CODEWITHSUNDEEP
.netxml-serialization
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Reputation: 62804

An alternative to the standard .NET XML serializer, suitable for cross platform communication

I have stumbled across http://www.sharpserializer.com/en/index.html, but unfortunately the XML output it produces is formatted in a somewhat peculiar fashion, which makes it unsuitable for cross platform communication.

I have got fed up with the standard .NET XML serializer, so I am looking for an alternative.

Specifically, I would like it to be as potent as the Newtonsoft.Json serializer, but for XML, of course.

Thanks.

EDIT

There are two problems with the standard .NET XML serializer:

Yes, you can workaround by defining proxy members and all that. Why don't we have any problems with Newtonsoft.Json when doing json serialization?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1080

Answers (2)

Leon
Leon

Reputation: 3401

Check out DataContract Serializer - it's used by WCF internally to serialize/deserialize SOAP-ed objects.

using System.Runtime.Serialization;

/// <summary>
/// Returns object serialized as an XML string by using DataContractSerializer
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
public override string ToString()
{
    DataContractSerializer serializer = new DataContractSerializer(this.GetType());
    System.IO.MemoryStream stream = new System.IO.MemoryStream();
    serializer.WriteObject(stream, this);
    return System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(stream.ToArray());
}

Upvotes: 0

BentOnCoding
BentOnCoding

Reputation: 28178

You want to implement IXmlSerializable on your class, this will require you to add 3 methods : 1) ReadXml 2) WriteXml 3) GetSchema

Here you can specify exactly how your files serialize and deserialize.

using System;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Schema;
using System.Xml.Serialization;


public class Person : IXmlSerializable
{

    // Private state

    private string personName;


    // Constructors

    public Person (string name)
    {
        personName = name;
    }

    public Person ()
    {
        personName = null;
    }


    // Xml Serialization Infrastructure

    public void WriteXml (XmlWriter writer)
    {
        writer.WriteString(personName);
    }

    public void ReadXml (XmlReader reader)
    {
        personName = reader.ReadString();
    }

    public XmlSchema GetSchema()
    {
        return(null);
    }


    // Print

    public override string ToString()
    {
        return(personName);
    }

}

Heres a link to the docs. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.xml.serialization.ixmlserializable.aspx

Upvotes: 1

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