WCF Datacontract for XML deeper that a single layer

Question

Sorry for a very simple question, I can't seem to find an answer. I'm trying to write a datacontract for a WCF service to receive the following xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<CachedAwiData QReference="3" QAttempt="0" QReservation="{D6154D1C-6D42-4AA5-9FAC-217B2F9FE096}">
                <CachedAwiDataRecord>
                                <CustRef><![CDATA[1]]></CustRef>
                                <Details><![CDATA[Hello World]]></Details>
                                <PrefDay><![CDATA[Monday]]></PrefDay>
                                <PrefTime><![CDATA[8.00am - 9.00am]]></PrefTime>
                                <Priority><![CDATA[Urgent]]></Priority>
                                <Trade><![CDATA[Plasterer]]></Trade>
                </CachedAwiDataRecord>
</CachedAwiData> 

so far I have tried a couple of things and got as far as:

[DataContract(Namespace = "")]
public class CachedAwiData
{

}

[DataContract(Namespace = "")]
public class CachedAwiDataRecord : CachedAwiData
{
    [DataMember]
    public string CustRef { get; set; }
}

I've got as far as getting a response that seems to get a null value for CustRef:

<ResponseData xmlns="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/RestService" xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><CustRef i:nil="true" /></ResponseData>

I'm assuming its to do with my DataContract but perhaps I'm missing something here. Any clues greatly appreciated or am I best just going back to XML Serializer?

Answer 1

I don't think the inheritance is right. I don't use DataContracts much but I think you need something like

    [DataContract(Namespace = "")]
    public class CachedAwiData
    {
        [DataMember]
        public CachedAwiDataRecord DataRecord;
    }

    [DataContract(Namespace = "")]
    public class CachedAwiDataRecord 
    {
        [DataMember]
        public string CustRef { get; set; }
    }