XML Deserialization Collection Properties with Default Code

Question

To configure an application, I often create a configuration class with configuration values ​​for the application, which I then deserialize into an object for use. The configuration object is usually bound to the user interface, so that the configuration can be modified and saved by the user. A configuration class usually has default values ​​assigned to properties, so there is always a default configuration. It worked out well. I recently had a situation where I had a list of strings that provided some information about the default path. And what I saw made me realize that I didn’t quite understand how the properties of the object are populated during XML deserialization for the object.

So, I created a simple example to show the behavior. The following is a simple class that has several properties that have some default values ​​for the code.

[Serializable]
public class TestConfiguration
   {
      public String Name 
      { 
         get
         {
            return mName;
         }
         set
         {
            mName = value;
         }
      }private String mName = "Pete Sebeck";

  public List<String> Associates 
  { 
     get
     {
        return mAssociates;
     }
     set
     {
        mAssociates = value;
     }
  } private List<String> mAssociates = new List<string>() { "Jon", "Natalie" };

  public override String ToString()
  {
     StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
     buffer.AppendLine(String.Format("Name: {0}", Name));
     buffer.AppendLine("Associates:");
     foreach(String associate in mAssociates)
     {
        buffer.AppendLine(String.Format("\t{0}", associate));
     }
     return buffer.ToString();
  }
   }

And the main thing is that it creates new objects, prints the state of the object on the console, serializes (xml) it to a file, restores the object from this file and displays the state of the object on the console again. What I expected was an object that matched what was serialized. I got a default object with the contents of a serialized list added by default.

  static void Main(string[] args)
  {
     // Create a default object
     TestConfiguration configuration = new TestConfiguration();
     Console.WriteLine(configuration.ToString());

     // Serialize the object
     XmlSerializer writer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(TestConfiguration));
     StreamWriter filewriter = new StreamWriter("TestConfiguration.xml");
     writer.Serialize(filewriter, configuration);
     filewriter.Close();

     // Now deserialize the xml into another object
     XmlSerializer reader = new XmlSerializer(typeof(TestConfiguration));
     StreamReader filereader = new StreamReader("TestConfiguration.xml");
     TestConfiguration deserializedconfiguration = (TestConfiguration)reader.Deserialize(filereader);
     filereader.Close();

     Console.WriteLine(deserializedconfiguration.ToString());

     Console.ReadLine();
      }

Results:

Name: Pete Sebeck
Associates:
        Jon
        Natalie

Name: Pete Sebeck
Associates:
        Jon
        Natalie
        Jon
        Natalie

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Answer 1

, ( ) . Json.NET, JsonConverter.ReadJson Object existingValue .

- , . , , , , ObservableCollection<T> :

[Serializable]
[DataContract]
public class TestConfiguration
{
    [DataMember]
    public String Name { get { return mName; } set { mName = value; } }

    private String mName = "Pete Sebeck";

    [DataMember]
    public ObservableCollection<String> Associates
    {
        get
        {
            Debug.WriteLine(mAssociates == null ? "Associates gotten, null value" : "Associates gotten, count = " + mAssociates.Count.ToString());
            return mAssociates;
        }
        set
        {
            Debug.WriteLine(value == null ? "Associates set to a null value" : "Associates set, count = " + value.Count.ToString());
            RemoveListeners(mAssociates);
            mAssociates = AddListeners(value);
        }
    }

    private ObservableCollection<String> mAssociates = AddListeners(new ObservableCollection<string>() { "Jon", "Natalie" });

    public override String ToString()
    {
        StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
        buffer.AppendLine(String.Format("Name: {0}", Name));
        buffer.AppendLine("Associates:");
        foreach (String associate in mAssociates)
        {
            buffer.AppendLine(String.Format("\t{0}", associate));
        }
        return buffer.ToString();
    }

    static ObservableCollection<String> AddListeners(ObservableCollection<String> list)
    {
        if (list != null)
        {
            list.CollectionChanged -= list_CollectionChanged; // In case it was already there.
            list.CollectionChanged += list_CollectionChanged;
        }
        return list;
    }

    static ObservableCollection<String> RemoveListeners(ObservableCollection<String> list)
    {
        if (list != null)
        {
            list.CollectionChanged -= list_CollectionChanged; // In case it was already there.
        }
        return list;
    }

    public static ValueWrapper<bool> ShowDebugInformation = new ValueWrapper<bool>(false);

    static void list_CollectionChanged(object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (!ShowDebugInformation)
            return;
        switch (e.Action)
        {
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add:
                Debug.WriteLine(string.Format("Added {0} items", e.NewItems.Count));
                break;
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Move:
                Debug.WriteLine("Moved items");
                break;
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Remove:
                Debug.WriteLine(string.Format("Removed {0} items", e.OldItems.Count));
                break;
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Replace:
                Debug.WriteLine("Replaced items");
                break;
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Reset:
                Debug.WriteLine("Reset collection");
                break;
        }
    }
}

public static class TestTestConfiguration
{
    public static void Test()
    {
        var test = new TestConfiguration();

        Debug.WriteLine("\nTesting Xmlserializer...");
        var xml = XmlSerializationHelper.GetXml(test);
        using (new SetValue<bool>(TestConfiguration.ShowDebugInformation, true))
        {
            var testFromXml = XmlSerializationHelper.LoadFromXML<TestConfiguration>(xml);
            Debug.WriteLine("XmlSerializer result: " + testFromXml.ToString());
        }

        Debug.WriteLine("\nTesting Json.NET...");
        var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(test, Formatting.Indented);
        using (new SetValue<bool>(TestConfiguration.ShowDebugInformation, true))
        {
            var testFromJson = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<TestConfiguration>(json);
            Debug.WriteLine("Json.NET result: " + testFromJson.ToString());
        }

        Debug.WriteLine("\nTesting DataContractSerializer...");
        var contractXml = DataContractSerializerHelper.GetXml(test);
        using (new SetValue<bool>(TestConfiguration.ShowDebugInformation, true))
        {
            var testFromContractXml = DataContractSerializerHelper.LoadFromXML<TestConfiguration>(contractXml);
            Debug.WriteLine("DataContractSerializer result: " + testFromContractXml.ToString());
        }

        Debug.WriteLine("\nTesting BinaryFormatter...");
        var binary = BinaryFormatterHelper.ToBase64String(test);
        using (new SetValue<bool>(TestConfiguration.ShowDebugInformation, true))
        {
            var testFromBinary = BinaryFormatterHelper.FromBase64String<TestConfiguration>(binary);
            Debug.WriteLine("BinaryFormatter result: " + testFromBinary.ToString());
        }

        Debug.WriteLine("\nTesting JavaScriptSerializer...");
        var javaScript = new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(test);
        using (new SetValue<bool>(TestConfiguration.ShowDebugInformation, true))
        {
            var testFromJavaScript = new JavaScriptSerializer().Deserialize<TestConfiguration>(javaScript);
            Debug.WriteLine("JavaScriptSerializer result: " + testFromJavaScript.ToString());
        }
    }
}

:

• XmlSerializer Json.NET , . ( Json.NET , JsonSerializerSettings.ObjectCreationHandling Replace)
• JavaScriptSerializer, BinaryFormatter DataContractSerializer . , , .

, 1 . , , , , , , ?

- (, , BinaryFormatter, ), , , . , .

-, , :

    [IgnoreDataMember]
    [XmlIgnore]
    [ScriptIgnore]
    public ObservableCollection<String> { get; set; } // Or List<string> or etc.

    [XmlArray("Associates")]
    [DataMember(Name="Associates")]
    public string[] AssociateArray
    {
        get
        {
            return (Associates == null ? null : Associates.ToArray());
        }
        set
        {
            if (Associates == null)
                Associates = new ObservableCollection<string>();
            Associates.Clear();
            if (value != null)
                foreach (var item in value)
                    Associates.Add(item);
        }
    }

5 .