I want to deserialize XML to object in C#, object has one string property and list of other objects.
There are classes which describe XML object, my code doesn't work (it is below, XML is at end of my post). My Deserialize code doesn't return any object.
I think I do something wrong with attributes, could you check it and give me some advice to fix it.
Thanks for your help.
[XmlRoot("shepherd")]
public class Shepherd
{
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlArray(ElementName = "sheeps", IsNullable = true)]
[XmlArrayItem(ElementName = "sheep")]
public List<Sheep> Sheeps { get; set; }
}
public class Sheep
{
[XmlElement("colour")]
public string colour { get; set; }
}
There is C# code to deserialize XML to objects
var rootNode = new XmlRootAttribute();
rootNode.ElementName = "createShepherdRequest";
rootNode.Namespace = "http://www.sheeps.pl/webapi/1_0";
rootNode.IsNullable = true;
Type deserializeType = typeof(Shepherd[]);
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(deserializeType, rootNode);
using (Stream xmlStream = new MemoryStream())
{
doc.Save(xmlStream);
var result = serializer.Deserialize(xmlStream);
return result as Shepherd[];
}
There is XML example which I want to deserialize
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<createShepherdRequest xmlns="http://www.sheeps.pl/webapi/1_0">
<shepherd>
<name>name1</name>
<sheeps>
<sheep>
<colour>colour1</colour>
</sheep>
<sheep>
<colour>colour2</colour>
</sheep>
<sheep>
<colour>colour3</colour>
</sheep>
</sheeps>
</shepherd>
</createShepherdRequest>
XmlRootAttribute does not change the name of the tag when used as an item. The serializer expects <Shepherd>, but finds <shepherd> instead. (XmlAttributeOverrides does not seem to work on arrays either.) One way to to fix it, is by changing the case of the class-name itself:
public class shepherd
{
// ...
}
An easier alternative to juggling with attributes, is to create a proper wrapper class:
[XmlRoot("createShepherdRequest", Namespace = "http://www.sheeps.pl/webapi/1_0")]
public class CreateShepherdRequest
{
[XmlElement("shepherd")]
public Shepherd Shepherd { get; set; }
}
Related
I do have a problem with serializing a ArrayList. Most propably I use wrong XML Attributes for it since I when I changed them it would not even serialize it and got errors like 'The type may not be used in this context.'
I need to use a non generic ArrayList. On adding [XmlArray("LineDetails")] made this code to run but the output is not correct, it should give me the LineDetails structure. Any idea how to fix this?
This is a part of a whole xml like Document > Header > LineCollection > LineDeatails.
The problem is only with this details if I use a standard string field it is ok but the range of the colletion if changing with every document.
[XmlType(TypeName = "LineCollection")]
public class LineCollection
{
public String LineCount{ get; set; }
// [XmlElement(ElementName = "LineDetails")]
[XmlArray("LineDetails")]
public ArrayList LineDetails{ get; set; }
}
public class LineDetails: ArrayList
{
public String LineNum{ get; set; }
public String ItemId{ get; set; }
public String ItemName{ get; set; }
//... only strings
}
public class Utf8StringWriter : StringWriter
{
public override Encoding Encoding => new UTF8Encoding(false);
}
public string Serialize()
{
// var xmlserializer = new XmlSerializer(this.GetType());
var xmlserializer = new XmlSerializer(this.GetType(), new Type[] { typeof(LineDetails) });
var Utf8StringWriter = new Utf8StringWriter();
var xns = new XmlSerializerNamespaces();
xns.Add(string.Empty, string.Empty);
using (var writer = XmlWriter.Create(Utf8StringWriter))
{
xmlserializer.Serialize(writer, this, xns);
return Utf8StringWriter.ToString();
}
}
And the incorrect output of this...
<LineColletion>
<LineDetails>
<anyType xmlns:p5="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" p5:type="ArrayOfAnyType"/>
<anyType xmlns:p5="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" p5:type="ArrayOfAnyType"/>
<anyType xmlns:p5="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" p5:type="ArrayOfAnyType"/>
</LineDetails>
</LineColletion>
it should be like this
<LineColletion>
<LineDetails>
<LineNum>1</LineNum>
<ItemId>Item_2321</ItemId>
<ItemName>TheItemName</ItemName>
</LineDetails>
<LineDetails>
<LineNum>2</LineNum>
<ItemId>Item_232100000</ItemId>
<ItemName>TheItemName0</ItemName>
</LineDetails>
<LineDetails>
<LineNum>3</LineNum>
<ItemId>Item_23217777</ItemId>
<ItemName>TheItemName7</ItemName>
</LineDetails>
</LineColletion>
Now the wrong xml looks like this...
<LineDetails>
<anyType xmlns:p5="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" p5:type="LineDetails">
<LineNum>1</LineNum>
<ItemId>Item_2321</ItemId>
<ItemName>TheItemName</ItemName>
</anyType>
<anyType xmlns:p5="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" p5:type="LineDetails">
<LineNum>2</LineNum>
<ItemId>Item_2321</ItemId>
<ItemName>TheItemName</ItemName>
</anyType>
</LineDetails>
You may generate the required XML by modifying your data model as follows:
[XmlType(TypeName = "LineColletion")] // Fixed: TypeName. But do you want LineColletion (misspelled) or LineCollection (correctly spelled)? Your XML shows LineColletion but your code used LineCollection.
public class LineCollection
{
public String LineCount{ get; set; }
[XmlElement("LineDetails", typeof(LineDetails))] // Fixed -- specify type(s) of items in the ArrayList.
public ArrayList LineDetails{ get; set; }
}
public class LineDetails // Fixed: removed inheritance from ArrayList.
{
public String LineNum{ get; set; }
public String ItemId{ get; set; }
public String ItemName{ get; set; }
//... only strings
}
Notes:
Your model makes LineDetails inherit from ArrayList. XmlSerializer will never serialize collection properties, it will only serialize collection items. In order to serialize it correctly, I removed the inheritance since you don't seem to be using it anyway.
If you really need LineDetails to inherit from ArrayList, you will need to implement IXmlSerializable or replace it collection with a DTO.
Implementing IXmlSerializable is tedious and error-prone. I don't recommend it.
Your LineDetails collection is serialized without an outer wrapper element. To make the serializer do this, apply XmlElementAttribute to the property.
ArrayList is an untyped collection, so you must inform XmlSerializer of the possible types it might contain. You have two options:
Assigning a specific type to a specific element name by setting XmlElementAttribute.Type (or XmlArrayItemAttribute.Type), OR
Adding xsi:type attributes by informing the serializer of additional included types. You are doing this by passing them into the constructor, which is why you are seeing the p5:type="LineDetails" attribute.
Since you don't want the attributes, you need to set the element name by setting the type like so:
[XmlElement("LineDetails", typeof(LineDetails))]
The XML element corresponding to your LineCollection is named <LineColletion>. Note that the spelling is inconsistent. You will need to set [XmlType(TypeName = "LineColletion")] to the name you actually want.
Demo fiddle here.
I have an entity as below
public class Vehicle{
public int VehicleId {get;set;};
public string Make {get;set;};
public string Model{get;set;}
}
I wanted to serialize as below
<Vehicle>
<VehicleId AppliesTo="C1">1244</VehicleId>
<Make AppliesTo="Common" >HXV</Make>
<Model AppliesTo="C2">34-34</Model>
</Vehicle>
I have around 100 properties like this in Vehicle class, for each vehicle property I wanted to attach a metadata ApplieTo which will be helpful to downstream systems. AppliesTo attribute is static and its value is defined at the design time. Now How can I attach AppliesTo metadata to each property and inturn get serialized to XML?
You can use XElement from System.Xml.Linq to achieve this. As your data is static you can assign them easily. Sample code below -
XElement data= new XElement("Vehicle",
new XElement("VehicleId", new XAttribute("AppliesTo", "C1"),"1244"),
new XElement("Make", new XAttribute("AppliesTo", "Common"), "HXV"),
new XElement("Model", new XAttribute("AppliesTo", "C2"), "34 - 34")
);
//OUTPUT
<Vehicle>
<VehicleId AppliesTo="C1">1244</VehicleId>
<Make AppliesTo="Common">HXV</Make>
<Model AppliesTo="C2">34 - 34</Model>
</Vehicle>
If you are not interested in System.Xml.Linq then you have another option of XmlSerializer class. For that you need yo define separate classes for each property of vehicle. Below is the sample code and you can extend the same for Make and Model -
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "VehicleId")]
public class VehicleId
{
[XmlAttribute(AttributeName = "AppliesTo")]
public string AppliesTo { get; set; }
[XmlText]
public string Text { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "Vehicle")]
public class Vehicle
{
[XmlElement(ElementName = "VehicleId")]
public VehicleId VehicleId { get; set; }
//Add other properties here
}
Then create test data and use XmlSerializer class to construct XML -
Vehicle vehicle = new Vehicle
{
VehicleId = new VehicleId
{
Text = "1244",
AppliesTo = "C1",
}
};
XmlSerializer testData = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Vehicle));
var xml = "";
using (var sww = new StringWriter())
{
using (XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(sww))
{
testData.Serialize(writer, vehicle);
xml = sww.ToString(); // XML
}
}
It is not easy or ideal to use the default .NET XML serializer (System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer) in the way you want, but it's possible. This answer shows how to create a class structure to hold both your main data and the metadata, then use XmlAttributeAttribute to mark a property so it gets serialized as an XML attribute.
Assumptions:
There are a number of unknowns about your intended implementation, such as:
The XML serializer you want to use (default for .NET?)
The mechanism to inject 'AppliesTo' (attribute?)
Do you care about deserialization?
This answer assumes the default .NET serializer, that deserialization matters, and that you don't care about the exact method of injecting your metadata.
Key concepts:
A generic class to hold both our main property value and the metadata (see PropertyWithAppliesTo<T>)
Using XmlAttributeAttribute on the generic class' metadata, so it is written as an XML attribute on the parent property
Using XmlTextAttribute on the generic class' main data, so it is written as the Xml text of the parent property (and not as a sub-property)
Including two properties on the main type being serialized (in this case Vehicle) for every value you want serialized: one of the new generic type that gets serialized with metadata, and one of the original type marked with XmlIgnoreAttribute that provides 'expected' access to the property's value
Using the XmlElementAttribute to change the name of the serialized property (so it matches the expected name)
Code:
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
namespace SomeNamespace
{
public class Program
{
static void Main()
{
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Vehicle));
string s;
var vehicle = new Vehicle { VehicleId = 1244 };
//serialize
using (var writer = new StringWriter())
{
serializer.Serialize(writer, vehicle);
s = writer.ToString();
Console.WriteLine(s);
}
// edit the serialized string to test deserialization
s = s.Replace("Common", "C1");
//deserialize
using (var reader = new StringReader(s))
{
vehicle = (Vehicle)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
Console.WriteLine($"AppliesTo attribute for VehicleId: {vehicle.VehicleIdMeta.AppliesTo}");
}
}
}
public class Vehicle
{
[XmlElement(ElementName = "VehicleId")] // renames to remove the 'Meta' string
public PropertyWithAppliesTo<int> VehicleIdMeta { get; set; } = new PropertyWithAppliesTo<int>("Common");
[XmlIgnore] // this value isn't serialized, but the property here for easy syntax
public int VehicleId
{
get { return VehicleIdMeta.Value; }
set { VehicleIdMeta.Value = value; }
}
}
public class PropertyWithAppliesTo<T>
{
[XmlAttribute] // tells serializer this should be an attribute on this element, not a property
public string AppliesTo { get; set; } = string.Empty;
[XmlText] // tells serializer to not write this as a property, but as the main XML text
public T Value { get; set; } = default;
public PropertyWithAppliesTo() : this(string.Empty) { }
public PropertyWithAppliesTo(string appliesTo) : this(appliesTo, default) { }
public PropertyWithAppliesTo(string appliesTo, T initialValue)
{
AppliesTo = appliesTo;
Value = initialValue;
}
}
}
When run, the string s will look like:
<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-16\"?>
<Vehicle xmlns:xsi=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance\" xmlns:xsd=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema\">
<VehicleId AppliesTo="Common">1244</VehicleId>
</Vehicle>
Other Notes:
You can see how to add more properties to Vehicle: add a property of type PropertyWithAppliesTo<T> marked with XmlElement to give it the name you want, and then a property of type T marked with XmlIgnore that wraps around the Value you want.
You can control the value of AppliesTo by changing the input to the constructor of PropertyWithAppliesTo<T> and giving it a different metadata string.
If you don't want consumers of your library to see the 'meta' properties in IntelliSense, you can use the EditorBrowsableAttribute. It won't hide things from you when using the source and a project reference; it's only hidden when referencing the compiled dll.
This is admittedly an annoying way to add properties to a class. But if you want to use the default .NET XML serializer, this is a way to achieve the XML you want.
I have one seializable class in C# as below
namespace DataRequest
{
[Serializable]
public class BaseData
{
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "u_additional_info")]
public string DeskNumber { get; set; }
}
}
I am fetching data from Database and mapping to this class.I have requirement
DeskNumber will contain data in following format
Format1.
<AdditionalInfo><Number>164</Number></AdditionalInfo>
Format2
AdditionalInfo><Code>GLW51</Code><Lang>GLW51</LangCode><TzCode>GLW51</TzCode></AdditionalInfo>
During serialization if data is 1st fromat i need to return value under tag (ie .164).Value under Number tag will be different at different time.So need a logic find value under Number tag .If data is in any other format other than "Format1" then return it as blank .
Or
I am okay on applying ths logic even if its during setting value rather than during serialisation
Can anyone help on this
if Format1 and Format2 are same file contents coming in at different
times you can be spesitifcly serialized XmlContent this code
Try this
// Generic DeSerialization metod.
public T DeSerialization<T>(string xmlStrig) where T : class
{
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
using (StringReader sReader = new StringReader(xmlStrig))
{
return (T)xmlSerializer.Deserialize(sReader);
}
}
// Accepted class
[Serializable]
public class AdditionalInfo
{
[XmlElement]
public string Number { get; set; }
}
// DeSerialize to Object code
// if you have Xml-string you can send parameter XmlString directly
// string xmlString = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(#"..\\XMLFile1.xml");
AdditionalInfo ast = DeSerialization<AdditionalInfo>(yourXmlString);
You can check www.bilisim.io for detailed information
Use the Following code, You will get Value under the Number Tag. resultingMessage.Number contains the required result
string name = YourXmlNodes;
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(AdditionalInfo));
MemoryStream memStream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(name));
AdditionalInfo resultingMessage= (AdditionalInfo)serializer.Deserialize(memStream);
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "AdditionalInfo")]
public class AdditionalInfo
{
[XmlElement(ElementName = "Number")]
public string Number { get; set; }
}
}
So I'm writing my first mvc page, and I'm trying to write a series of routes to allow a reporting system to create simple reports. The xml is small, here is an example:
<xml><root><item><value>23</value></item></root>
I tried this:
using (StringWriter xmlStringWriter = new StringWriter())
{
using (XmlWriter xmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(xmlStringWriter))
{
XmlWriter.WriteStartElement("root")
...
}
return xmlStringWriter.ToString();
}
but this obviously returns a string and is not interpreted as xml by the browser. I also know* that if you return an object that is serializable then the browser knows to interpret that as xml or json. So I tried defining a set of objects to hold each other in the way the xml is nested:
[Serializable]
public class XmlReportRoot
{
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlAttribute("root")]
public List<XmlReportItem> item { get; set; }
}
[Serializable]
public class XmlReportItem
{
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlAttribute("item")]
public XmlReportValue value { get; set; }
}
[Serializable]
public class XmlReportValue
{
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlAttribute("value")]
public string count { get; set; }
}
and:
XmlReportRoot xmlRoot = new XmlReportRoot();
XmlReportItem xmlItem = new XmlReportItem();
List<XmlReportItem> itemList = new List<XmlReportItem>();
itemList.Add(xmlItem);
XmlReportValue xmlValue = new XmlReportValue();
xmlValue.count = newCustomers.ToString();
xmlItem.value = xmlValue;
xmlRoot.item = itemList;
XmlSerializer xmlSer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(XmlReportRoot));
xmlSer.Serialize(xmlRoot); //this line doesn't work
but this just feels wrong, and I couldn't quite get the serialization to work without worrying about a file stream, which I would rather do.
So I guess I was trying to find a way to do something like XmlWriter but be able to serialize that without an object type and return that, instead of having to worry about custom serializable objects types.
Use XmlWriter.Create(Response.OutputStream) and Response.ContentType = "application/xml"
I have an XML document:
<data>
<elmt1>Element 1</elmt1>
<elmnt2>Element 2</elmnt2>
<elmnt3>Element 3</elmnt3>
</data>
I need to deserialize to an object that serializes to a different root name with everything else remaining the same.
For example:
<dataNew>
<elmt1>Element 1</elmt1>
<elmnt2>Element 2</elmnt2>
<elmnt3>Element 3</elmnt3>
</dataNew>
When serializing, we can always apply XmlRootAttribute to serialize to a different root name but I am not sure how to deserialize to a different XmlRootAttribute. It keeps failing error in document (1,2) pointing to the root attribute.
How can I achieve that?
If it's only the root name you want to change you can specify the root attribute when declaring the XmlSerializer.
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(data), new XmlRootAttribute("dataNew"));
XmlRootAttribute was supposed to work
[XmlRoot("dataNew")]
public class MyData()
{
[XmlElement("elmt1")]
public string myElement1{get;set;}
[XmlElement("elmnt2")]
public string myElement2{get;set;}
[XmlElement("elmtn3")]
public string myElement3{get;set;}
}
EDIT: Completed the XML
Did you try using the XmlAttributeOverrides class?
a sample of using XmlAttributeOverrides. If you vote up give one to hjb417 as well
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
using (var fs = File.OpenRead("XmlFile1.xml"))
using (var fs2 = File.OpenRead("XmlFile2.xml"))
{
var xSer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(data));
var obj = xSer.Deserialize(fs);
//
var xattribs = new XmlAttributes();
var xroot = new XmlRootAttribute("dataNew");
xattribs.XmlRoot = xroot;
var xoverrides = new XmlAttributeOverrides();
xoverrides.Add(typeof(data), xattribs);
var xSer2 = new XmlSerializer(typeof(data), xoverrides);
var obj2 = xSer2.Deserialize(fs2);
}
}
}
public class data
{
public string elmt1 { get; set; }
public string elmnt2 { get; set; }
public string elmnt3 { get; set; }
}
You can use ExtendedXmlSerializer. This serializer support change root element name and property name.
If you have class like this:
[XmlRoot("dataNew")]
public class Data
{
[XmlElement("elmt1")]
public string Element1 { get; set; }
[XmlElement("elmnt2")]
public string Element2 { get; set; }
[XmlElement("elmtn3")]
public string Element3 { get; set; }
}
You can serialize it:
ExtendedXmlSerializer serializer = new ExtendedXmlSerializer();
var obj = new Data
{
Element1 = "A",
Element2 = "B",
Element3 = "C",
};
var xml = serializer.Serialize(obj);
Your xml will look like:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<dataNew type="Models.Example">
<elmt1>A</elmt1>
<elmnt2>B</elmnt2>
<elmtn3>C</elmtn3>
</dataNew>
ExtendedXmlSerializer has many other useful features:
Deserialization xml from standard XMLSerializer
Serialization class with property interface
Serialization circular reference and reference Id
Deserialization of old version of xml
Property encryption
Custom serializer
ExtendedXmlSerializer supports .net 4.5 and .net Core. You can integrate it with WebApi and AspCore.
You might have to implement ISerializable and change the root element in GetObjectData().