How to make a value type nullable with .NET XmlSerializer?

Question

Let\'s suppose I have this object:

[Serializable]
public class MyClass
{
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public int MyClassB { get; set; }
}
[Serializab         


        

Answer 1

I just discovered this. XmlSerialier looks for a XXXSpecified boolean property to determine if it should be included. This should solve the problem nicely.

[Serializable]
public class MyClass
{
  public int Age { get; set; }
  [XmlIgnore]
  public bool AgeSpecified { get { return Age >= 0; } }
  public int MyClassB { get; set; }
}

[Serializable]
public class MyClassB
{
  public int RandomNumber { get; set; }
}

Proof:

static string Serialize(T obj)
{
  var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
  var builder = new StringBuilder();
  using (var writer = new StringWriter(builder))
  {
    serializer.Serialize(writer, obj);
    return builder.ToString();
  }
}

static void Main(string[] args)
{
  var withoutAge = new MyClass() { Age = -1 };
  var withAge = new MyClass() { Age = 20 };

  Serialize(withoutAge); // = 0
  Serialize(withAge); // = 200
}

---

Edit: Yes, it is a documented feature. See the MSDN entry for XmlSerializer

Another option is to use a special pattern to create a Boolean field recognized by the XmlSerializer, and to apply the XmlIgnoreAttribute to the field. The pattern is created in the form of propertyNameSpecified. For example, if there is a field named "MyFirstName" you would also create a field named "MyFirstNameSpecified" that instructs the XmlSerializer whether to generate the XML element named "MyFirstName".