Can .NET XmlSerializer class deserialize InnerXml as a string?

Question

I have a very specific deserialization need, see example below:

say I have following class:

[Serializable]
public class Person {
public string Name { get; set; }
public string PersonXml { get; set; }
}

and following XML

<Person>
  <Name>John</Name>
  <PersonXml><someXmlFragment>text</someXmlFragment></PersonXml>
</Person>

What I want is the XmlSerializer class to deserialize InnerXml of the <PersonXml> element to the PersonXml property as a string. I'm wondering if it can be done.

NOTE: I know I can encode the content of <PersonXml> escaping illegal XML chars, but I would prefer to leave the inner XML more human friendly (not containing &lt; and other entities that will only cofuse my end user)

Answer 1

You can always implement IXmlSerializable and do whatever you fancy through XmlReader.