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c# How to deserialise from an XML file and display the properties in a windows form?

I have an XML file and and a class representing the XML structure. I have deserialized the XML file into the class. I want to display all the properties into the form. Can anyone suggest if it is possible and how to deserialize the XML into datagridview?

For the most part, de-serialization involves have a valid class structure and or object to de-serialize the thing into, whether that is Xml deserialization, or Binary, or SOAP...etc etc. You have the class, so the de-serialize step will be simple enough, just create the serializer and call deserialize(xml). As for the second part...well, you have to create a datagridview and bind to the object.
so, yes, totally possible. without access to the object, the class definition, or the xml, this is all the information I can give you.
Some basic code structure.
XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyClass));
MyClass obj = ser.DeSerialize(xmlDoc);
MyDataGridView.DataSource = obj;

Asp.net XML to objects

I have a XML file, with a structure like
<items>
<item>
<someDetail>
A value here
</someDetail>
</item>
<item>
<someDetail>
Another value here
</someDetail>
</item>
</items>
With multiple items in it.
I want to deserialize the XML on session start ideally, to turn the XML data to objects based on a class (c# asp.net 4)
I have tried several ways with either no success, or a solution which seems clunky and inelegant.
What would people suggest?
I have tried using the xsd.exe tool, and have tried with the xml reader class, as well as usin XElement class to loop through the xml and then create new someObject(props).
These maybe the best and/or only way, but with it being so easy for database sources using the entities framework, I wondered if there was a similar way to do the same but from a xml source.

The best way to deserialize XML it to create a class that corresponds to the XML structure into which the XML data will deserialize.
The latest serialization technology uses Data Contracts and the DataContractSerializer.
You decorate the class I mentioned above with DataMember and DataItem attributes and user the serializer to deserialize.

I'd use directly the .NET XML serialization - classes declarations:
public class Item {
[XmlElement("someDetail")]
public string SomeDetail;
} // class Item
[XmlRoot("items")]
public class MyData {
[XmlElement("item")]
public List<Item> Items;
public static MyData Deserialize(Stream source)
{
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyData));
return serializer.Deserialize(source) as MyData;
} // Deserialize
} // class MyData
and then to read the XML:
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(#"c:\temp\items.xml", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read)) {
MyData myData = MyData.Deserialize(fs);
}

I've concluded is there is not simple unified mechanism (probably due to the inherent complexities involved with non trivial cases - this question always crops up in the context of simple scenarios like your example xml).
Xml serialization is pretty easy to use. For your example, you would just have to create a class to contain a items and another class for the actual item. You might have to apply some attributes to get everything to work correctly, but the coding will not be much. Then it's as easy as -
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(ItemsContainer));
var items = serializer.Deserialize(...) as ItemsContainer;
Datasets are sometimes considered "yesterday tech" but I use them when they solve the problem well, and you can leverage the designer. The generated code is not pretty but the bottom line is you can persist to a database via the auto generated adapters and to XML using a method right on the data set. You can read it in this way as well.
XSD.exe isn't that bad once you get used to it. I printed the help to a text file and included it in my solutions for a while. When you use the /c option to create classes, you get clean code that can be used with the XmlSerialzier.
Visual Studio 2010 (maybe other versions too) has an XML menu which appears when you have an Xml file open and from that you can also generate an XSD from sample Xml. So in a couple of steps you could take your example xml and generate the XSD, then run it through XSD.exe and use the generated classes with a couple of lines XmlSerializer code... it feels like a lot of machinations but you get used to it.

How can I convert an XSD file to C# Class

I have a file in XSD format. How can I convert it to a C# class?
I need class reference in other web applications where I need to make post call as per below:
var res = client.Post<Customer>("/customers", c );

Use the XML Schema Definition Tool xsd.exe found in your framework tools to convert your schema into a serializable class or dataset.
xsd file.xsd {/classes | /dataset} [/element:element]
[/language:language] [/namespace:namespace]
[/outputdir:directory] [URI:uri]
And in example, whereas the C# class will be generated in the same directory as the xsd tool:
xsd /c YourFile.xsd

you can do like this...
<xsd xmlns='http://microsoft.com/dotnet/tools/xsd/'>
<generateClasses language='CS' namespace='Namespace.subnamespace'>
<schema>FirstSchema.xsd</schema>
<schema>AnotherSchema.xsd</schema>
<schema>LastSchema.xsd</schema>
</generateClasses>
</xsd>

XmlSerializer.Deserialize - ignore unnecessary elements?

I've got an XSD schema which I've generated a class for using xsd.exe, and I'm trying to use XmlSerializer.Deserialize to create an instance of that class from an XML file that is supposed to conform to the XSD schema. Unfortunately the XML file has some extra elements that the schema is not expecting, which causes a System.InvalidOperationException to be thrown from Deserialize.
I've tried adding <xs:any> elements to my schema but this doesn't seem to make any difference.
My question is: is there any way to get XmlSerializer.Deserialize to ignore these extra elements?

I usually add extra properties or fields to all entity classes to pick up extra elements and attributes, looking something like the code below:
[XmlAnyAttribute]
public XmlAttribute[] AnyAttributes;
[XmlAnyElement]
public XmlElement[] AnyElements;
Depending on the complexity of your generated code, you may not find hand-inserting this code on every entity appealing. Perhaps only-slightly-less-tedious is defining these attributes in a base class and ensuring all entities inherit the base.
To give fair attribution, I was first introduced to this pattern when reading the source code for DasBlog.

I don't think there is an option to do this. You either have to fix the schema or manually modify the code generated by xsd.exe to allow the XML to be deserialized. You can also try to open the XML document + schema in Visual Studio or any other XML editor with schema support to either fix the schema or the XML document.

How do I map XML to C# objects

I have an XML that I want to load to objects, manipulate those objects (set values, read values) and then save those XMLs back.
It is important for me to have the XML in the structure (xsd) that I created.
One way to do that is to write my own serializer, but is there a built in support for it or open source in C# that I can use?

You can generate serializable C# classes from a schema (xsd) using xsd.exe:
xsd.exe dependency1.xsd dependency2.xsd schema.xsd /out:outputDir
If the schema has dependencies (included/imported schemas), they must all be included on the same command line.

This code (C# DotNet 1.0 onwards) works quite well to serialize most objects to XML. (and back)
It does not work for objects containing ArrayLists, and if possible stick to using only Arrays
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
public static string Serialize(object objectToSerialize)
{
MemoryStream mem = new MemoryStream();
XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(objectToSerialize.GetType());
ser.Serialize(mem, objectToSerialize);
ASCIIEncoding ascii = new ASCIIEncoding();
return ascii.GetString(mem.ToArray());
}
public static object Deserialize(Type typeToDeserialize, string xmlString)
{
byte[] bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(xmlString);
MemoryStream mem = new MemoryStream(bytes);
XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(typeToDeserialize);
return ser.Deserialize(mem);
}

LINQ to XML is very powerful if you're using .net 3.5, LINQ to XSD may be useful to you too!

Use xsd.exe command line program that comes with visual studio to create class files that you can use in your project/solution, and the System.Xml.Serialization namespace (specifically, the XmlSerializer class) to serialize/deserialze those classes to and from disk.

using System.Xml.Serialization;
this namespace has all the attributes you'll need if you want to map your xml to any random object. Alternatively you can use the xsd.exe tool
xsd file.xsd {/classes | /dataset} [/element:element]
[/language:language] [/namespace:namespace]
[/outputdir:directory] [URI:uri]
which will take your xsd files and create c# or vb.net classes out of them.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/x6c1kb0s(VS.71).aspx

I agree xsd is really crap... But they made another version that hardly anyone knows about. Its called xsd object generator. Its the next version and has way more options. It generates files from XSD and works fantastic. If you have a schema generator like XML spy; create an xsd from your xml and use this tool. I have created very very complex classes using this tool.
Then create partial classes for extra properties\methods etc, then when you update your schema you just regen your classes and any edits persist in your partial classes.
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=7075

xsd.exe from Microsoft has a lot of bugs :|
Try this open source pearl http://xsd2code.codeplex.com/

We have created a framework which can auto-generate C# classes out of your XML. Its a visual item template to which you pass your XML and the classes are generated automatically in your project. Using these classes you can create/read/write your XML.
Check this link for the framework and Visual C# item template: click here

I'll bet NetDataContractSerializer can do what you want.