How to handle null in xml and c#

Question

suppose i am trying to deserialize xml to my class and if any value is null or empty for decimal or datetime then how to handle the null.

[XmlElement(ElementName = "Salary" , typeof(double))]
public string Salary { get; set; }

[XmlElement(ElementName = "BirthDate" , typeof(DateTime))]
public string Phone { get; set; }

suppose if BirthDate or Salary is null or empty in xml then how to handle it at the time of deserialization. need solution. thanks.

Answer 1

You have two options as specified here in XmlSerializer Class

Specify a System.ComponentModel.DefaultValueAttribute to specify the default value

[System.ComponentModel.DefaultValueAttribute ("0")]
[XmlElement(ElementName = "Salary" , typeof(double))]
public string Salary { get; set; }

[System.ComponentModel.DefaultValueAttribute ("02-May-2011")]
[XmlElement(ElementName = "BirthDate" , typeof(datetime))]
public string Phone { get; set; }

Another option is to use a special pattern to create a Boolean field recognized by the XmlSerializer, and to apply the XmlIgnoreAttribute to the field. The pattern is created in the form of propertyNameSpecified. For example, if there is a field named "MyFirstName" you would also create a field named "MyFirstNameSpecified" that instructs the XmlSerializer whether or not to generate the XML element named "MyFirstName".

Answer 2

Make use of Nullabe type will resolve issue easily.