XmlElement read as case insensitive C#

Question

I am using XmlSeriazlier to deserialize xml file.

var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
using (var reader = document.CreateReader())
   var result = (T)serializer.Deserialize(reader);

Xml can contain elements with different casing. Sample

<Layers>
    <Layer name="something" />
    <Layer name="anything" />
    <layer name="nothing" /> ====> 'l' instead of 'L'
</Layers>

Now my class is like this.

public class Layers
{
    [XmlElement("Layer")]
    public List<Layer> Layers { get; set; }
}

Now this will not read 'layer' from the xml. How I can read all xml elements and save them in one list.

Xml is case sensitive, so why not just make sure that the Xml file is correct in the first place? — Sean, Apr 17 '20 at 09:30
@Sean Old legacy xmls which cannot be changed. So have to support these. — fhnaseer, Apr 17 '20 at 09:32
Related: [Case insensitive XML parser in c#](https://stackoverflow.com/q/9334771/3744182), [Deserialize/Read xml when casing of elements is inconsistent.](https://stackoverflow.com/q/45776598/3744182). — dbc, Apr 17 '20 at 13:59
Another option would be to create an XmlReader [decorator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decorator_pattern) as shown [here](http://referencesource.microsoft.com/#System.Xml/System/Xml/Core/XmlWrappingReader.cs) and [here](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t2abc1zd(v=vs.71).aspx) (under *Chaining XmlReaders*) then subclass the decorator and normalize the case all the element and attribute names. — dbc, Apr 17 '20 at 14:01

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 17 '20 at 09:51

You could make your Layer class inherit IXmlSerializable and implement something like the below code in your ReadXml implementation:

while (!reader.EOF)
{
    // Use string.Compare with StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase to ignore case
    if (reader.NodeType == XmlNodeType.Element && string.Compare(reader.Name, "Layer", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
    {
        // reading code
    }
    else
    {
        reader.Read();
    }
}

Note that I haven't test the code, but this might be an approach to your problem.

XmlElement read as case insensitive C#

1 Answers1