Is svcutil.exe a replacement for xsd.exe?

Question

I am using xsd.exe to generate some c# classes from a .xsd file. I ran into the same issue that is covered here and on other sites where xsd.exe generates Type[] arrays instead of generic List collections for types in the .xsd file. Some people have suggested that svcutil.exe can be used as a replacement for xsd.exe if you pass the /dataContractOnly parameter to svcutil.exe. However, it seems like those people are mistaken because svcutil.exe actually generates System.Xml.XmlNode[] array properties instead of creating types based on the schema in the .xsd file.

For example, given this simple .xsd schema:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace="http://tempuri.org/XMLSchema.xsd"
elementFormDefault="qualified"
xmlns="http://tempuri.org/XMLSchema.xsd"
xmlns:mstns="http://tempuri.org/XMLSchema.xsd"
xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
>
    <xs:complexType name="Employee">
        <xs:all>
            <xs:element name="FirstName" type="xs:string"></xs:element>
            <xs:element name="LastName" type="xs:string"></xs:element>
        </xs:all>
    </xs:complexType>

    <xs:element name="Employees">
        <xs:complexType>
            <xs:sequence maxOccurs="unbounded">
                <xs:element name="Employee" type="Employee"></xs:element>
            </xs:sequence>
        </xs:complexType>
    </xs:element>
</xs:schema>

'xsd.exe /classes Example.xsd' generates:

public partial class Employees {

    private Employee[] employeeField;

    public Employee[] Employee {
        get { return this.employeeField; }
        set { this.employeeField = value; }
    }
}

public partial class Employee {

    private string firstNameField;

    private string lastNameField;

    public string FirstName {
        get { return this.firstNameField; }
        set { this.firstNameField = value; }
    }

    public string LastName {
        get { return this.lastNameField; }
        set { this.lastNameField = value; }
    }
}

'svcutil.exe /target:code /dataContractOnly /serializer:XmlSerializer /importXmlTypes /collectionType:System.Collections.Generic.List`1 Example.xsd' generates:

public partial class Employee : object, System.Runtime.Serialization.IExtensibleDataObject{

    private System.Runtime.Serialization.ExtensionDataObject extensionDataField;

    private string FirstNameField;

    private string LastNameField;

    public System.Runtime.Serialization.ExtensionDataObject ExtensionData{
        get{ return this.extensionDataField; }
        set{ this.extensionDataField = value; }
    }

    public string FirstName{
        get{ return this.FirstNameField; }
        set{ this.FirstNameField = value; }
    }

    public string LastName{
        get{ return this.LastNameField; }
        set{ this.LastNameField = value; }
    }
}

public partial class Employees : object, System.Xml.Serialization.IXmlSerializable{

    private System.Xml.XmlNode[] nodesField;

    private static System.Xml.XmlQualifiedName typeName = new System.Xml.XmlQualifiedName("Employees", "http://tempuri.org/XMLSchema.xsd");

    public System.Xml.XmlNode[] Nodes{
        get{ return this.nodesField; }
        set{ this.nodesField = value; }
    }

    public void ReadXml(System.Xml.XmlReader reader){
        this.nodesField = System.Runtime.Serialization.XmlSerializableServices.ReadNodes(reader);
    }

    public void WriteXml(System.Xml.XmlWriter writer){
        System.Runtime.Serialization.XmlSerializableServices.WriteNodes(writer, this.Nodes);
    }

    public System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema GetSchema(){
        return null;
    }

    public static System.Xml.XmlQualifiedName ExportSchema(System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaSet schemas){
        System.Runtime.Serialization.XmlSerializableServices.AddDefaultSchema(schemas, typeName);
        return typeName;
    }
}

1. Is svcutil.exe really supposed to be a replacement for xsd.exe? The output generated seems to be quite different.

2. At this point, it looks like I will have to use xsd.exe to create classes from my .xsd file and then manually tweak the the code to get it in the form I want. I realize that using purely generated code would be ideal, but I was wondering if other people are using xsd.exe as a starting point and then working from there or if I need to consider another approach altogether?

3. Are there any updates to xsd.exe in Visual Studio 2010?

Answer 1

Yes, svcutil.exe can be used as a replacement for xsd.exe but it sounds like you are having trouble getting generic collections to be generated. svcutil.exe has a collectionType switch that allows you to specify the type to be used for a collection:

svcutil /o:Svc.cs /ct:System.Collections.Generic.List`1 http://example.com

Answer 2

Clarification

Andrew Hare's answer above will work, but the example command that jameswelle pasted just above his last section of code:

svcutil.exe /target:code /dataContractOnly /serializer:XmlSerializer /importXmlTypes /collectionType:System.Collections.Generic.List`1 Example.xsd

does not work because, as stated on MSDN, '. . .the /r and /ct switches for referencing types are for generating data contracts. These switches do not work when using XmlSerializer.'

HTH.

Answer 3

I would just create your own xsd.exe. Sorry having trouble pasting but if you copy this code into your main:

        XmlSchemas xsds = new XmlSchemas();
        xsds.Add(xsd);
        xsds.Compile(null, true);
        XmlSchemaImporter schemaImporter = new XmlSchemaImporter(xsds);

        // create the codedom
        CodeNamespace codeNamespace = new CodeNamespace(strNamespace);
        XmlCodeExporter codeExporter = new XmlCodeExporter(codeNamespace);

        List<XmlTypeMapping> maps = new List<XmlTypeMapping>();
        foreach (XmlSchemaType schemaType in xsd.SchemaTypes.Values)
        {
            maps.Add(schemaImporter.ImportSchemaType(schemaType.QualifiedName));
        }
        foreach (XmlSchemaElement schemaElement in xsd.Elements.Values)
        {
            maps.Add(schemaImporter.ImportTypeMapping(schemaElement.QualifiedName));
        }
        foreach (XmlTypeMapping map in maps)
        {
            codeExporter.ExportTypeMapping(map);
        }

        ReplaceArrayWithList(codeNamespace);

        // Check for invalid characters in identifiers
        CodeGenerator.ValidateIdentifiers(codeNamespace);

        // output the C# code
        CSharpCodeProvider codeProvider = new CSharpCodeProvider();

        using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(strCsPath, false))
        {
            codeProvider.GenerateCodeFromNamespace(codeNamespace, writer, new CodeGeneratorOptions());
        }
    }
    private static void ReplaceArrayWithList(CodeNamespace codeNamespace)
    {
        codeNamespace.Imports.Add(new CodeNamespaceImport("System.Collections.Generic"));
        foreach (CodeTypeDeclaration codeType in codeNamespace.Types)
        {
            foreach (CodeTypeMember member in codeType.Members)
            {
                if (member is CodeMemberField)
                {
                    CodeMemberField field = (CodeMemberField)member;
                    if (field.Type.ArrayRank > 0)
                    {
                        CodeTypeReference type = new CodeTypeReference();
                        type.BaseType = "List<" + field.Type.BaseType + ">";
                        field.Type = type;
                    }
                }
                if (member is CodeMemberProperty)
                {
                    CodeMemberProperty property = (CodeMemberProperty)member;
                    if (property.Type.ArrayRank > 0)
                    {
                        CodeTypeReference type = new CodeTypeReference();
                        type.BaseType = "List<" + property.Type.BaseType + ">";
                        property.Type = type;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

}

}

Answer 4

I have tested the same commands on another schema, ang received similar "junk" results from svcutil. So, the might be a way to make it work like xsd.exe, but so far all Ive seen are far less useful ones.

---

Updated answer: I found that many of these generic arrays of xml nodes were replaced by strong types when all the referenced XSD's are forcibly included. In my case, i have many xsd files all referenced by each other, but svcutil doesnt seem to include them. i had to instead tell it to use *.xsd to get them all.

Answer 5

I have found Xsd2Code to be much better than xsd.exe does does exactly what you need. See here: http://xsd2code.codeplex.com/