XML Serialization in the .NET Framework

The original file are located here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms950721.aspx

 

Summary: Dare Obasanjo discusses how XML serialization lets you process strongly typed XML within the .NET Framework while supporting W3C standards and improving interoperability. A FAQ is also included in this article. (11 printed pages)

 

Download the xml01202003_sample.exe.

The Story So Far

In my previous columns, Things to Know and Avoid When Querying XML Documents with XPath and Working with Namespaces in XML Schema, I mentioned creating an XML format for tracking the books in my personal library. While working with this format, I have explored various aspects of W3C recommendations, such as XPath and XML Schema. In this month's article, I'll explore using the XML serialization technology in the .NET Framework with my XML format, and answer some of the commonly asked questions about .NET Framework-based XML serialization. Come along, it should be an interesting ride.

Overview of XML Serialization in the .NET Framework

The primary purpose of XML serialization in the .NET Framework is to enable the conversion of XML documents and streams to common language runtime objects and vice versa. Serialization of XML to common language runtime objects enables one to convert XML documents into a form where they are easier to process using conventional programming languages. On the other hand, serialization of objects to XML facilitates persisting or transporting the state of such objects in an open, standards compliant and platform agnostic manner.

XML serialization in the .NET Framework supports serializing objects as either XML that conforms to a specified W3C XML Schema Definition (XSD) schema or that is conformant to the serialization format defined in section five of the SOAP specification. During XML serialization, only the public properties and fields of an object are serialized. Also, type fidelity is not always preserved during XML serialization. This means that if, for instance, you have a Book object that exists in the Library namespace, there is no guarantee that it will be deserialized into an object of the same type. However, this means that objects serialized using the XML serialization in the .NET Framework can be shipped from one machine to the other without requiring that the original type be present on the target machine or that the XML is even processed using the .NET Framework. XML serialization of objects is a useful mechanism for those who want to provide or consume data using platform agnostic technologies such as XML and SOAP.

XML documents converted to objects by the XML serialization process are strongly typed. Data type information is associated with the elements and attributes in an XML document through a schema written in the W3C XML Schema Definition (XSD) Language. The data type information in the schema allows the XmlSerializer to convert XML documents to strongly typed classes.

For more information about XML serialization in the .NET Framework, read the SDK documentation topic entitled XML and SOAP Serialization.

The Book Inventory Application

In my previous articles, I created an XML document that listed all my books and described their availability in my personal library. Upon reflection, I decided that I'd prefer a GUI interface for viewing and manipulating the document instead of editing the raw XML file in a text editor. The first step I took in creating this application was to look at the classes in the System.Windows.Forms namespace to see if any could satisfy my needs out of the box. The DataGrid class looked promising.

The description of potential data sources for the DataGrid class included single dimensional arrays, which struck a chord because I imagined that a sequential listing of books is something that could be mapped to an array by XML serialization. I decided to give this a try by converting the schema shown below to a C# class.

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