Converting XML into a c# object

Question

I have am trying to create a class which gets a small xml file from a directory and makes it into a object, I always have problems with attributes. I would like the class to have a list of dimensions so that it can be called like. Dimension[x].id, Dimension[x].name....etc. The class will be referred to many times, but I would like it to only fill the xml to an object the first time.

Here is the XML, and thank you in Advanced:

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
     <dimensions>
      <dimensions id="0" name="Test"  serverAddress = "cm.dt.funcom.com" port = "7509" />
      <dimensions id="1" name="Atlantean"  serverAddress = "cm.d1.funcom.com" port = "7501" />
      <dimensions id="2" name="Rimor"  serverAddress = "cm.d2.funcom.com" port = "7502" />
     </dimensions>

What have you tried? Where did you look? What happens when you enter "Converting XML into a C# object" in the StackOverflow search box? — John Saunders
– John Saunders, Commented Feb 21, 2013 at 19:38
as i mentioned above i have issues with attributes. I can deseriize this easy if it wasnt for attributes. I have gotten used to json too much lately — Michael Hartmann
– Michael Hartmann, Commented Feb 21, 2013 at 20:54
Please see this post regarding "How to correctly implement IXmlSerializable" stackoverflow.com/questions/5590592/… — Glenn Ferrie
– Glenn Ferrie, Commented Feb 21, 2013 at 21:13
My issue is not being able to serialize them correctly into an object. I am not used to multiple attributes — Michael Hartmann
– Michael Hartmann, Commented Feb 21, 2013 at 22:57

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:27:04Z

I would try something that should take away the attribute anxiety.

Generate (or use an existing) XSD that would work for your XMLs. Something such as this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--XML Schema generated by QTAssistant/XML Schema Refactoring (XSR) Module (http://www.paschidev.com)-->
<xsd:schema attributeFormDefault="unqualified" elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <xsd:element name="dimensions">
    <xsd:complexType>
      <xsd:sequence>
        <xsd:element maxOccurs="unbounded" name="dimensions">
          <xsd:complexType>
            <xsd:attribute name="id" type="xsd:unsignedByte" use="required" />
            <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required" />
            <xsd:attribute name="serverAddress" type="xsd:string" use="required" />
            <xsd:attribute name="port" type="xsd:unsignedShort" use="required" />
          </xsd:complexType>
        </xsd:element>
      </xsd:sequence>
    </xsd:complexType>
  </xsd:element>
</xsd:schema>

Using the xsd.exe tool available with .NET (a Visual Studio command prompt would set the path nicely for you) generate classes (assume the above XSD is saved as converting-xml-into-a-c-sharp-object.xsd):

xsd /c <fullpath-if-not-in-the-current-folder>converting-xml-into-a-c-sharp-object.xsd

The generated code would be something like (just the header):

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// <auto-generated>
//     This code was generated by a tool.
//     Runtime Version:4.0.30319.17929
//
//     Changes to this file may cause incorrect behavior and will be lost if
//     the code is regenerated.
// </auto-generated>
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------

using System.Xml.Serialization;

// 
// This source code was auto-generated by xsd, Version=4.0.30319.1.
// 


/// <remarks/>
[System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("xsd", "4.0.30319.1")]
[System.SerializableAttribute()]
[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute()]
[System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code")]
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTypeAttribute(AnonymousType=true)]
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlRootAttribute(Namespace="", IsNullable=false)]
public partial class dimensions {

    private dimensionsDimensions[] dimensions1Field;

    /// <remarks/>
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("dimensions")]
    public dimensionsDimensions[] dimensions1 {
        get {
            return this.dimensions1Field;
        }
        set {
            this.dimensions1Field = value;
        }
    }
}

The next step is to write code that references this generated class; there are more than many references you could find; an introduction could be one such as this on SO.

The above XSD ("Russian Doll") authoring style gives names to classes that may not look smart; here is a possible way around it.

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