Serialize an object that contains a list of objects

Question

I'v build a NotInheritable Serilizer that serilizes all my classes and list of classes with success. Until I'v build a list of class that contains a list of classes. I'm getting the runtime Exeption: There was an error generating the XML document. resulting in a perfectly empty XML :(

These are my classes to serilize:

<System.Serializable> _
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlInclude(GetType(StatisticItem))> _
Public Class Statistic
    Public StatItem As New list(Of StatisticItem)
    'Bla bla bla
end class


<Serializable> _
Public Class StatisticItem              
        Private stStatPath As String = ""    
        Private eStatType As StatType = 0
        Private iBatchNumber As Int32 = 0
end class

And the serializer:

Public NotInheritable Class XmlSerializer       

    Public Shared Sub Serialize(Of T)(ByVal obj As T, sConfigFilePath As String)        
        Dim XmlBuddy As New System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(GetType(T))
        Dim MySettings As New System.Xml.XmlWriterSettings()
        MySettings.Indent = True
        MySettings.CloseOutput = True       
        Dim MyWriter As System.Xml.XmlWriter=System.Xml.XmlWriter.Create(sConfigFilePath,MySettings)        
        XmlBuddy.Serialize(MyWriter,obj) 
        MyWriter.Flush()
        MyWriter.Close()    

        ' ----- OLD CODE FOR SERIALIZE, NEXTLINE IN XML DOESNT WORK ON WIN CE -------, 
        ' B.T.W. Using This code to serilize gives the exact same fault             
        'Dim XmlBuddy As New System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(GetType(T))
        'Dim objStreamWriter As New StreamWriter(sConfigFilePath)
        'XmlBuddy.Serialize(objStreamWriter, obj)
        'objStreamWriter.Close()
    End Sub
 end class

And this is the call:

 XmlSerializer.Serialize(Of list(Of Statistic))(StatCollection, CommCtrl.PathStatisticFile)

If i comment the list in StatisticItem everything works.

I think if I Implement IXmlSerializable in StatisticItem I can tell the serializer how to work to make it work, but I see other code example on the internet where this works without all this effort and I prefer a clean solution, that is about the same as all my other classes.

Hope one of you guys can help me out

Answer 1

Yes solved!, To be honest I changed so much small things that I still don't know what the cause was. Maybe that there were still some private members. Anyway, maybe the code can be useful for anyone:

Public Class Statistic 

    'Properties         
    Private eStatName As String                     
    Private eStatSort As StatSort            
    Private StatItem As New list(Of StatisticItem)


    Public Property Name() As String
      Get
          Return eStatName
      End Get
      Set(ByVal value As String)
          eStatName = value
      End Set
    End Property

    'Other public properties
End class



Public Class StatisticItem  
    Private stStatPath As String = ""    
    Private eStatType As StatType = 0
    Private iBatchNumber As Int32 = 0

Public Property Path() As String
    Get
        Return stStatPath
    End Get
    Set(ByVal Value As String)
        stStatPath = Value
    End Set
End Property

' The other Public Properties

Serializer:

Public NotInheritable Class XmlSerializer

    ''' <summary>
    ''' Convert a class state into XML
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <typeparam name="T">The type of object</typeparam>
    ''' <param name="obj">The object to serilize</param>
    ''' <param name="sConfigFilePath">The path to the XML</param>
    Public Shared Sub Serialize(Of T)(ByVal obj As T, sConfigFilePath As String)        
        Dim XmlBuddy As New System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(GetType(T))
        Dim MySettings As New System.Xml.XmlWriterSettings()
        MySettings.Indent = True
        MySettings.CloseOutput = True       
        Dim MyWriter As System.Xml.XmlWriter = System.Xml.XmlWriter.Create(sConfigFilePath,MySettings)      
        XmlBuddy.Serialize(MyWriter,obj) 
        MyWriter.Flush()
        MyWriter.Close()    
    End Sub



''' <summary>
''' Restore a class state from XML
''' </summary>
''' <typeparam name="T">The type of object</typeparam>
''' <param name="xml">the path to the XML</param>
''' <returns>The object to return</returns>
Public Shared Function Deserialize(Of T)(ByVal xml As String) As T      
    Dim XmlBuddy As New System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(GetType(T))
    Dim fs As New FileStream(xml, FileMode.Open)
    Dim reader As New Xml.XmlTextReader(fs) 
    If XmlBuddy.CanDeserialize(reader) Then
        Dim tempObject As Object = DirectCast(XmlBuddy.Deserialize(reader), T)         
        reader.Close()
        Return tempObject
    Else
        Return Nothing
    End If
End Function
end class

The call of the Serializer:

Try                     
     XmlSerializer.Serialize(Of list(Of Statistic))(StatCollection, CommCtrl.PathStatisticFile)
Catch ex As Exception
     msgbox(ex.Message)
End Try

The call of the deSerializer:

Try
     StatCollection = XmlSerializer.Deserialize(Of list(Of Statistic)(CommCtrl.PathStatisticFile)
Catch ex As Exception
     msgbox(ex.Message)
end Try