I have properties that have ids and values and a name. Can I represent all those with a single class using XmlElement/XmlArray C# annotations? I would like to derive the xml element name from the class attribute name;
my class would look like:
public class Property {
public string name; //could be enum
public int id;
public string value;
}
e.g:
new Property("property1name",2,"testvalue");
new Property("property2name",10,"anothervalue");
I would like to have xml that looks like:
<property1name><id>2</id><value>testvalue</value></property1name>
<property2name><id>10</id><value>anothervalue</value></property2name>
instead of the usual
<property><name>property1name</name><id>2</id><value>testvalue</value></property>
<property><name>property2name</name><id>10</id><value>anothervalue</value></property>
In other words the xmlelement gets its name from attribute name of the class Property
Update
And here's a quick adaptation to handle your Property class. First, a List<T> subclass that implements IXmlSerializable:
public interface IHasElementName
{
string ElementName { get; set; }
}
public class XmlNamedElementList<T> : List<T>, IXmlSerializable where T : IHasXmlElementName
{
// https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer%28v=vs.110%29.aspx
// Any serializer created with the "XmlSerializer(typeof(T), rootAttribute)" must be cached
// to avoid resource & memory leaks.
class ValueSerializerCache
{
// By using a nested class with a static constructor, we defer generation of the XmlSerializer until it's actually required.
static ValueSerializerCache()
{
var rootAttribute = new XmlRootAttribute();
rootAttribute.ElementName = ValueTypeName;
rootAttribute.Namespace = ValueTypeNamespace;
serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T), rootAttribute);
}
static readonly XmlSerializer serializer;
internal static XmlSerializer Serializer { get { return serializer; } }
}
static string ValueTypeName { get { return typeof(T).DefaultXmlElementName(); } }
static string ValueTypeNamespace { get { return typeof(T).DefaultXmlElementNamespace(); } }
#region IXmlSerializable Members
XmlSchema IXmlSerializable.GetSchema()
{
return null;
}
void IXmlSerializable.ReadXml(XmlReader reader)
{
if (reader.IsEmptyElement)
{
reader.Read();
return;
}
var typeName = ValueTypeName;
reader.ReadStartElement(); // Advance to the first sub element of the list element.
while (reader.NodeType == XmlNodeType.Element)
{
var name = reader.Name;
using (var subReader = reader.ReadSubtree())
{
var doc = XDocument.Load(subReader);
if (doc != null && doc.Root != null)
{
doc.Root.Name = doc.Root.Name.Namespace + typeName;
using (var docReader = doc.CreateReader())
{
var obj = ValueSerializerCache.Serializer.Deserialize(docReader);
if (obj != null)
{
T value = (T)obj;
value.ElementName = XmlConvert.DecodeName(name);
Add(value);
}
}
}
}
// Move past the end of item element
reader.Read();
}
// Move past the end of the list element
reader.ReadEndElement();
}
void IXmlSerializable.WriteXml(XmlWriter writer)
{
foreach (var value in this)
{
XDocument doc = new XDocument();
using (var subWriter = doc.CreateWriter())
{
// write xml into the writer
ValueSerializerCache.Serializer.Serialize(subWriter, value);
}
if (doc.Root == null)
continue;
doc.Root.Name = doc.Root.Name.Namespace + XmlConvert.EncodeName(value.ElementName);
// Remove redundant namespaces.
foreach (var attr in doc.Root.Attributes().ToList())
{
if (!attr.IsNamespaceDeclaration || string.IsNullOrEmpty(attr.Value))
continue;
var prefix = writer.LookupPrefix(attr.Value);
if ((prefix == attr.Name.LocalName)
|| (prefix == string.Empty && attr.Name == "xmlns"))
attr.Remove();
}
doc.Root.WriteTo(writer);
}
}
#endregion
}
public static class XmlSerializationHelper
{
static Attribute GetCustomAttribute(MemberInfo element, Type attributeType)
{
return Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(element, attributeType);
}
static T GetCustomAttribute<T>(MemberInfo element) where T : Attribute
{
return (T)GetCustomAttribute(element, typeof(T));
}
public static string DefaultXmlElementName(this Type type)
{
var xmlType = GetCustomAttribute<XmlTypeAttribute>(type);
if (xmlType != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(xmlType.TypeName))
return xmlType.TypeName;
var xmlRoot = GetCustomAttribute<XmlRootAttribute>(type);
if (xmlRoot != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(xmlRoot.ElementName))
return xmlRoot.ElementName;
return type.Name;
}
public static string DefaultXmlElementNamespace(this Type type)
{
var xmlType = GetCustomAttribute<XmlTypeAttribute>(type);
if (xmlType != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(xmlType.Namespace))
return xmlType.Namespace;
var xmlRoot = GetCustomAttribute<XmlRootAttribute>(type);
if (xmlRoot != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(xmlRoot.Namespace))
return xmlRoot.Namespace;
return string.Empty;
}
public static string GetXml<T>(this T obj)
{
return GetXml(obj, false);
}
public static string GetXml<T>(this T obj, bool omitNamespace)
{
return GetXml(obj, new XmlSerializer(obj.GetType()), omitNamespace);
}
public static string GetXml<T>(this T obj, XmlSerializer serializer)
{
return GetXml(obj, serializer, false);
}
public static string GetXml<T>(T obj, XmlSerializer serializer, bool omitStandardNamespaces)
{
XmlSerializerNamespaces ns = null;
if (omitStandardNamespaces)
{
ns = new XmlSerializerNamespaces();
ns.Add("", ""); // Disable the xmlns:xsi and xmlns:xsd lines.
}
return GetXml(obj, serializer, ns);
}
public static string GetXml<T>(T obj, XmlSerializerNamespaces ns)
{
return GetXml(obj, new XmlSerializer(obj.GetType()), ns);
}
public static string GetXml<T>(T obj, XmlSerializer serializer, XmlSerializerNamespaces ns)
{
using (var textWriter = new StringWriter())
{
XmlWriterSettings settings = new XmlWriterSettings();
settings.Indent = true; // For cosmetic purposes.
settings.IndentChars = " "; // For cosmetic purposes.
using (var xmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(textWriter, settings))
{
if (ns != null)
serializer.Serialize(xmlWriter, obj, ns);
else
serializer.Serialize(xmlWriter, obj);
}
return textWriter.ToString();
}
}
}
And use it like:
public class Property : IHasElementName
{
public Property()
{
}
public Property(string name, int id, string value)
{
this.name = name;
this.id = id;
this.value = value;
}
[XmlIgnore]
public string name; //could be enum
public int id;
public string value;
#region IHasElementName Members
[XmlIgnore]
string IHasElementName.ElementName { get { return name; } set { name = value; } }
#endregion
}
public class RootObject
{
public RootObject()
{
this.Properties = new XmlNamedElementList<Property>();
}
public XmlNamedElementList<Property> Properties { get; set; }
}
public static class TestClass
{
public static void Test()
{
var root = new RootObject
{
// Characters " <> first" in the first element name are for testing purposes.
Properties = new XmlNamedElementList<Property> { new Property { id = 1, value = "1", name = "first" }, new Property("property1name", 2, "testvalue"), new Property("property2name", 10, "anothervalue") }
};
var xml = root.GetXml();
Debug.WriteLine(xml);
}
}
Which produces XML as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<RootObject xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<Properties>
<_x0020__x003C__x003E__x0020_first>
<id>1</id>
<value>1</value>
</_x0020__x003C__x003E__x0020_first>
<property1name>
<id>2</id>
<value>testvalue</value>
</property1name>
<property2name>
<id>10</id>
<value>anothervalue</value>
</property2name>
</Properties>
</RootObject>
Original Answer
As requested, here's an implementation of IXmlSerializable on a List<KeyValuePair<string, T>> in which the Key string becomes the element name in the collection.
What you would probably want to do is to adapt this to serialize a List<IHasElementName> where:
public interface IHasElementName
{
string ElementName { get; set; }
}
public class Property : IHasElementName
{
[XmlIgnore]
public string name; //could be enum
public int id;
public string value;
#region IHasElementName Members
[XmlIgnore]
string IHasElementName.ElementName
{
get
{
return name;
}
set
{
name = value;
}
}
#endregion
}
If the name is actually an Enum, you could return the enum string representation from HasElementName.ElementName.
The list looks like:
public class XmlKeyValueList<T> : List<KeyValuePair<string, T>>, IXmlSerializable
{
// TODO: validate that the "Key" string using XmlConvert.VerifyName.
// https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer%28v=vs.110%29.aspx
// Any serializer created with the "XmlSerializer(typeof(T), rootAttribute)" must be cached
// to avoid resource & memory leaks.
class ValueSerializerCache
{
// By using a nested class with a static constructor, we defer generation of the XmlSerializer until it's actually required.
static ValueSerializerCache()
{
var rootAttribute = new XmlRootAttribute();
rootAttribute.ElementName = ValueTypeName;
rootAttribute.Namespace = ValueTypeNamespace;
serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T), rootAttribute);
}
static readonly XmlSerializer serializer;
internal static XmlSerializer Serializer { get { return serializer; } }
}
static string ValueTypeName { get { return typeof(T).DefaultXmlElementName(); } }
static string ValueTypeNamespace { get { return typeof(T).DefaultXmlElementNamespace(); } }
#region IXmlSerializable Members
XmlSchema IXmlSerializable.GetSchema()
{
return null;
}
void IXmlSerializable.ReadXml(XmlReader reader)
{
var typeName = ValueTypeName;
reader.ReadStartElement(); // Advance to the first sub element of the list element.
while (reader.NodeType == XmlNodeType.Element)
{
var name = reader.Name;
using (var subReader = reader.ReadSubtree())
{
var doc = XDocument.Load(subReader);
if (doc != null && doc.Root != null)
{
doc.Root.Name = typeName;
using (var docReader = doc.CreateReader())
{
var obj = ValueSerializerCache.Serializer.Deserialize(docReader);
if (obj != null)
{
Add(new KeyValuePair<string, T>(name, (T)obj));
}
}
}
}
// Move past the XmlNodeType.Element
if (reader.NodeType == XmlNodeType.EndElement)
reader.Read();
}
}
void IXmlSerializable.WriteXml(XmlWriter writer)
{
foreach (var pair in this)
{
XDocument doc = new XDocument();
using (var subWriter = doc.CreateWriter())
{
// write xml into the writer
ValueSerializerCache.Serializer.Serialize(subWriter, pair.Value);
}
if (doc.Root == null)
continue;
doc.Root.Name = pair.Key;
// Remove redundant namespaces.
foreach (var attr in doc.Root.Attributes().ToList())
{
if (!attr.IsNamespaceDeclaration || string.IsNullOrEmpty(attr.Value))
continue;
if (writer.LookupPrefix(attr.Value) == attr.Name.LocalName)
attr.Remove();
}
doc.Root.WriteTo(writer);
}
}
#endregion
}
public static class XmlSerializationHelper
{
public static string DefaultXmlElementName(this Type type)
{
var xmlType = type.GetCustomAttribute<XmlTypeAttribute>();
if (xmlType != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(xmlType.TypeName))
return xmlType.TypeName;
var xmlRoot = type.GetCustomAttribute<XmlRootAttribute>();
if (xmlRoot != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(xmlRoot.ElementName))
return xmlRoot.ElementName;
return type.Name;
}
public static string DefaultXmlElementNamespace(this Type type)
{
var xmlType = type.GetCustomAttribute<XmlTypeAttribute>();
if (xmlType != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(xmlType.Namespace))
return xmlType.Namespace;
var xmlRoot = type.GetCustomAttribute<XmlRootAttribute>();
if (xmlRoot != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(xmlRoot.Namespace))
return xmlRoot.Namespace;
return string.Empty;
}
}