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XML deserialization returns list with one empty item

I have the following XML:
<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>
<accounts>
<items>
<account>
<voornaam><FirstName</voornaam>
<naam>LastName</naam>
<gebruikersnaam>Username</gebruikersnaam>
<internnummer></internnummer>
<klasnummer></klasnummer>
</account>
</items>
</accounts>
With these classes:
public class Accounts
{
public Accounts()
{
items = new List<Account>();
}
[XmlElement]
public List<Account> items { get; set; }
}
public class Account
{
public string voornaam { get; set; }
public string naam { get; set; }
public string gebruikersnaam { get; set; }
public int? internnummer { get; set; }
public int? klasnummer { get; set; }
}
And this code:
var decoded = "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?><accounts><items><account><voornaam>FirstName</voornaam><naam>LastName</naam><gebruikersnaam></gebruikersnaam><internnummer></internnummer><klasnummer></klasnummer></account></items></accounts>";
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Accounts), new XmlRootAttribute("accounts"));
StringReader reader = new StringReader(decoded);
var accounts = (Accounts)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
All I get from this is an Accounts instance with the property Items containing one Account instance with every property null.

You need to specify the items as XML array with XmlArrayAttribute and also with the XmlArrayItemAttribute with (element) item's name: "account" and as Account type. XmlArrayAttribute Example.
public class Accounts
{
[XmlArrayItem(ElementName= "account",
Type = typeof(Account))]
[XmlArray(ElementName="items")]
public List<Account> items { get; set; }
}
Meanwhile, suggest using XmlElementAttribute to specify the element name in XML instead of naming the properties as camelCase.
For the reason why need InternnummerText and KlasnummerText properties you can refer to the question: Deserializing empty xml attribute value into nullable int property using XmlSerializer (will not cover in this answer).
public class Accounts
{
public Accounts()
{
Items = new List<Account>();
}
[XmlArrayItem(ElementName= "account",
Type = typeof(Account))]
[XmlArray(ElementName="items")]
public List<Account> Items { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot(ElementName="account")]
public class Account
{
[XmlIgnore]
public int? Klasnummer { get; set; }
[XmlIgnore]
public int? Internnummer { get; set; }
[XmlElement(ElementName="voornaam")]
public string Voornaam { get; set; }
[XmlElement(ElementName="naam")]
public string Naam { get; set; }
[XmlElement(ElementName="gebruikersnaam")]
public string Gebruikersnaam { get; set; }
[XmlElement(ElementName="internnummer")]
public string InternnummerText
{
get { return (Internnummer.HasValue) ? Internnummer.ToString() : null; }
set { Internnummer = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(value) ? int.Parse(value) : default(int?); }
}
[XmlElement(ElementName="klasnummer")]
public string KlasnummerText
{
get { return (Klasnummer.HasValue) ? Klasnummer.ToString() : null; }
set { Klasnummer = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(value) ? int.Parse(value) : default(int?); }
}
}
Sample program

Deserialise XML with parameters to object

I have this simple xml that I just can't deserialise to an object, there are something wrong with my model classes. I just Receive an empty object.
"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>
\n<response>
\n<lst name=\"responseHeader\">
<int name=\"status\">0</int>
<int name=\"QTime\">20596</int>
</lst>\n
</response>\n"
i serialize like this:
var x = result.Content;
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(response));
StringReader rdr = new StringReader(x);
response resultingMessage =
(response)serializer.Deserialize(rdr);
and my model classes look like:
[XmlType("response")]
public class response
{
[XmlElement("responseHeader")]
public string Name { get; set; }
public List<lst> Lst { get; set; }
}
public class lst
{
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlElement("int")]
public List<Int> Int { get; set; }
}
public class Int
{
[XmlElement("status")]
public int status { get; set; }
[XmlElement("QTime")]
public int QTime { get; set; }
}

Couple things to be corrected.
You need to clean the Xml
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(response));
StringReader rdr = new StringReader(xmlString.Replace(#"\n",String.Empty).Replace(#"\'","'"));
response resultingMessage =
(response)serializer.Deserialize(rdr);
Secondly, You data structure require some changes. For example, response doesn't require a name. It needs to be part of lst. Also it is an attribute, not an element. Hence needs to be decorated with [XmlAttribute]
[XmlType("response")]
public class response
{
[XmlElement("lst")]
public List<lst> Lst { get; set; }
}
public class lst
{
[XmlAttribute("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlElement("int")]
public List<Int> Int { get; set; }
}
public class Int
{
[XmlAttribute(AttributeName="name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlText]
public string Text { get; set; }
}
Output

try like this,
/*
var x = "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<response>\n<lst name=\"responseHeader\"><int name=\"status\">0</int><int name=\"QTime\">20596</int></lst>\n</response>\n";
*/
var x = result.Content;
x= x.Replace("\\n", string.Empty).Replace("\\", string.Empty);
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(response));
StringReader rdr = new StringReader(x);
response resultingMessage =
(response)serializer.Deserialize(rdr);
sometimes extra characters can cause the conversion issue.

deserialize xml into inherited classes from base class

I have the following xml structure:
<Root1>
<name>Name1</name>
<company>Comp1</company>
<url>site.com</url>
<elements>
<element id="12" type="1">
<url>site1.com</url>
<price>15000</price>
...
<manufacturer_warranty>true</manufacturer_warranty>
<country_of_origin>Япония</country_of_origin>
</element>
<element id="13" type="2">
<url>site2.com</url>
<price>100</price>
...
<language>lg</language>
<binding>123</binding>
</element>
</elements>
</Root1>
I need to deserialize this xml into an object. You can see the element contains some equals field: url and price.
I would like to move these fields into a parent class and then inherit this class from other classes.
I created the class Root1:
namespace app1
{
[Serializable]
public class Root1
{
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlElement("company")]
public string Company { get; set; }
[XmlElement("url")]
public string Url { get; set; }
[XmlElement("elements")]
public List<Element> ElementList { get; set; }
}
}
and then I created base class for Element:
[Serializable]
public class Element
{
[XmlElement("url")]
public string Url { get; set; }
[XmlElement("price")]
public string Price { get; set; }
}
and then I inherited this class from other classes:
[Serializable]
public class Element1 : Element
{
[XmlElement("manufacturer_warranty")]
public string mw { get; set; }
[XmlElement("country_of_origin")]
public string co { get; set; }
}
[Serializable]
public class Element2 : Element
{
[XmlElement("language")]
public string lg { get; set; }
[XmlElement("binding")]
public string bind { get; set; }
}
When I deserialize this xml to object Root1 I get the object - it is ok.
But the List of Elements contains only Element objects not Element1 and Element2 objects.
How I do deserialize this xml so list of Elements contains Element1 and Element2 objects?

#netwer It is not working for you because the code suggested above generates the xml (below) that does not match with the one you use for deserialization (see how it specifies derived types in for element).
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Root1>
<name>Name1</name>
<company>Comp1</company>
<url>site.com</url>
<elements>
<element d3p1:type="Element1" xmlns:d3p1="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<url>site1.com</url>
<price>15000</price>
<manufacturer_warranty>true</manufacturer_warranty>
<country_of_origin>Япония</country_of_origin>
</element>
<element d3p1:type="Element2" xmlns:d3p1="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<url>site2.com</url>
<price>100</price>
<language>lg</language>
<binding>123</binding>
</element>
</elements>
</Root1>
So you will either have to match this format with source xml (change code or API that returns this xml data) or take another approach. Even if you manage to do with former one you have to find a way to access Element1 or Element2 specific properties.
newRoot1.Elements.ElementList[i] will always let you access only price and url since your list is of Element type. Although run time type of ElementList[i] will be Element1 or Element2, how will you detect that?
Here I suggest alternative approach. Irrespective of whether your application (client) generates this xml or the server which returns it on hitting API, you should be able to gather information on all the fields applicable to an 'element' object. If it is your code you know it already, if it is an API there must be a document for it. This way you only have to create one 'Element' (no derived classes) and put proper checks (mostly string.IsNullOrEmpty()) before accessing Element class property values in your code. Only the properties that are present in your xml 'element' element will be considered rest will be set to NULL for that instance.
[Serializable]
public class Element
{
[XmlElement("url")]
public string Url { get; set; }
[XmlElement("price")]
public string Price { get; set; }
[XmlElement("manufacturer_warranty")]
public string mw { get; set; }
[XmlElement("country_of_origin")]
public string co { get; set; }
[XmlElement("language")]
public string lg { get; set; }
[XmlElement("binding")]
public string bind { get; set; }
}

I think you should use XmlIncludeAttribute like this:
[XmlInclude(typeof(Element1))]
public class Element
{
}

Here is xml and code. I like to first serialize with test data, then deserialize.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Root1>
<name>Name1</name>
<company>Comp1</company>
<url>site.com</url>
<element d2p1:type="Element1" xmlns:d2p1="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<url>site1.com</url>
<price>15000</price>
<manufacturer_warranty>true</manufacturer_warranty>
<country_of_origin>Япония</country_of_origin>
</element>
<element d2p1:type="Element2" xmlns:d2p1="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<url>site2.com</url>
<price>100</price>
<language>lg</language>
<binding>123</binding>
</element>
</Root1>
Code
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System.IO;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string FILENAME = #"c:\temp\test.xml";
Root1 root1 = new Root1() {
Name = "Name1",
Company = "Comp1",
Url = "site.com",
ElementList = new List<Element>() {
new Element1() {
Url = "site1.com",
Price = "15000",
mw = "true",
co = "Япония"
},
new Element2() {
Url = "site2.com",
Price = "100",
lg = "lg",
bind = "123"
}
}
};
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Root1));
StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(FILENAME);
XmlSerializerNamespaces _ns = new XmlSerializerNamespaces();
_ns.Add("", "");
serializer.Serialize(writer, root1, _ns);
writer.Flush();
writer.Close();
writer.Dispose();
XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Root1));
XmlTextReader reader = new XmlTextReader(FILENAME);
Root1 newRoot1 = (Root1)xs.Deserialize(reader);
}
}
[XmlRoot("Root1")]
public class Root1
{
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlElement("company")]
public string Company { get; set; }
[XmlElement("url")]
public string Url { get; set; }
[XmlElement("element")]
public List<Element> ElementList { get; set; }
}
[XmlInclude(typeof(Element1))]
[XmlInclude(typeof(Element2))]
[XmlRoot("element")]
public class Element
{
[XmlElement("url")]
public string Url { get; set; }
[XmlElement("price")]
public string Price { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot("element1")]
public class Element1 : Element
{
[XmlElement("manufacturer_warranty")]
public string mw { get; set; }
[XmlElement("country_of_origin")]
public string co { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot("element2")]
public class Element2 : Element
{
[XmlElement("language")]
public string lg { get; set; }
[XmlElement("binding")]
public string bind { get; set; }
}
}

Code below matches better with your posted XML. You need to compare the generated xml with your xml.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System.IO;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string FILENAME = #"c:\temp\test.xml";
Root1 root1 = new Root1()
{
Name = "Name1",
Company = "Comp1",
Url = "site.com",
cElement = new Elements() {
ElementList = new List<Element>() {
new Element1() {
Url = "site1.com",
Price = "15000",
mw = "true",
co = "Япония"
},
new Element2() {
Url = "site2.com",
Price = "100",
lg = "lg",
bind = "123"
}
}
}
};
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Root1));
StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(FILENAME);
XmlSerializerNamespaces _ns = new XmlSerializerNamespaces();
_ns.Add("", "");
serializer.Serialize(writer, root1, _ns);
writer.Flush();
writer.Close();
writer.Dispose();
XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Root1));
XmlTextReader reader = new XmlTextReader(FILENAME);
Root1 newRoot1 = (Root1)xs.Deserialize(reader);
}
}
[XmlRoot("Root1")]
public class Root1
{
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlElement("company")]
public string Company { get; set; }
[XmlElement("url")]
public string Url { get; set; }
[XmlElement("elements")]
public Elements cElement { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot("elements")]
public class Elements
{
[XmlElement("element")]
public List<Element> ElementList { get; set; }
}
[XmlInclude(typeof(Element1))]
[XmlInclude(typeof(Element2))]
[XmlRoot("element", Namespace = "")]
public class Element
{
[XmlElement("url")]
public string Url { get; set; }
[XmlElement("price")]
public string Price { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot("element1", Namespace = "")]
public class Element1 : Element
{
[XmlElement("manufacturer_warranty")]
public string mw { get; set; }
[XmlElement("country_of_origin")]
public string co { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot("element2", Namespace = "")]
public class Element2 : Element
{
[XmlElement("language")]
public string lg { get; set; }
[XmlElement("binding")]
public string bind { get; set; }
}
}​

XmlSerializer Deserialize list only getting the first item

This is my XML i get from an API:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<datetime>2015-05-18 11:37:32</datetime>
<count>2</count>
<smsleft>40920</smsleft>
<sms><smsid>535041581</smsid><smsid>535041583</smsid></sms>
</response>
This is my class i try to parse it to:
[XmlRoot("response")]
public class SMSResponse
{
[XmlElement("sms")]
public List<smsid> Sms { get; set; }
}
public class smsid
{
[XmlElement("smsid")]
public string SmsID { get; set; }
}
Using this code:
XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(SMSResponse));
using (TextReader reader = new StringReader(response))
{
SMSResponse result = (SMSResponse)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
However i only get the first SmsID in the list in my result, not 2 as in the reponse.
What am i doing wrong?

You've declared SmsID as a string, so only a single one can be deserialized. You've declared Sms as a list, but only one exists in your input file.
Try:
[XmlRoot("response")]
public class SMSResponse
{
[XmlArray("sms")]
[XmlArrayItem("smsid")]
public List<string> SmsID { get; set; }
}

Change your code to this
[XmlRoot("response")]
public class SMSResponse
{
[XmlElement("sms")]
public SMS Sms { get; set; }
}
public class SMS
{
[XmlElement("smsid")]
public List<string> SmsID { get; set; }
}

[XmlRoot("response")]
public class SMSResponse
{
[XmlArray(ElementName = "sms")]
[XmlArrayItem(ElementName = "smsid", Type = typeof(smsid))]
public List<smsid> Sms { get; set; }
}
public class smsid
{
[XmlText]
public string SmsID { get; set; }
}

Problem creating XML using c#

I am searching a batter solution for creating xml through xml serialization. What i need, i have a given format like this
<product Id="1">
<name>2 1/2 X 6 PVC NIPPLE TOE SCH 80</name>
<notes>
<note>!--note 1---</note>
<note>!--note 2--</note>
......
</notes>
</product>
what i am doing here, i created a 2 classes like this
public class product
{
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlArray("notes")]
public List<notes> ListNotes { get; set; }
}
public class notes
{
[XmlIgnore]
public string Note { get; set; }
}
when i am serializing this then i am getting xml in this formate
<product Id="1">
<name>2 1/2 X 6 PVC NIPPLE TOE SCH 80</name>
<notes>
<notes>
<note>!--note 1---</note>
<note>!--note 2--</note>
</notes>
</notes>
</product>
i don't want extra <notes>. Any batter solution to solve this problem?
Thanks
Solution
public class product
{
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlArray("notes")]
public List<notes> ListNotes { get; set; }
}
public class notes
{
[XmlText]
public string Note { get; set; }
}
product ObjProduct = new product
{
Name ="Pankaj",
notes=new List<note>()
}
foreach (var note in item.ListNote)
{
ObjProduct.notes.Add(new Highmark.BLL.Common.note { Note = EncodeTo64(note.Note) });
}
Now use this ObjProduct for serialization.

Try like this:
[XmlRoot("product")]
public class Product
{
[XmlAttribute]
public int Id { get; set; }
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlElement("note")]
public List<Note> ListNotes { get; set; }
}
public class Note
{
[XmlText]
public string Text { get; set; }
}
class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
var p = new Product
{
Id = 1,
Name = "2 1/2 X 6 PVC NIPPLE TOE SCH 80",
ListNotes = new List<Note>
{
new Note { Text = "!--note 1---" },
new Note { Text = "!--note 2---" },
}
};
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(p.GetType());
serializer.Serialize(Console.Out, p);
}
}
And if you want to remove the namespace from the root node:
var ns = new XmlSerializerNamespaces();
ns.Add("", "");
serializer.Serialize(Console.Out, p, ns);

Try like this:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var product = new Product() { Name = "PVC SCHOOL" };
product.Notes = new List<note>();
product.Notes.Add(new note() { Note = "A" });
product.Notes.Add(new note() { Note = "B" });
var serialer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Product));
using (var stream = new StreamWriter("test.txt"))
{
serialer.Serialize(stream, product);
}
}
}
public class Product
{
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[XmlArray("notes")]
public List<note> Notes { get; set; }
}
public class note
{
[XmlIgnore]
public string Note { get; set; }
}

This doesn't directly answer your question, but if you can't figure out this problem, you can create a Schema.xsd file, and use .NET's XSD tool to generate the proper serialization classes for you.
I've had pretty good success with that.
The obvious benefit of using a schema is the validation on XML, prior to serialization.