C# Not able to serialize class with List<CustomObject> as property

Question

Hi I am trying to serialize

FileStream fileStream = new FileStream("batches.xml", FileMode.Open);
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<Batche>));
List<Batche> listOfBatches = new List<Batche>();

[Serializable]
[XmlRoot("Batch")]
public class Batche
{   

    [XmlElement("Title")]
    public string Title
    {
        get;set;
    }

    [XmlArray("ListOfLinks"),XmlArrayItem("Link",Type = typeof(Link))]
    public List<Link> Links
    {
        get;set;
    }
}

[Serializable]
[XmlRoot("Link")]
public class Link
{
   [XmlElement("Uri")]
   public Uri Uri
   {
       get;
       set;
   }

   [XmlElement("Status")]
   public string Status
   {
       get;
       set;
   }

}

Getting following error : There was an error reflecting type 'System.Collections.Generic.List`1[DownloadTRON.Entities.Batche]'.

been trying this since last 4 hours, can any body point out what i am doing Wrong !

Regards Pravin

Answer 1

There is no problem with your code or the serialization of generics. Uri doesn't have a default constructor and cannot be serialized. Consider changing it to a string and things will work. If you are only planning on using the XmlSerializer you can remove the Serializable attribute because it isn't used.

When I ran your code with the debugger and saw the exception there was an inner exception with an inner exception with an inner exception and so on. Always a good idea to follow that rabbit down the hole when you can.

Answer 2

You have to pass extra types that are in xml,to XmlSerializer, in your case Link type. Use this

XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(List<Batche>), new Type[] {typeof(Link)});