How Can I Suppress Null Values When Using the .NET Xml Serializer?

.NET XML Serialization: Handling Null Values

The standard .NET XML Serializer includes null values by default. To exclude these, utilize the ShouldSerialize pattern. This pattern lets you define whether a property should be serialized.

For each property requiring null value suppression, create a method named ShouldSerialize{PropertyName}. For example, a nullable integer property MyNullableInt would need this method:

public bool ShouldSerializeMyNullableInt()
{
  return MyNullableInt.HasValue;
}

This method returns true if MyNullableInt has a value, triggering serialization. Otherwise, it returns false, preventing serialization of the null value.

Here's an example class demonstrating this:

public class Person
{
  public string Name { get; set; }
  public int? Age { get; set; }
  public bool ShouldSerializeAge()
  {
    return Age.HasValue;
  }
}

Serializing an instance:

Person person = new Person { Name = "Chris" };
XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Person));
StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
xs.Serialize(sw, person);

The resulting XML omits the Age element due to its null value:

<person xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><name>Chris</name></person>

Using custom ShouldSerialize methods provides granular control over serialization, enabling selective omission of null values for more concise and effective XML output.

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