Serialize object to XML

Question

For Binary serialization I use

public ClassConstructor(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt) {

    this.cars = (OtherClass)info.GetValue("Object", typeof(OtherClass));
}
public void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext ctxt) {
    info.AddString(this.name);
    info.AddValue("Object", this.object);
}

I want to make the same thing for XML serialization (class implements IXmlSerializable interface, because of private property setters), but I don't know how to put an object to serializer (XmlWriter object).

public void WriteXml( XmlWriter writer ) {
    writer.WriteAttributeString( "Name", Name );
    writer. ... Write object, but how ???
}
public void ReadXml( XmlReader reader ) {
    this.Name = reader.GetAttribute( "Name" );
    this.object = reader. ... how to read ??
}

probably I can use something like this

XmlSerializer xsSubmit = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyObject));
var subReq = new MyObject();
StringWriter sww = new StringWriter();
XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(sww);
xsSubmit.Serialize(writer, subReq);
var xml = sww.ToString(); // Your xml

but maybe there is simpler method that uses only XmlWriter object I get from WriteXml method argument

I believe (based on my current reading) that XmlSerializer will make use of your GetObjectData / constructor setup automatically — Roger Willcocks, Dec 14 '14 at 21:46

Ofer Zelig · Answer 1 · 2019-07-04T02:52:40.377

6

Download FairlyCertain A/B Testing library.

Inside the excellent code, you'll find an XML serializer class, inside SerializationHelper.cs.

An excerpt:

    /// <summary>
    /// Given a serializable object, returns an XML string representing that object.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="obj"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static string Serialize(object obj)
    {
        XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(obj.GetType());
        using (MemoryStream buffer = new MemoryStream())
        {
          xs.Serialize(buffer, obj);
          return ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetString(buffer.ToArray());
        }
    }

edited Jul 04 '19 at 02:52

answered Jul 16 '12 at 09:18

Ofer Zelig

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Your code (from 'FairlyCertain') looks similar to what I've already posted. I was hoping for much simpler (build-in) method, that won't use new XmlSerializer object. I thought, that maybe I am blind and can't find it :( Anyway thanks. – Soul Reaver Jul 18 '12 at 12:47

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 18 '12 at 12:55

I've decided to go the way I wrote my question - to use XmlWriter object, which i have to use anyway, even if I go Ofer Zelig's way.

namespace System.Xml.Serialization {
    public static class XmlSerializationExtensions {
        public static readonly XmlSerializerNamespaces EmptyXmlSerializerNamespace = new XmlSerializerNamespaces(
            new XmlQualifiedName[] {
                new XmlQualifiedName("") } );

        public static void WriteElementObject( this XmlWriter writer, string localName, object o ) {
            writer.WriteStartElement( localName );
            XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer( o.GetType() );
            xs.Serialize( writer, o, EmptyXmlSerializerNamespace );
            writer.WriteEndElement();
        }

        public static T ReadElementObject< T >( this XmlReader reader ) {
            XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer( typeof( T ) );
            reader.ReadStartElement();
            T retval = (T)xs.Deserialize( reader );
            reader.ReadEndElement();
            return retval;
        }
    }
}

Serialize object to XML

2 Answers2