CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#xml-deserialization
Scott
Scott

Reputation: 1478

Deserialize list within list item

I have the following sample XML that I was given. I need to deserialize it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<Users filename="testfile">
    <User name="John Doe" age="51">
        <Addresses>
            <Address street="1511 Smith Pl." city="Boulder" state="CO" zip="80000" />
            <Address street="1820 Main St." city="Lafayette" state="CO" zip="80100" />
        </Addresses>
    </User>
    <User name="Jeff Jones" age="35">
        <Addresses>
            <Address street="2111 Jefferson Rd.." city="Colorado Springs" state="CO" zip="80099" />
        </Addresses>
    </User>
</Users>

I am using the following code:

    private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
      XmlSerializer xmlIn = new XmlSerializer(typeof(UserItems));
      StreamReader srIn = new StreamReader("c:\\address.xml");
      UserItems uiItems;

      uiItems = (UserItems)xmlIn.Deserialize(srIn);

      srIn.Close();
    }
  }

  [XmlRoot("Users")]
  public class UserItems
  {
    private List<UserItem> p_liUserItems;

    [XmlAttribute("filename")] public string FileName { get; set; }

    [XmlElement("User")]
    public List<UserItem> Users
    {
      get
      {
        return p_liUserItems;
      }
      set
      {
        p_liUserItems = value;
      }
    }
  }

  [Serializable]
  public class UserItem
  {
    private List<AddressItem> p_liAddressItems = new List<AddressItem>();

    [XmlAttribute("name")]
    public string Name { get; set; }
    [XmlAttribute("age")]
    public string Age { get; set; }

    [XmlElement("Address")]
    public List<AddressItem> Addresses
    {
      get
      {
        return p_liAddressItems;
      }
      set
      {
        p_liAddressItems = value;
      }
    }
  }

  [Serializable]
  public class AddressItem
  {
    [XmlAttribute("street")]
    public string Street { get; set; }
    [XmlAttribute("city")]
    public string City { get; set; }
    [XmlAttribute("state")]
    public string State { get; set; }
    [XmlAttribute("zip")]
    public string ZipCode { get; set; }
  }

This deserializes fine, up to a point. I get the information for each of the users, but I am not getting any of the addresses for each user. Each user has a blank addresses list How does one go about deserializing collections within collection items?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 376

Answers (1)

CodeCaster
CodeCaster

Reputation: 151720

Your Addresses is an XmlElement, but one that wraps an array. You can (de)serialize it using XmlArray and XmlArrayItem to prevent having to create and decorate a wrapper class for Addresses:

[XmlArray("Addresses")]
[XmlArrayItem("Address")]
public List<AddressItem> Addresses
{
    get
    {
        return p_liAddressItems;
    }
    set
    {
        p_liAddressItems = value;
    }
}

Alternatively, if you do want the wrapper class:

[Serializable]
public class UserItem
{
    [XmlAttribute("name")]
    public string Name { get; set; }
    [XmlAttribute("age")]
    public string Age { get; set; }

    [XmlElement("Addresses")]
    public AddressWrapper Addresses { get; set; }
}

[Serializable]
public class AddressWrapper
{
    [XmlElement("Address")]
    public List<AddressItem> Addresses { get; set; }
}

See also Wrapping Serialized Array Elements with the Name of the Array.

Upvotes: 1

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