How to Serialize Derived Classes within Generic Lists using XmlSerializer?

Use XmlSerializer to serialize derived classes

When using XmlSerializer to serialize an object containing a generic list of abstract class derived classes, users may encounter an InvalidOperationException exception during the deserialization process. Solving this problem requires specific techniques for handling the serialization of derived objects.

Solution

There are three effective methods:

1. [XmlInclude] Attributes: Applies the [XmlInclude] attribute before the abstract class declaration, including each derived class type. This ensures that the serializer knows how to handle these specific derived types.
2. XmlElement/XmlArrayItem Attributes: Use the [XmlElement] or [XmlArrayItem] attribute on an attribute containing a list. Specify the derived class type in these properties to instruct the serializer to recognize and deserialize the object.
3. Combination of two methods: Combine these two methods by using [XmlInclude] on abstract classes and [XmlElement] or [XmlArrayItem] on properties, thus providing explicit and implicit Type handling.

The following code snippets provide detailed implementation examples using each method:

<code class="language-csharp">// 1: [XmlInclude(typeof(ChildA))]
// 1: [XmlInclude(typeof(ChildB))]
public abstract class ChildClass {
    public string ChildProp { get; set; }
}

// 2: [XmlElement("A", Type = typeof(ChildA))]
// 2: [XmlElement("B", Type = typeof(ChildB))]
// 3: [XmlArrayItem("A", Type = typeof(ChildA))]
// 3: [XmlArrayItem("B", Type = typeof(ChildB))]
public List<ChildClass> Data { get; set; }

// ... 序列化和反序列化代码在此处 ...</code>

Select the preferred method and uncomment the corresponding code snippet for serialization of derived classes.

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