Develop Reference

Error while DeSerializing XML with namespaces to C# Object

I have an XML file which starts something like this:-
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Deal xmlns="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/DealioCapLinkLib.Dealio.Models" xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<AccountingDate>2019-09-30</AccountingDate>
When I try to convert this object to XML like below, I get an error:-
private static void Prod_Error_Test()
{
string prodRequestXml = File.ReadAllText("ProdXml.xml");
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Service.Deal));
Service.Deal request ;
var reader = new StringReader(prodRequestXml);
request = (Service.Deal)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
The Error Message is "There is an error in XML document (2, 2).". The Inner Exception Message is "<Deal xmlns='http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/DealioCapLinkLib.Dealio.Models'> was not expected."
Service.Deal is a WCF Proxy.So I may not be able to add any attributes. Can anyone suggest what to do here ?

Being a WCF proxy doesn't preclude adding attributes; in particular, it is usually a partial class, which means you can have your own separate file, with:
namespace Service
{
[XmlRoot("Deal", Namespace = "http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/DealioCapLinkLib.Dealio.Models")]
partial class Deal {}
}
But ultimately: if the type doesn't conveniently fit the XML: stop fighting it - create a new separate type that fits the XML and works well with XmlSerializer, and then map between the two types in your own code.

C# Web Service XmlSerializer issue

I have a C# Web Service that is serializing my simple class:
[Serializable]
[XmlInclude(typeof(Bitmap))]
[XmlTypeAttribute(Namespace = "http://tempuri.org/")]
public class Class1
{
private static Bitmap _myImage = new Bitmap(#"C:\WebApplication1\ClassLibrary1\Untitled.png");
public Bitmap MyImage
{
get { return _myImage; }
set
{
_myImage = value;
}
}
}
Here's the asmx.cs code that does the serialization:
[WebMethod]
public string HelloWorld()
{
var c = new Class1();
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Class1));
return XMLSerializer(c);
}
public string XMLSerializer(object pObject)
{
try
{
XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(pObject.GetType());
using (StringWriter stream = new StringWriter())
{
xs.Serialize(stream, pObject);
stream.Flush();
return stream.ToString();
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
return ex.ToString();
}
}
Looks prety straight forward. However, the XML generated by the XmlSerializer is producing and error when I try to DeSerialize it.
{"There is an error in XML document (5, 5)."}
{"Parameter is not valid."}
When I try to load the generated XML into IE I get this error.
Switch from current encoding to specified encoding not supported. Error processing resource 'file:///C:/Users/mhall15/Deskt...
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
Here's the generated XML:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<Class1 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<MyImage xmlns="http://tempuri.org/">
<Palette />
</MyImage>
</Class1>
Any ideas what's going on?

During the serialization, replace "encoding="utf-16" with "encoding="utf-8"" and that will cut it. The source of the problem - I'm not sure, but I've ran into it numerous times, and that's how I dealt with it.
That's how to deal with the IE issue.
The deserialization should be amongst these lines. I'm posting the kind of arbitrary code I normally use:
public static object DeserializeFromXML<T>(string _input)
{
object _temp = Activator.CreateInstance<T>();
Type expected_type = _temp.GetType();
_temp = null;
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(expected_type);
StringReader stringWriter = new StringReader(_input);
object _copy = serializer.Deserialize(stringWriter);
return _copy;
}
In the above example, I'm using templating for reusability sake. You should be able to call the method by saying DeserializeFromXML < Class1 >(_xml_input) where xml input is the string. That will force the compiler to use the definition of the given class to deserialize the XML input. That way you wouldn't even have to change the encoding in the serialization. If it's also a case where you may or may not know the data type to deserialize with, you can use a strategy design pattern where you register the root type of the XML with it's associated generic type. Later on you can reference that registry and arbitrarily deserialize any XML input as long as the root type is registered. It's a trick i normally use as well. If more is needed on this, let me know, and I'll explain in detail.
In addition,if you are running IE 9, the new update to IE 9 makes it difficult to view XML. Press F12 - go to developer tools and change your browser mode to run as IE 8 instead of IE 9.

XSD.exe missing nested properties

I have a flattened XSD here:
http://pastebin.com/tQVSH9Jp
I have a 'substitution' XSLT script I am running against it to fix it for XSD.exe (which ignores referenced elements), however the resultant XSD is missing a few properties. (ID is not present in UniqueID_Type).
Can anyone provide an XSLT script that will correctly perform these substitutions, or even provide another solution altogether?

It's funny that someone suggested to write your own xsd.exe, and also to rely on XmlSchemaImporter... For one, I don't think it is a trivial task; secondly, the problem with the missing attribute comes from XmlSchemaImporter; there's a bug in ImportAttributeGroupMembers: instead of looking for an XmlSchemaAttributeGroupRef, it is checking for an XmlSchemaAttributeGroup (excerpt below courtesy of Reflector):
private void ImportAttributeGroupMembers(XmlSchemaAttributeGroup group, string identifier, CodeIdentifiers members, CodeIdentifiers membersScope, string ns)
{
for (int i = 0; i < group.Attributes.Count; i++)
{
object obj2 = group.Attributes[i];
if (obj2 is XmlSchemaAttributeGroup)
{
...
}
else if (obj2 is XmlSchemaAttribute)
{
...
}
}
...
}
There's a similar utility, xsd2code which I would try with the original XSD before going into XML Schema Refactoring (XSR).
If you want to go down this route, I recommend QTAssistant for XSR (I am associated with it). I've tried your XSD with the latest version (4.0.21) and it worked. I've posted the result here.
The generated code using XSD.exe for the fragment you pointed out as defective (I am just showing the fields) now shows the idField for the ID attribute:
/// <remarks/>
[System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("xsd", "4.0.30319.1")]
[System.SerializableAttribute()]
[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute()]
[System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code")]
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTypeAttribute(Namespace="http://www.opentravel.org/OTA/2003/05")]
public partial class UniqueID_Type {
private CompanyNameType companyNameField;
private string uRLField;
private string typeField;
private string instanceField;
private string idField;
private string iD_ContextField;
...
}
What's specific for your setup is the InlineAttributeGroups that must be set to true:
If you're interested in more details about refactoring using QTAssistant, please take a look at this post, also on SO. Anyway, I've posted the entire refactored schema, feel free to use it...

How to read nested configuration element from the web.config?

I need to read configuration elements from the web.config.
Let this be my web.config.
<family>
<parents>
<child name="Hello"/>
<child name="World"/>
</parents>
<parents>
<child name="Hello1"/>
<child name="World2"/>
</parents>
</family>
So I have something like this, I need to read this into a collection.
How can i do this????

In general, you can store simple application settings and connection string in web.config (or app.config), but anything more complex, like an object graph or XML (as in your case) and you should consider a different method.
These may be helpful:
How do I store an XML value in my .NET App.Config file
(it suggests encoding the XML in an app setting)
However it would be better to have a separate XML data file and convert it to an object graph using Linq-To-XML (see reference) or XPath and the XmlDocument and related classes.
Edit: see the other answer, which does allow XML in the config file. That's a more direct answer to your exact questions but I will leave this here for reference. On the whole it looks like your data is not configuration data (more like runtime / user data) and does not belong in a .config file: so I would recommend storing it in a separate XML file, and having a config file entry pointing to the filename of the separate XML file.
Hope that helps!

You need to define your own custom configuration section, which will allow you to read the nested configuration element properly. BTW, this is the same method that all the others use, for instance the Enterprise Library components, NHibernate, etc.
The steps you need to take are very straightforward, and a tutorial is provided here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2tw134k3.aspx

You need to use the ConfigurationElementCollection Class.
See this sample on the MSDN

public struct Child
{
public string name;
public Child(string name)
{
this.name = name;
}
}
public class Parent
{
public List<Child> childs = new List<Child>();
public static List<Parent> ReadParentsFromXml(string fileName)
{
List<Parent> parents = new List<Parent>();
System.Xml.XmlTextReader doc = new System.Xml.XmlTextReader(fileName);
Parent element = new Parent();
while (doc.Read())
{
switch (doc.Name)
{
case "parents":
if (doc.NodeType == System.Xml.XmlNodeType.EndElement)
{
parents.Add(element);
element = new Parent();
}
break;
case "child":
if(doc.NodeType != System.Xml.XmlNodeType.EndElement)
element.childs.Add(new Child(doc.GetAttribute(0)));
break;
}
}
return parents;
}
}

XmlSerialization Collection as Array

I'm trying to serialize a custom class that needs to use multiple elements of the same name.
I've tried using xmlarray, but it wraps them in another elements.
I want my xml to look like this.
<root>
<trees>some text</trees>
<trees>some more text</trees>
</root>
My code:
[Serializable(), XmlRoot("root")]
public class test
{
[XmlArray("trees")]
public ArrayList MyProp1 = new ArrayList();
public test()
{
MyProp1.Add("some text");
MyProp1.Add("some more text");
}
}

Try just using [XmlElement("trees")]:
[Serializable(), XmlRoot("root")]
public class test
{
[XmlElement("trees")]
public List<string> MyProp1 = new List<string>();
public test()
{
MyProp1.Add("some text");
MyProp1.Add("some more text");
}
}
Note I changed ArrayList to List<string> to clean up the output; in 1.1, StringCollection would be another option, although that has different case-sensitivity rules.

(edit: obsoleted - my second post ([XmlElement]) is the way to go - I'm leaving this for posterity in using xsd.exe)
xsd.exe is your friend. Copy the xml you want into a file (foo.xml), then use:
xsd foo.xml
xsd foo.xsd /classes
Now read foo.cs; you can use this either directly, or just for inspiration.
(edit: output snipped - not helpful any more)