XML Serialization different elementName for same object

Question

I have the following Model in ASP.Net Core

[Serializable]
    [XmlRoot(ElementName = "CREDIT")]
    public class Credit
    {
  [XmlElement(ElementName = "D_numbern")]
        public string Number get; set; }
}

I did the serialization with StringWriter, the problem I should get XML like that

<CREDITS>
    <CREDIT ID="1">
     <D_number1>06</D_number1>
      </CREDIT>

      <CREDIT ID="2">
     <D_number2>06</D_number2>
      </CREDIT>
</CREDITS>

I didn't find a solution how to make n dynamic for each credit . thanks in advance for any assistance.

XML cannot have an array at the root level unless it is "Not Well Formed". Serialization requires a "Well Formed XML" so an array cannot be at the root. So you need another class calling credit if you want credit to be an array. The in the new class have public Credit[] credit { get;set;} — jdweng
– jdweng, Commented Feb 27, 2020 at 10:37
@jdweng I'm hoping (perhaps beyond hope) that those are simply two different unrelated examples, to illustrate what changes between scenarios — Marc Gravell
– Marc Gravell, Commented Feb 27, 2020 at 10:41

Marc Gravell · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-27 15:40:16Z

3

What you're after isn't something that XmlSerializer supports, and frankly it is a bad design for xml generally; not only is it redundant (xml is ordered: there's no need to tell it that you're item 1/2/3), but it is actively hostile to most xml tooling, including serializers, schema validators, etc.

My strong suggestion is to rethink the xml you want, or challenge the requirements if it isn't your idea. If the D_number42 will always match the ID="42" that is the parent, frankly the suffix serves absolutely no purpose. If it is a different number that only looks the same in these examples by coincidence, then: <D_number someattribute="42">06</D_number>

But if you must do this, you'll have to do it manually, via XDocument, XmlDocument, or XmlWriter.

as an example using XmlWriter:

    static void WriteCredit(XmlWriter xml, string id, string number)
    {
        xml.WriteStartElement("CREDITS");
        xml.WriteStartElement("CREDIT");
        xml.WriteAttributeString("ID", id);
        xml.WriteElementString("D_number" + id, number);
        xml.WriteEndElement();
        xml.WriteEndElement();
    }

usage that writes to the console:

    using (var xml = XmlWriter.Create(Console.Out))
    {
        WriteCredit(xml, "1", "06");
    }

edited Feb 27, 2020 at 15:40

answered Feb 27, 2020 at 10:38

Marc Gravell

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1 Comment

wiem Over a year ago

thank you for the response , I consume an external API that requires XML like that, I really can't understand why too. can you please show me an example of how I can do that with XmlWriter :)

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