I am using xsd.exe to generate some c# classes from a .xsd file. I ran into the same issue that is covered here and on other sites where xsd.exe generates Type[] arrays instead of generic List collections for types in the .xsd file. Some people have suggested that svcutil.exe can be used as a replacement for xsd.exe if you pass the /dataContractOnly parameter to svcutil.exe. However, it seems like those people are mistaken because svcutil.exe actually generates System.Xml.XmlNode[] array properties instead of creating types based on the schema in the .xsd file.
For example, given this simple .xsd schema:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace="http://tempuri.org/XMLSchema.xsd"
elementFormDefault="qualified"
xmlns="http://tempuri.org/XMLSchema.xsd"
xmlns:mstns="http://tempuri.org/XMLSchema.xsd"
xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
>
<xs:complexType name="Employee">
<xs:all>
<xs:element name="FirstName" type="xs:string"></xs:element>
<xs:element name="LastName" type="xs:string"></xs:element>
</xs:all>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:element name="Employees">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xs:element name="Employee" type="Employee"></xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
'xsd.exe /classes Example.xsd' generates:
public partial class Employees {
private Employee[] employeeField;
public Employee[] Employee {
get { return this.employeeField; }
set { this.employeeField = value; }
}
}
public partial class Employee {
private string firstNameField;
private string lastNameField;
public string FirstName {
get { return this.firstNameField; }
set { this.firstNameField = value; }
}
public string LastName {
get { return this.lastNameField; }
set { this.lastNameField = value; }
}
}
'svcutil.exe /target:code /dataContractOnly /serializer:XmlSerializer /importXmlTypes /collectionType:System.Collections.Generic.List`1 Example.xsd' generates:
public partial class Employee : object, System.Runtime.Serialization.IExtensibleDataObject{
private System.Runtime.Serialization.ExtensionDataObject extensionDataField;
private string FirstNameField;
private string LastNameField;
public System.Runtime.Serialization.ExtensionDataObject ExtensionData{
get{ return this.extensionDataField; }
set{ this.extensionDataField = value; }
}
public string FirstName{
get{ return this.FirstNameField; }
set{ this.FirstNameField = value; }
}
public string LastName{
get{ return this.LastNameField; }
set{ this.LastNameField = value; }
}
}
public partial class Employees : object, System.Xml.Serialization.IXmlSerializable{
private System.Xml.XmlNode[] nodesField;
private static System.Xml.XmlQualifiedName typeName = new System.Xml.XmlQualifiedName("Employees", "http://tempuri.org/XMLSchema.xsd");
public System.Xml.XmlNode[] Nodes{
get{ return this.nodesField; }
set{ this.nodesField = value; }
}
public void ReadXml(System.Xml.XmlReader reader){
this.nodesField = System.Runtime.Serialization.XmlSerializableServices.ReadNodes(reader);
}
public void WriteXml(System.Xml.XmlWriter writer){
System.Runtime.Serialization.XmlSerializableServices.WriteNodes(writer, this.Nodes);
}
public System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema GetSchema(){
return null;
}
public static System.Xml.XmlQualifiedName ExportSchema(System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaSet schemas){
System.Runtime.Serialization.XmlSerializableServices.AddDefaultSchema(schemas, typeName);
return typeName;
}
}
Is svcutil.exe really supposed to be a replacement for xsd.exe? The output generated seems to be quite different.
At this point, it looks like I will have to use xsd.exe to create classes from my .xsd file and then manually tweak the the code to get it in the form I want. I realize that using purely generated code would be ideal, but I was wondering if other people are using xsd.exe as a starting point and then working from there or if I need to consider another approach altogether?
Are there any updates to xsd.exe in Visual Studio 2010?
