XML Serialization - Disable rendering root element of array

Question

Can I somehow disable rendering of root element of collection?

This class with serialization attributes:

[XmlRoot(ElementName="SHOPITEM", Namespace="")]
public class ShopItem
{
    [XmlElement("PRODUCTNAME")]
    public string ProductName { get; set; }       
    
    [XmlArrayItem("VARIANT")]
    public List<ShopItem> Variants { get; set; }
}

generates this XML:

<SHOPITEM xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
      <PRODUCTNAME>test</PRODUCTNAME>
      <Variants>
          <VARIANT>
              <PRODUCTNAME>hi 1</PRODUCTNAME>
          </VARIANT>
          <VARIANT>
              <PRODUCTNAME>hi 2</PRODUCTNAME>
          </VARIANT>           
      </Variants>        
</SHOPITEM>

I don't want <Variants> element here. What must I do?

Also I don't need xsi and xsd namespaces in root element...

learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/serialization/…

Iman
– Iman

2018-06-13 06:44:46 +00:00
Commented Jun 13, 2018 at 6:44 — Iman
– Iman, Commented Jun 13, 2018 at 6:44

Rubens Farias · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-06 10:45:54Z

221

To disable rendering of root element of collection, you must replace the attribute [XmlArrayItem] with [XmlElement] in your code.

For removing the xsi and xsd namespaces, create an XmlSerializerNamespaces instance with an empty namespace and pass it when you need to serialize your object.

Take a look on this example:

[XmlRoot("SHOPITEM")]
public class ShopItem
{
    [XmlElement("PRODUCTNAME")]
    public string ProductName { get; set; }

    [XmlElement("VARIANT")] // was [XmlArrayItem]
    public List<ShopItem> Variants { get; set; }
}

// ...

ShopItem item = new ShopItem()
{
    ProductName = "test",
    Variants    = new List<ShopItem>()
    {
        new ShopItem{ ProductName = "hi 1" },
        new ShopItem{ ProductName = "hi 2" }
    }
};

// This will remove the xsi/xsd namespaces from serialization
XmlSerializerNamespaces ns = new XmlSerializerNamespaces();
ns.Add("", "");

XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(ShopItem));
ser.Serialize(Console.Out, item, ns);  // Inform the XmlSerializerNamespaces here

I got this output:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ibm850"?>
<SHOPITEM>
  <PRODUCTNAME>test</PRODUCTNAME>
  <VARIANT>
    <PRODUCTNAME>hi 1</PRODUCTNAME>
  </VARIANT>
  <VARIANT>
    <PRODUCTNAME>hi 2</PRODUCTNAME>
  </VARIANT>
</SHOPITEM>

edited Jul 6, 2016 at 10:45

answered Jan 5, 2010 at 14:27

Rubens Farias

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1 Comment

dbc Over a year ago

Note you must also replace [XmlArray] if present.

Pent Ploompuu · Accepted Answer · 2010-01-05 14:27:30Z

37

Replace [XmlArrayItem("VARIANT")] with [XmlElement("VARIANT")].

answered Jan 5, 2010 at 14:27

Pent Ploompuu

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Comments

Rob Levine · Accepted Answer · 2010-01-05 14:35:00Z

0

I don't believe it is possible to remove this element using the default xml serialization (with attributes). If you could do this, then serializing your ShopItem class would result in badly formed xml (no root element) for the object, which is not allowed.

What you can do however, is manually implement IXmlSerializable. This will give you the sort of fine-grained control you a re after.

[Edit] - sorry - misread that you were trying to remove Variants, not SHOPITEM. To remove the List "outer" element, just mark it up with an [XmlElement] attribute rather than an [XmlArrayItem] attribute. This will cause the list entries to just use the specified element name, without wrapping the list in an outer element.

For removing the namespaces, this is controlled by the seriliazer itself, not the markup on the class. I've just noticed that while I've updated this answer, Rubens Farias has provided an reply that shows you how to eliminate the namespace.

edited Jan 5, 2010 at 14:35

answered Jan 5, 2010 at 14:22

Rob Levine

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1 Comment

Rob Levine Over a year ago

oops - misread your post - thought you were trying to remove SHOPITEM - just editing answer!

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