Serialize c# object in XML using variable content as attribute name

Question

I have the following c# object:

class Modification {
    public string Name;
    public string Value;
}

I want to use the serializer to serialize my object the following way:

<name>value</name>

Example: Let's say we set those variables to

Name = "Autoroute"
Value = 53

I want the xml to look like:

<test>
    <Autoroute>53</Autoroute>
</test>

I saw somewhere that this feature is not supported by the serializer, but is there a way to overload the serializer to allow this kind of behavior ?

Changing the XML structure is not an option since it is already a convention.

I don't think it is possible, to me you want does not seem to make sense, how would the serialiser know that the value of the Value property relates to the Name property? — Coding Flow
– Coding Flow, Commented Nov 27, 2014 at 14:47

steve16351 · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-27 16:40:14Z

1

You can use IXmlSerializable to do this, though this doesn't give you control over the root element name - you have to set this in the serializer (which may present other challenges when you come to read it as part of a larger xml structure...).

public class Modification : IXmlSerializable
{
    public string Name;
    public string Value;

    public System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema GetSchema()
    {
        return null;
    }

    public void ReadXml(System.Xml.XmlReader reader)
    {
        reader.ReadStartElement();
        Name = reader.Name;
        Value = reader.ReadElementContentAsString();
        reader.ReadEndElement();
    }

    public void WriteXml(System.Xml.XmlWriter writer)
    {
        writer.WriteElementString(Name, Value);
    }
}

Usage,

Modification modification = new Modification()
{
    Name = "Autoroute",
    Value = "53"
};

Modification andBack = null;

string rootElement = "test";    
XmlSerializer s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Modification), new XmlRootAttribute(rootElement));
using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(@"c:\temp\output.xml"))
    s.Serialize(writer, modification);

using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(@"c:\temp\output.xml"))
    andBack = s.Deserialize(reader) as Modification;

Console.WriteLine("{0}={1}", andBack.Name, andBack.Value);

The XML produced by this looks like this,

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<test>
   <Autoroute>53</Autoroute>
</test>

edited Nov 27, 2014 at 16:40

answered Nov 27, 2014 at 14:58

steve16351

5,8572 gold badges21 silver badges33 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Etienne Noël Over a year ago

There's one thing that I left out, Autoroute would not be the root element, but simply added in the document. I guess that would mean that in WriteXml I would have write.WriteName(Name) and then writer.WriteString(Value) ?

Etienne Noël Over a year ago

Is there a reason why when I execute your code, I only get the first <test> not the closing tag ?

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Serialize c# object in XML using variable content as attribute name

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related