Serializing a list of objects to XDocument

Question

I'm trying to use the following code to serialize a list of objects into XDocument, but I'm getting an error stating that "Non white space characters cannot be added to content "

    public XDocument GetEngagement(MyApplication application)
    {
        ProxyClient client = new ProxyClient();
        List<Engagement> engs;
        List<Engagement> allEngs = new List<Engagement>();
        foreach (Applicant app in application.Applicants)
        {
            engs = new List<Engagement>();
            engs = client.GetEngagements("myConnString", app.SSN.ToString());
            allEngs.AddRange(engs);
        }

        DataContractSerializer ser = new DataContractSerializer(allEngs.GetType());

        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        System.Xml.XmlWriterSettings xws = new System.Xml.XmlWriterSettings();
        xws.OmitXmlDeclaration = true;
        xws.Indent = true;

        using (System.Xml.XmlWriter xw = System.Xml.XmlWriter.Create(sb, xws))
        {
            ser.WriteObject(xw, allEngs);
        }

        return new XDocument(sb.ToString());
    }

What am I doing wrong? Is it the XDocument constructor that doesn't take a list of objects? how do solve this?

Henk Holterman · Accepted Answer · 2015-04-26 18:46:14Z

2

I would think that last line should be

 return XDocument.Parse(sb.ToString());

And it might be an idea to cut out the serializer altogether, it should be easy to directly create an XDoc from the List<> . That gives you full control over the outcome.

Roughly:

var xDoc = new XDocument( new XElement("Engagements", 
         from eng in allEngs
         select new XElement ("Engagement", 
           new XAttribute("Name", eng.Name), 
           new XElement("When", eng.When) )
    ));

edited Apr 26, 2015 at 18:46

answered May 25, 2011 at 7:49

Henk Holterman

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4 Comments

NewB Over a year ago

Thanks for your help, I'll try that and get back to you in a couple of minutes

Henk Holterman Over a year ago

OK, see my Edit about XElement inst of XDocument.

Achim Over a year ago

Serializing objects "by hand" is in my opinion a bad idea. Whenever something changes, you have to maintain the serialization code. I would go for XmlSerializier whenever possible. It makes most of the boilder plate code for you, but it's easy to tweak if you need custom features.

Henk Holterman Over a year ago

@Achim: you're right but I took this to be at the border of serialization and "storing as XML".

Achim · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-25 07:46:42Z

1

The ctor of XDocument expects other objects like XElement and XAttribute. Have a look at the documentation. What you are looking for is XDocument.Parse(...).

The following should work too (not tested):

XDocument doc = new XDocument();
XmlWriter writer = doc.CreateNavigator().AppendChild();

Now you can write directly into the document without using a StringBuilder. Should be much faster.

answered May 25, 2011 at 7:46

Achim

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2 Comments

NewB Over a year ago

Thank you, I'll try that and get back to you in a couple of minutes

Achim Over a year ago

See msdn.microsoft.com/de-de/library/bb299124%28v=vs.90%29.aspx It's an extension method, so you have to add "using System.Xml.XPath" to your code.

Dona bhatt · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-04 18:37:50Z

0

I have done the job this way.

private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    List<BrokerInfo> listOfBroker = new List<BrokerInfo>()
    {
    new BrokerInfo { Section = "TestSec1", Lineitem ="TestLi1" },
    new BrokerInfo { Section = "TestSec2", Lineitem = "TestLi2" },
    new BrokerInfo { Section = "TestSec3", Lineitem ="TestLi3" }
    };

    var xDoc = new XDocument(new XElement("Engagements",
        new XElement("BrokerData",
     from broker in listOfBroker

     select new XElement("BrokerInfo",
       new XElement("Section", broker.Section),
       new XElement("When", broker.Lineitem))
    )));

    xDoc.Save("D:\\BrokerInfo.xml");
}

public class BrokerInfo
{
    public string Section { get; set; }
    public string Lineitem { get; set; }
}

answered Jan 4, 2020 at 18:37

Dona bhatt

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1 Comment

Tiago Peres Over a year ago

Hi Dona bhatt, welcome. Please consider adding more information.

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