XmlAnyElementAttribute Class
Specifies that the member (a field that returns an array of XmlElement or XmlNode objects) contains objects that represent any XML element that has no corresponding member in the object being serialized or deserialized.
Assembly: System.Xml (in System.Xml.dll)
The XmlAnyElementAttribute type exposes the following members.
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() | XmlAnyElementAttribute() | Initializes a new instance of the XmlAnyElementAttribute class. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | XmlAnyElementAttribute(String) | Initializes a new instance of the XmlAnyElementAttribute class and specifies the XML element name generated in the XML document. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | XmlAnyElementAttribute(String, String) | Initializes a new instance of the XmlAnyElementAttribute class and specifies the XML element name generated in the XML document and its XML namespace. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() | Name | Gets or sets the XML element name. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Namespace | Gets or sets the XML namespace generated in the XML document. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Order | Gets or sets the explicit order in which the elements are serialized or deserialized. |
![]() | TypeId | When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() | Equals | Infrastructure. Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Finalize | Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | GetHashCode | Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | GetType | Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | IsDefaultAttribute | When overridden in a derived class, indicates whether the value of this instance is the default value for the derived class. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | Match | When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | MemberwiseClone | Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | ToString | Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() | _Attribute::GetIDsOfNames | Maps a set of names to a corresponding set of dispatch identifiers. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | _Attribute::GetTypeInfo | Retrieves the type information for an object, which can be used to get the type information for an interface. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | _Attribute::GetTypeInfoCount | Retrieves the number of type information interfaces that an object provides (either 0 or 1). (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | _Attribute::Invoke | Provides access to properties and methods exposed by an object. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
Use the XmlAnyElementAttribute to contain arbitrary data (as XML elements) that can be sent as part of an XML document, such as metadata sent as part of the document.
Apply the XmlAnyElementAttribute to a field that returns an array of XmlElement or XmlNode objects. Such a field can be used in two ways, depending on whether an object is being serialized or deserialized. When serialized, the object is generated as XML elements or nodes, even though they have no corresponding member (or members) in the object being serialized. If you specify a Name property value when applying the attribute, all XmlElement or XmlNode objects inserted into the array must have the same element name and default namespace, or an exception is thrown. If you set the Namespace property value, you must set the Name property as well, and the XmlElement or XmlNode objects must also have the same name and namespace values. If no Name value is specified, the XmlElement or XmlNode objects can have any element name.
When you call the Deserialize method of the XmlSerializer class, all elements that do not have a corresponding member in the object being deserialized are collected in the array. After deserialization, iterate through the collection of XmlElement items to process the data. If you specify a Name value, the array contains only XML elements with that name. If you do not specify a Name value, the array contains all elements that have no corresponding member in the class. If a class contains more than one field to which the attribute is applied, use the Name, or Name and Namespace properties to differentiate between the contents of the arrays. If such a class (with multiple fields) also contains one field that has no differentiating property values set (in other words, Name and Namespace) during deserialization, this array contains any unknown XML elements that are not already contained in the other arrays. If a class contains more than one field that does not have a differentiating Name, or Name and Namespace value set, the behavior during deserialization is unspecified.
You can also apply the XmlAnyElementAttribute to a field that returns a single XmlElement object. If you do so, you must use the properties and methods of the XmlElement class to recursively iterate through the unknown elements.
You can apply multiple instances of the XmlAnyElementAttribute to a class member, but each instance must have a distinct Name property value. Or, if the same Name property is set for each instance, a distinct Namespace property value must be set for each instance.
The UnknownNode and UnknownAttribute events of the XmlSerializer do not occur if you apply the XmlAnyElementAttribute to a member of a class.
Note |
|---|
You can use the word XmlAnyElement in your code instead of the longer XmlAnyElementAttribute. |
For more information about using attributes, see Extending Metadata Using Attributes.
The following example applies the XmlAnyElementAttribute to a field named AllElements that returns an array of XmlElement objects.
public ref class XClass { public: /* Apply the XmlAnyElementAttribute to a field returning an array of XmlElement objects. */ [XmlAnyElement] array<XmlElement^>^AllElements; }; public ref class Test { public: void DeserializeObject( String^ filename ) { // Create an XmlSerializer. XmlSerializer^ mySerializer = gcnew XmlSerializer( XClass::typeid ); // To read a file, a FileStream is needed. FileStream^ fs = gcnew FileStream( filename,FileMode::Open ); // Deserialize the class. XClass^ x = dynamic_cast<XClass^>(mySerializer->Deserialize( fs )); // Read the element names and values. System::Collections::IEnumerator^ myEnum = x->AllElements->GetEnumerator(); while ( myEnum->MoveNext() ) { XmlElement^ xel = safe_cast<XmlElement^>(myEnum->Current); Console::WriteLine( "{0}: {1}", xel->LocalName, xel->Value ); } } }; int main() { Test^ t = gcnew Test; t->DeserializeObject( "XFile.xml" ); }
Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

