XML Serialize for inherited objects C#

Question

I have the following XML Scenario:

<al2:Dispatch xmlns:al1="al:1.0.0" xmlns:al2="al:2.0.0">

    <al2:MsgIdentificator>0001</al2:MsgIdentificator>

    ..

    <al1:DispatchReceiverGroup>

        <al2:Receiver>

            <al1:ANumberIdentificator>100001</al1:ANumberIdentificator>
            <al1:BNumberIdentificator>1000000001</al1:BNumberIdentificator>

        </al2:Receiver>

    </al1:DispatchReceiverGroup>

</al2:Dispatch>

So My Model is as follows:

    [Serializable]
    [XmlRoot(Namespace = "al:2.0.0", ElementName = "Dispatch")]
    public class BatchDistribution
    {
        [XmlElement(Namespace = "al:2.0.0", ElementName = "MsgIdentificator")]
        public string MessageIdentificator { get; set; }

        //CONFUSED HERE
        [XmlArray(Namespace = "al:1.0.0", ElementName = "DispatchReceiverGroup")]
        [XmlArrayItem(Namespace = "al:2.0.0", ElementName = "Receiver")]
        public List<DistributionReceiver> DistributionRecievers { get; set; }    
    }
}

So I want to have an optional amount of Elements of ANumberIdentificator and BNumberIdentificator elements. For this, I made a Base Class DistributionReceiver, which is inherited by DistributionReceiverA and DistributionReceiverB, such as follows:

    [Serializable]
    public class DistributionReceiver
    {
        [XmlElement(Namespace = "al:1.0.0")]    //note i dont assign value for Element name because it has to be decided by sub classes 
        public string NumberIdentificator{ get; set; }
    }

and the sub classes:

    [Serializable]
    public class DistributionRecieverA : DistributionReceiver
    {
        [XmlElement(Namespace = "al:1.0.0", ElementName = "ANumberIdentificator")]
        public new string ANumberIdentificator { get; set; }
    }

and the other

    [Serializable]
    public class DistributionRecieverB : DistributionReceiver
    {
        [XmlElement(Namespace = "al:1.0.0", ElementName = "BNumberIdentificator")]
        public new string BNumberIdentificator { get; set; }
    }

Problem is: I don't get serialized ANumberIdentificator and BNumberIdentificator.

alperc · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-29 10:37:38Z

Looks like the model is incorrect for ANumberIdentificator and BNumberIdentificator

I have used xmltocsharp to convert the example XML and the model looked like

    [XmlRoot(ElementName = "Receiver", Namespace = "al:2.0.0")]
public class Receiver
{
    [XmlElement(ElementName = "ANumberIdentificator", Namespace = "al:1.0.0")]
    public List<string> ANumberIdentificator { get; set; }
    [XmlElement(ElementName = "BNumberIdentificator", Namespace = "al:1.0.0")]
    public List<string> BNumberIdentificator { get; set; }
}

[XmlRoot(ElementName = "DispatchReceiverGroup", Namespace = "al:1.0.0")]
public class DispatchReceiverGroup
{
    [XmlElement(ElementName = "Receiver", Namespace = "al:2.0.0")]
    public Receiver Receiver { get; set; }
}

[XmlRoot(ElementName = "Dispatch", Namespace = "al:2.0.0")]
public class Dispatch
{
    [XmlElement(ElementName = "MsgIdentificator", Namespace = "al:2.0.0")]
    public string MsgIdentificator { get; set; }
    [XmlElement(ElementName = "DispatchReceiverGroup", Namespace = "al:1.0.0")]
    public DispatchReceiverGroup DispatchReceiverGroup { get; set; }
    [XmlAttribute(AttributeName = "al1", Namespace = "http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/")]
    public string Al1 { get; set; }
    [XmlAttribute(AttributeName = "al2", Namespace = "http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/")]
    public string Al2 { get; set; }
}

I have used XmlSerializer to convert the XML to object

XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Dispatch));
        using (TextReader reader = new StringReader(xmlstring))
        {
            //convert the xml to object
            Dispatch result = (Dispatch)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
        }

And I am able to read A and B under Receiver

Console.WriteLine(result.DispatchReceiverGroup.Receiver.ANumberIdentificator);

Console.WriteLine(result.DispatchReceiverGroup.Receiver.BNumberIdentificator);

The ´XmlElement ANumberIdentificator´ and ´BNumberIdentificator´ could have type ´List<string>´, then it would work as expected. Thanks.

Holger · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-24 14:41:52Z

0

The XmlArrayItem must enumerate all possible types in your array

  XmlArrayItem(ElementName="DistributionReceiver", Type=typeof(DistributionReciever)),   
  XmlArrayItem(ElementName="DistributionRecieverA", Type=typeof(DistributionRecieverA)), 
  XmlArrayItem(ElementName="DistributionRecieverB", Type=typeof(DistributionRecieverB)),

The serializer need to conclude, from ElementName to Runtime-Type. (add your namespace yourself). The place of XmlArrayItem is correct, but add multiple !

If your base-class is abstract, do not create an XmlArrayItem for it.

answered Oct 24, 2019 at 14:41

Holger

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