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System.Xml.Serialization Namespace

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The System.Xml.Serialization namespace contains classes that are used to serialize objects into XML-format documents or streams.

The central class in the namespace is the XmlSerializer class. To use this class, use the XmlSerializer constructor to create an instance of the class using the type of the object to serialize. After an XmlSerializer is created, create an instance of the object to serialize. You must also create an object to write the file to a document or stream, such as a Stream, TextWriter, or XmlWriter. You can then call the Serialize() method to convert the object into an XML document.

To deserialize an object from an XML document, create a suitable object to read the document or stream (again, a Stream, TextWriter, or XmlWriter). Invoke the Deserialize() method while casting the resulting object to the type of the original object (that was serialized).

To further control the serialization, the System.Xml.Serialization namespace contains several Attribute classes that can be applied to members of a class. For example, if a class contains a member that will be serialized as an XML element, you can apply the XmlElementAttribute attribute to the member. When applying the attribute, you can specify details such as the actual XML element name using the ElementName property. For a complete list of all the attributes, see the XmlSerializer class overview.

Classes

Class	Description
Public class	XmlAnyElementAttribute	Specifies that the member (a field that returns an array of XElement or XNode objects) contains objects that represent an XML element that has no corresponding member in the object being serialized or deserialized.
Public class	XmlAnyElementAttributes	Represents a collection of XmlAnyElementAttribute objects.
Public class	XmlArrayAttribute	Specifies that the XmlSerializer must serialize a particular class member as an array of XML elements.
Public class	XmlArrayItemAttribute	Specifies the derived types that the XmlSerializer can place in a serialized array.
Public class	XmlArrayItemAttributes	Represents a collection of XmlArrayItemAttribute objects.
Public class	XmlAttributeAttribute	Specifies that the XmlSerializer must serialize the class member as an XML attribute.
Public class	XmlAttributeOverrides	Allows you to override property, field, and class attributes when you use the XmlSerializer to serialize or deserialize an object.
Public class	XmlAttributes	Represents a collection of attribute objects that control how the XmlSerializer serializes and deserializes an object.
Public class	XmlChoiceIdentifierAttribute	Specifies that the member can be further detected by using an enumeration.
Public class	XmlElementAttribute	Indicates that a public field or property represents an XML element when the XmlSerializer serializes or deserializes the object that contains it.
Public class	XmlElementAttributes	Represents a collection of XmlElementAttribute objects used by the XmlSerializer to override the default way it serializes a class.
Public class	XmlEnumAttribute	Controls how the XmlSerializer serializes an enumeration member.
Public class	XmlIgnoreAttribute	Instructs the Serialize method of the XmlSerializer class not to serialize the public field or public read/write property value.
Public class	XmlIncludeAttribute	Allows the XmlSerializer to recognize a type when it serializes or deserializes an object.
Public class	XmlMapping	Infrastructure. Supports mappings between .NET Framework types and XML Schema data types.
Public class	XmlMemberMapping	Infrastructure. Maps a code entity in a .NET Framework Web service method to an element in a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) message.
Public class	XmlMembersMapping	Infrastructure. Provides mappings between .NET Framework Web service methods and Web Services Description Language (WSDL) messages that are defined for SOAP Web services.
Public class	XmlNamespaceDeclarationsAttribute	Specifies that the target property, parameter, return value, or class member contains prefixes associated with namespaces that are used within an XML document.
Public class	XmlReflectionImporter	Infrastructure. Generates mappings to XML schema element declarations, including literal XML Schema Definition (XSD) message parts in a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) document for .NET Framework types or Web service method information.
Public class	XmlReflectionMember	Infrastructure. Provides mappings between code entities in .NET Framework Web service methods and the content of Web Services Description Language (WSDL) messages that are defined for SOAP Web services.
Public class	XmlRootAttribute	Controls XML serialization of the attribute target as an XML root element.
Public class	XmlSchemaProviderAttribute	When applied to a type that implements the IXmlSerializable interface, stores the name of a static method of the type that returns an XML schema and a XmlQualifiedName (or XmlSchemaType for anonymous types) that controls the serialization of the type.
Public class	XmlSerializationGeneratedCode	Infrastructure. An abstract class that is the base class for XmlSerializationReader and XmlSerializationWriter and that contains methods common to both of these types.
Public class	XmlSerializationReader	Infrastructure. Controls deserialization by the XmlSerializer class.
Public class	XmlSerializationWriter	Infrastructure. Abstract class used for controlling serialization by the XmlSerializer class.
Public class	XmlSerializer	Serializes and deserializes objects into and from XML documents. The XmlSerializer enables you to control how objects are encoded into XML.
Public class	XmlSerializerImplementation	Infrastructure. Defines the reader, writer, and methods for pre-generated, typed serializers.
Public class	XmlSerializerNamespaces	Contains the XML namespaces and prefixes that the XmlSerializer uses to generate qualified names in an XML-document instance.
Public class	XmlTextAttribute	Indicates to the XmlSerializer that the member must be treated as XML text when the class that contains it is serialized or deserialized.
Public class	XmlTypeAttribute	Controls the XML schema that is generated when the attribute target is serialized by the XmlSerializer.
Public class	XmlTypeMapping	Contains a mapping of one type to another.

Interfaces

Interface	Description
Public interface	IXmlSerializable	Provides custom formatting for XML serialization and deserialization to control how your object is serialized or deserialized by the XmlSerializer.

Delegates

Delegate	Description
Public delegate	XmlSerializationWriteCallback	Delegate supporting the .NET Framework infrastructure that is used by the XmlSerializer class for serialization of types from SOAP-encoded, non-root XML data.

Enumerations

Enumeration	Description
Public enumeration	XmlMappingAccess	Infrastructure. Specifies whether a mapping is read, write, or both.