Serialize an object to XML

Question

I have a C# class that I have inherited. I have successfully "built" the object. But I need to serialize the object to XML. Is there an easy way to do it?

It looks like the class has been set up for serialization, but I'm not sure how to get the XML representation. My class definition looks like this:

[System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("xsd", "4.0.30319.1")] [System.SerializableAttribute()] [System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute()] [System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code")] [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTypeAttribute(AnonymousType = true, Namespace = "http://www.domain.com/test")] [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlRootAttribute(Namespace = "http://www.domain.com/test", IsNullable = false)] public partial class MyObject {   ... } 

Here is what I thought I could do, but it doesn't work:

MyObject o = new MyObject(); // Set o properties string xml = o.ToString(); 

How do I get the XML representation of this object?

Answer 1

You have to use XmlSerializer for XML serialization. Below is a sample snippet.

 XmlSerializer xsSubmit = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyObject));  var subReq = new MyObject();  var xml = "";   using(var sww = new StringWriter())  {      using(XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(sww))      {          xsSubmit.Serialize(writer, subReq);          xml = sww.ToString(); // Your XML      }  } 

As per @kiquenet request for generic class:

public class MySerializer<T> where T : class {     public static string Serialize(T obj)     {         XmlSerializer xsSubmit = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));         using (var sww = new StringWriter())         {             using (XmlTextWriter writer = new XmlTextWriter(sww) { Formatting = Formatting.Indented })             {                 xsSubmit.Serialize(writer, obj);                 return sww.ToString();             }         }     } } 

usage:

string xmlMessage = MySerializer<MyClass>.Serialize(myObj); 

Answer 2

I modified mine to return a string rather than use a ref variable like below.

public static string Serialize<T>(this T value) {     if (value == null)     {         return string.Empty;     }     try     {         var xmlserializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));         var stringWriter = new StringWriter();         using (var writer = XmlWriter.Create(stringWriter))         {             xmlserializer.Serialize(writer, value);             return stringWriter.ToString();         }     }     catch (Exception ex)     {         throw new Exception("An error occurred", ex);     } } 

Its usage would be like this:

var xmlString = obj.Serialize();