Question

I'm writing a de-serializer using XmlSerializer .Deserialize. The basic de-serializer works so I won't clutter the question with that code. I've written a class to store the data. I successfully de-serialize a node such as

 <TransactionDate>2013-11-20T18:26:35.363</TransactionDate>

using

public string TransactionDate { get; set; }

but how would I deserailize these nodes to extract the data

<Product version="1.1.0" name="Product Name"/>

or

<Warning message="A Warning message here"/>

I'm consuming an existing service so I can't change how the input xml is formatted.

I've tried using the XmlElement attribute

[XmlElement("Product version")]
public string Productversion { get; set; }

or

[XmlElement("Warning message="A Warning message here"/>)]
public List<string> Message  { get; set; } }

The second one has escape character problems, both return null.

How do I de-serialize nodes that contain data in the actual tag <.....>? What would the property on my class look like?

UPDATE: Following fcuesta's suggestion (no need for the XmlElement attribute and it didn't make any difference) I tried

public class Product { public string version { get; set; } public string name { get; set; }  }

The members still do not get populated and are null.

UPDATE 2: Full Answer
Jason's answer worked. Both his code and when I applied the [XmlRoot()] to my code. But the Xml is actually more nested and also has tags where data is in the tag and between the tags (the Answer node). Here's the Xml:

<PlatformResponse>

<Response>
  <Questions>
    <Question text="Which one of the following area codes is associated with you?" type="1">
      <Answer correct="false">813</Answer><Answer correct="false">352</Answer>
      <Answer correct="true">305/786</Answer><Answer correct="false">850</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">256</Answer><Answer correct="false">205</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">912</Answer><Answer correct="false">615</Answer><Answer correct="false">478</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">None of the above</Answer>
    </Question>
    <Question text="Which one of the following counties is associated with you?" type="2">
      <Answer correct="false">Benton</Answer><Answer correct="true">Miami-Dade</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">Burke</Answer><Answer correct="false">Lafayette</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">Monroe</Answer><Answer correct="false">Dickson</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">Coosa</Answer><Answer correct="false">Smith</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">Muscogee</Answer><Answer correct="false">None of the above</Answer>
    </Question>
    <Question text="Which one of the following zip codes is associated with you?" type="3">
      <Answer correct="false">33271</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">33929</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">33927</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">33007</Answer>
      <Answer correct="true">33055</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">33061</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">33556</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">33263</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">33356</Answer>
      <Answer correct="false">None of the above</Answer>
    </Question>
</Response>

</PlatformResponse>

Here are my classes:

[XmlRoot("PlatformResponse")]
public class IDChckRspn
{
    //public TransactionDetails TransactionDetails { get; set; }
    public Response Response { get; set; }
}

public class Response
{
    public Questions Questions { get; set; }
}

public class Questions
{
    [XmlElement("Question")]
    public List<Question> Question { get; set; }
}

public class Question
{
    [XmlAttribute("text")]
    public string Text { get; set; }
    [XmlAttribute("type")]
    public string Type { get; set; }
    [XmlElement("Answer")]
    public List<Answer> Answer { get; set; }
}

public class Answer
{
    [XmlAttribute("correct")]
    public string Correct { get; set; }
    [XmlText()]
    public string Text { get; set; }
}

Here's my de-serializer:

  XmlSerializer s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(IDChckRspn));
  StreamReader r = new StreamReader(@"c:\temp\response.xml");
  object obj = s.Deserialize(r);
  IDChckRspn _response = (IDChckRspn)obj;

This successfully de-serializes down the tree and the Answer tag that has data in the tag and between the tags. Note: This was accomplished through the use of four different attributes to decorate the various classes and members.

    [XmlRoot("PlatformResponse")]  [XmlElement("Question")] [XmlAttribute("text")] [XmlText()]
Was it helpful?

Solution

I think you are close. This structure works for me.

You can find more information in these other questions:
XmlSerializer - Deserialize different elements as collection of same element
How to Deserialize XML document

[XmlRoot("Item")]
public class ParentNodeName
{
    [XmlElement("TransactionDate")]
    public string TransactionData { get; set; }

    [XmlElement("Product")]
    public Product MyProduct { get; set; }

    [XmlElement("Warning")]
    public Warning MyWarning { get; set; }
}

public class Product
{
    [XmlAttribute("version")]
    public string Version { get; set; }

    [XmlAttribute("name")]
    public string Name { get; set; }
}

public class Warning
{
    [XmlAttribute("message")]
    public string Message { get; set; }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {

        XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(ParentNodeName));

        FileStream stream = new FileStream(@"FakeData.xml", FileMode.Open);

        var item = (ParentNodeName)serializer.Deserialize(stream);
    }
}

The content of FakeData.xml looks like this:

<Item>
    <TransactionDate>someDate</TransactionDate>
    <Product version="someVersion" name="someName" />
    <Warning message="someMessage" />
</Item>
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