Deserializing xml to class, trouble with list<>

Question

I have the following XML

<map version="1.0">
    <properties>
        <property name="color" value="blue" />
        <property name="size" value="huge" />
        <property name="texture" value="rugged" />
    </properties>
</map>

I am trying to write classes that I can deserialize this into, this is what I have:

[XmlRoot("map")]
public class MyMap
{
    [XmlAttribute("version")]
    public decimal Version { get; set; }
    [XmlElement("properties")]
    public List<MyProperty> Properties { get; set; }
}

public class MyProperty
{
    [XmlAttribute("name")]
    public string Name { get; set; }
    [XmlAttribute("value")]
    public string Value { get; set; }
}

The problem is that I cant seem to read the property list, I just get one entry and it has null in both Name and Value.

Are there some magic attributes I need to set to get this to work?

If the above is all the XML you have, then it is invalid, and I'm surprised it is deserializing at all. — Tejs, Apr 24 '12 at 18:46

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 24 '12 at 18:48

14

You should change MyMap as below. XmlArray and XmlArrayItem are the magic attributes

[XmlRoot("map")]
public class MyMap
{
    [XmlAttribute("version")]
    public decimal Version { get; set; }
    [XmlArray("properties")]
    [XmlArrayItem("property")]
    public List<MyProperty> Properties { get; set; }
}

answered Apr 24 '12 at 18:48

L.B

114,136
19
178
224

Brilliant, that worked perfectly. If someone knows of a good tutorial on these attributes and how they work I would appreciate it. All i find are copy/pastes of very simple ones. – Toodleey Apr 24 '12 at 19:40
Still very relevant. Caught me for about 2 hours today. Couldn't figure it out. Thanks very much – Seamus Barrett Jan 23 '18 at 17:02

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 24 '12 at 18:47

2

Instead of XmlElement, try:

[XmlArray("Properties")]

...on the List<> property.

answered Apr 24 '12 at 18:47

Amadeus Hein

706
1
4
12

XML is case sensitive, Properties != properties – bjoern Apr 05 '13 at 21:14

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 24 '12 at 18:47

1

One way to find a solution would be to populate the object in code and then serialize it to xml, and see what the schema looks like. Also you could use xsd.exe to autogenerate your classes.

answered Apr 24 '12 at 18:47

therealmitchconnors

2,732
1
18
36

Deserializing xml to class, trouble with list<>

3 Answers3

Linked