XmlElementAttribute.Type Property

Definition

Gets or sets the object type used to represent the XML element.

public:
 property Type ^ Type { Type ^ get(); void set(Type ^ value); };
public Type Type { get; set; }
public Type? Type { get; set; }
member this.Type : Type with get, set
Public Property Type As Type

Property Value

The Type of the member.

Examples

The following example uses the Type property to specify a derived object for an XmlElementAttribute. The example also applies three instances of the XmlElementAttribute to a field that returns an ArrayList. Each instance specifies a type allowed in the field.

#using <System.Xml.dll>
#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
using namespace System::Xml::Serialization;
public ref class Employee
{
public:
   String^ Name;
};

public ref class Manager: public Employee
{
public:
   int Level;
};

public ref class Group
{
public:

   [XmlElement(Manager::typeid)]
   array<Employee^>^Staff;

   [XmlElement(Int32::typeid),
   XmlElement(String::typeid),
   XmlElement(DateTime::typeid)]
   ArrayList^ ExtraInfo;
};

void SerializeObject( String^ filename )
{
   // Create an XmlSerializer instance.
   XmlSerializer^ xSer = gcnew XmlSerializer( Group::typeid );

   // Create object and serialize it.
   Group^ myGroup = gcnew Group;
   Manager^ e1 = gcnew Manager;
   e1->Name = "Manager1";
   Manager^ m1 = gcnew Manager;
   m1->Name = "Manager2";
   m1->Level = 4;
   array<Employee^>^emps = {e1,m1};
   myGroup->Staff = emps;
   myGroup->ExtraInfo = gcnew ArrayList;
   myGroup->ExtraInfo->Add( ".NET" );
   myGroup->ExtraInfo->Add( 42 );
   myGroup->ExtraInfo->Add( DateTime(2001,1,1) );
   TextWriter^ writer = gcnew StreamWriter( filename );
   xSer->Serialize( writer, myGroup );
   writer->Close();
}

int main()
{
   SerializeObject( "TypeEx.xml" );
}
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Serialization;

public class Group
{
   [XmlElement(typeof(Manager))]
   public Employee [] Staff;

   [XmlElement (typeof(int)),
   XmlElement (typeof(string)),
   XmlElement (typeof(DateTime))]
   public ArrayList ExtraInfo;
}

public class Employee
{
   public string Name;
}

public class Manager:Employee
{
   public int Level;
}

public class Run
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      Run test = new Run();
      test.SerializeObject("TypeEx.xml");
   }

   public void SerializeObject(string filename)
   {
      // Create an XmlSerializer instance.
      XmlSerializer xSer =
      new XmlSerializer(typeof(Group));

      // Create object and serialize it.
      Group myGroup = new Group();

      Manager e1 = new Manager();
      e1.Name = "Manager1";
      Manager m1 =  new Manager();
      m1.Name = "Manager2";
      m1.Level = 4;

      Employee[] emps = {e1, m1};
      myGroup.Staff = emps;

      myGroup.ExtraInfo = new ArrayList();
      myGroup.ExtraInfo.Add(".NET");
      myGroup.ExtraInfo.Add(42);
      myGroup.ExtraInfo.Add(new DateTime(2001,1,1));

      TextWriter writer = new StreamWriter(filename);
      xSer.Serialize(writer, myGroup);
      writer.Close();
   }
}
Imports System.Collections
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml
Imports System.Xml.Serialization


Public Class Group
    <XmlElement(GetType(Manager))> _    
    Public Staff() As Employee
    
    <XmlElement(GetType(Integer)), _
     XmlElement(GetType(String)), _
     XmlElement(GetType(DateTime))> _
    Public ExtraInfo As ArrayList
End Class

Public Class Employee
    Public Name As String
End Class

Public Class Manager
    Inherits Employee
    Public Level As Integer
End Class

Public Class Run
    
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim test As New Run()
        test.SerializeObject("TypeEx.xml")
    End Sub    
    
    Public Sub SerializeObject(filename As String)
        ' Create an XmlSerializer instance.
        Dim xSer As New XmlSerializer(GetType(Group))
        
        ' Create an object and serialize it.
        Dim myGroup As New Group()
        
        Dim e1 As New Manager()
        e1.Name = "Manager1"
        Dim m1 As New Manager()
        m1.Name = "Manager2"
        m1.Level = 4
        
        Dim emps() As Employee = {e1, m1}
        myGroup.Staff = emps
        
        myGroup.ExtraInfo = New ArrayList()
        myGroup.ExtraInfo.Add(".NET")
        myGroup.ExtraInfo.Add(42)
        myGroup.ExtraInfo.Add(New DateTime(2001, 1, 1))
        
        Dim writer As New StreamWriter(filename)
        xSer.Serialize(writer, myGroup)
        writer.Close()
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

Use the Type property to specify a derived type for a field or property.

If a field or property returns an ArrayList, you can apply multiple instances of the XmlElementAttribute to the member. For each instance, set the Type property to a type of object that can be inserted into the array.

Applies to