XML-Serialization - How to pass an property-array without it loosing its XML-Attributes

Question

I have two classes. One of the classes is containing an array of the other class.

I dont want the first Class to be serialized, only the array of the other class, so I am passing the array to the Serialization-Method, but it seems to be loosing its name, as it is later called ArrayOfSecondClass. Can someone help me with this?

Here is some Test-Code describing the Scenario:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml.Serialization;

namespace TeaTimeTestEmpty
{
    public class FirstClass
    {
        [XmlArray("RealName")] // Is ignored when SecondClassArray is passed
        public SecondClass[] SecondClassArray { get; set; }
    }
    public class SecondClass
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
    }
    public static class Program
    {
        public static string SerializeToXml(object objectToSerialize, Type objectType = null)
        {
            if (objectToSerialize != null)
            {
                if (objectType == null)
                {
                    objectType = objectToSerialize.GetType();
                }
                XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(objectType);

                using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
                {
                    serializer.Serialize(stream, objectToSerialize, null);

                    string xmlString = "";
                    foreach (byte currentByte in stream.ToArray())
                    {
                        xmlString += (char)currentByte;
                    }

                    return xmlString;
                }
            }
            return null;
        }
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<SecondClass> listOfSecondClasses = new List<SecondClass>();
            for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
            {
                listOfSecondClasses.Add(new SecondClass() { Name = "Bob" + i });
            }

            FirstClass firstClass = new FirstClass() { SecondClassArray = listOfSecondClasses.ToArray()};

            // Note that I am passing only the SecondClassArray, not the whole Element
            string xml = SerializeToXml(firstClass.SecondClassArray);
        }
    }
}

Now when I am debugging this, I get the following XML-Code in the variable xml:

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
<ArrayOfSecondClass 
  xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" 
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob0</Name>
  </SecondClass>
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob1</Name>
  </SecondClass>
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob2</Name>
  </SecondClass>
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob3</Name>
  </SecondClass>
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob4</Name>
  </SecondClass>
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob5</Name>
  </SecondClass>
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob6</Name>
  </SecondClass>
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob7</Name>
  </SecondClass>
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob8</Name>
  </SecondClass>
  <SecondClass>
    <Name>Bob9</Name>
  </SecondClass>
</ArrayOfSecondClass>

My problem now is, that the Name I gave it in FirstClass is lost, and I cant seem to find a way to get it back, not even if I am giving the SecondClass XmlRoot or other tags, it is always calling it ArrayOfSecondClass instead of the wanted name.

I would appreciate it if you could give me a solution to how to give it the name I want it to have.

Answer 1

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    List<SecondClass> listOfSecondClasses = new List<SecondClass>();
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
    {
        listOfSecondClasses.Add(new SecondClass() { Name = "Bob" + i });
    }

    FirstClass firstClass = new FirstClass() { SecondClassArray = listOfSecondClasses.ToArray() };

    // Note that I am passing only the SecondClassArray, not the whole Element
    string xml = SerializeToXml(firstClass.SecondClassArray,"RealNames");

    Console.WriteLine(xml);

    Console.ReadLine();
}

public static string SerializeToXml<T>(T objectToSerialize, string RootNodeName)
{
    if (objectToSerialize != null)
    {

        XmlRootAttribute root = new XmlRootAttribute(RootNodeName);
        XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T),root);

        using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
        {
            serializer.Serialize(stream, objectToSerialize, null);

            string xmlString = "";
            foreach (byte currentByte in stream.ToArray())
            {
        xmlString += (char)currentByte;
            }

            return xmlString;
        }
    }
    return null;
}

Answer 2

The XmlArray attribute is part of FirstClass not of its property, so it is clear that it is not used when the serializer never sees an instance of FirstClass.

You will need to work with another constructor of the XmlSerializer class.

This constructor allows you to pass the name of the root element:

XmlRootAttribute xRoot = new XmlRootAttribute();
xRoot.ElementName = "RealName";
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(objectType, xRoot);