
if (!serializers.ContainsKey(typeOfT))
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(string.Format("XmlSerializerFactory.GetSerializerFor(typeof({0}));", typeOfT));
var newSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeOfT);
serializers.Add(typeOfT, newSerializer);
}
return serializers[typeOfT];
}
}
You just need to define a type for your list and use it instead
public class StringList : List<String> { }
Oh, and you don't NEED the XmlSerializerFactory, it's just there since creating a serializer is slow, and if you use the same one over and over this speeds up your app.

I'm not sure whether this will help you but I have dome something which I believe to be similar to you.
//A list that holds my data
private List<Location> locationCollection = new List<Location>();
public bool Load()
{
//For debug purposes
Console.WriteLine("Loading Data");
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<Location>));
FileStream fs = new FileStream("CurrencyData.xml", FileMode.Open);
locationCollection = (List<Location>)serializer.Deserialize(fs);
fs.Close();
Console.WriteLine("Data Loaded");
return true;
}
This allows me to deserialise all my data back into a List<> but i'd advise putting it in a try - catch block for safety. In fact just looking at this now is going to make me rewrite this in a "using" block too.
I hope this helps.
EDIT:
Apologies, just noticed you're trying to do it a different way but i'll leave my answer there anyway.

I was getting error while deserializing to object. The error was "There is an error in XML document (0, 0)". I have modified the Deserialize function originally written by #JaredPar to resolve this error. It may be useful to someone:
public static void Deserialize(this List<string> list, string fileName)
{
XmlRootAttribute xmlRoot = new XmlRootAttribute();
xmlRoot.ElementName = "YourRootElementName";
xmlRoot.IsNullable = true;
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<string>), xmlRoot);
using (var stream = File.OpenRead(fileName))
{
var other = (List<string>)(serializer.Deserialize(stream));
list.Clear();
list.AddRange(other);
}
}

Create a list of products be serialized
List<string> Products = new List<string>
{
new string("Product 1"),
new string("Product 2"),
new string("Product 3"),
new string("Product 4")
};
Serialization
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(#"C:\products.txt", FileMode.Create))
{
BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
bf.Serialize(fs, Products);
}
Deserialization
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(#"C:\products.txt", FileMode.Open))
{
BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
var productList = (List<string>)bf.Deserialize(fs);
}