Tools for debugging / checking XML Serialization [closed]

Question

Are there any tools out there for helping to debug / check the xml serialization process?

For instance, suppose an item is marked as internal instead of public. There is no compile time error message, nor a runtime error message. If you set a breakpoint and step into the serialization process, the item is just just skipped. In other words, it is often hard to find these types of problems. A debug tool would allow you to step through the process and provide some feedback e.g. encountered this attribute, iterated through properties and didn't find a corresponding public one, skipped. Another option would be a check tool to examine all the classes with xml serialization attributes to make sure they are accessible and have set methods, etc.

Answer 1

For those viewing this question, I have found that adding event handlers for XmlSerializer's UnknownNode and UnknownAttribute events is very helpful. Even if you just leave it throwing a new NotImplementedException, you can set a breakpoint and see when unknown nodes and attributes are encountered.

For example:

public void Open(string filename)
{

    // Create serializer
    XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(ObjectType));

    // Set event handlers for unknown nodes/attributes
    serializer.UnknownNode += new XmlNodeEventHandler(serializer_UnknownNode);
    serializer.UnknownAttribute += new  XmlAttributeEventHandler(serializer_UnknownAttribute);

    // ...
}

private static void serializer_UnknownAttribute(object sender, XmlAttributeEventArgs e)
{
    throw new System.NotImplementedException();
}

private static void serializer_UnknownNode(object sender, XmlNodeEventArgs e)
{
    throw new System.NotImplementedException();
}

Answer 2

The simplest way to test these type of problems (where serialization is incomplete or incorrect) is to unit test - nothing complicated.

• Create an object of your serializable type
• Set all of the properties
• Serialize it
• Take the serialized output and deserialize it into a new object
• Check all of the properties of the object to make sure they're still populated
• Fail the unit test if any of the properties aren't set to the expected value

Remember that it's usually the behaviour you're trying to prove - not the implementation. Tools that check for specific attributes are only of value for testing a single implementation of your code: a unit test like the above could work for any form of serialization or storage without rewriting the test.