Lost in the XML jungle

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ole
  • Start date Start date
O

Ole

Hi there,

I think I'm lost in the XML attribute jungle in my attempt to
serialize/deserializing data that must be persistant, and any help is highly
appriciated.

I need to save this class in an XML file and it must be unicode formatted:

class classToSave

{

public string _dataString1 = ""; //must be saved

public Arrayelement[] _array = new arrayElement[0]; // must be saved

private string _fileName; // name of the XML file

public classToSave(string fileName)

{

_fileName = fileName;

/*** loadXML here ***/

}

public string dataString1

{

get

{

return _dataString1;

}

set

{

_dataString1= value;

/*** SaveXML here ***/

}

}

public arrayelement[] array

{

get

{

return _array;

}

set

{

_array = value;

/*** SaveXML here ***/

}

}


And the arrayelement looks like this:
public struct arrayElement

{

public int element1;

public double element2;

}

Thanks

Ole
 
Ole said:
I need to save this class in an XML file and it must be unicode formatted:
Click to expand...

Here is one way to do it, but you might have to tweak it a little to
get exactly what you want, but perhaps it is a start:

First, add the Serializable attribute to the class:

using System.Xml.Serialization;

[Serializable]
class classToSave

{

public string _dataString1 = ""; //must be saved

public Arrayelement[] _array = new arrayElement[0]; // must be saved

private string _fileName; // name of the XML file

public classToSave(string fileName)

{

_fileName = fileName;

/*** loadXML here ***/

}
Click to expand...

If you want your properties to be saved as attributes rather than
elements, use the XmlAttribute attribute:

[XmlAttribute("DataString")]
public string dataString1

{
get
{
return _dataString1;
}

set
{
_dataString1= value;
}
}
Click to expand...

The code to save it is like this:

Using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter("filename.xml"))
{
XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(classToSave));
xs.Serialize(sw, instancevar);
}

The code to deserialize is very similar:

Using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader("filename.xml"))
{
XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(classToSave));
classToSave var = (classToSave) xs.Deserialize(sr);
}


Look at the other classes in the Xml.Serialization namespace. They can
help you to further tweak the output of the serializer.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks Chris!

Will the array be saved the same way with the statement:
[XmlAttribute("Array")]? What is the difference between a XmlAttribute
attribute and an element?

Thanks
Ole


Chris Dunaway said:
Ole said:
I need to save this class in an XML file and it must be unicode
formatted:
Click to expand...

Here is one way to do it, but you might have to tweak it a little to
get exactly what you want, but perhaps it is a start:

First, add the Serializable attribute to the class:

using System.Xml.Serialization;

[Serializable]
class classToSave

{

public string _dataString1 = ""; //must be saved

public Arrayelement[] _array = new arrayElement[0]; // must be saved

private string _fileName; // name of the XML file

public classToSave(string fileName)

{

_fileName = fileName;

/*** loadXML here ***/

}
Click to expand...

If you want your properties to be saved as attributes rather than
elements, use the XmlAttribute attribute:

[XmlAttribute("DataString")]
public string dataString1

{
get
{
return _dataString1;
}

set
{
_dataString1= value;
}
}
Click to expand...

The code to save it is like this:

Using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter("filename.xml"))
{
XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(classToSave));
xs.Serialize(sw, instancevar);
}

The code to deserialize is very similar:

Using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader("filename.xml"))
{
XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(classToSave));
classToSave var = (classToSave) xs.Deserialize(sr);
}


Look at the other classes in the Xml.Serialization namespace. They can
help you to further tweak the output of the serializer.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
 
Ole said:
Will the array be saved the same way with the statement:
[XmlAttribute("Array")]?
Click to expand...

You can't really have an array be an *attribute* it needs to be an
element (See below).

Off the top of my head, I'm not 100% sure how an array will be
serialized. I suggest running the save code and examining the file it
produces.
What is the difference between a XmlAttribute attribute and an element?
Click to expand...

When I wrote element I intended a node:

<RootElement>
<Element1 Attribute1="Value" Attribute2="value">
InnerText
</Element>
</RootElement>

Here is a useful link that has a large xml section:

http://www.w3schools.com/
 
Thanks Chris,

Your help and the link was very helpfull - I'll have to read a bit more
about the topic I think :-)

Ole


Chris Dunaway said:
Ole said:
Will the array be saved the same way with the statement:
[XmlAttribute("Array")]?
Click to expand...

You can't really have an array be an *attribute* it needs to be an
element (See below).

Off the top of my head, I'm not 100% sure how an array will be
serialized. I suggest running the save code and examining the file it
produces.
What is the difference between a XmlAttribute attribute and an element?
Click to expand...

When I wrote element I intended a node:

<RootElement>
<Element1 Attribute1="Value" Attribute2="value">
InnerText
</Element>
</RootElement>

Here is a useful link that has a large xml section:

http://www.w3schools.com/
Click to expand...
 
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