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XmlAnyElementAttributes Class

Represents a collection of XmlAnyElementAttribute objects.

Namespace:  System.Xml.Serialization
Assembly:  System.Xml (in System.Xml.dll)

'Declaration
Public Class XmlAnyElementAttributes _
	Inherits CollectionBase
'Usage
Dim instance As XmlAnyElementAttributes

Use the XmlAnyElementAttributes to override the behavior of a set of XmlAnyElementAttribute objects. Multiple instances of the XmlAnyElementAttribute class can be applied to a class member, as long as each instance has a distinct Name property value; this instructs the XmlSerializer to collect unknown elements under the named element into the appropriate array. It is for this reason that multiple instances of the XmlAnyElementAttribute class can be added to the XmlAnyElementAttributes.

To override a set of XmlAnyElementAttribute objects:

  1. Create an XmlAnyElementAttributes.

  2. Create the set of XmlAnyElementAttribute objects, and add each object to the collection using the Add method.

  3. Create an XmlAttributes.

  4. Set the XmlAnyElements property to the XmlAnyElementAttributes.

  5. Create an XmlAttributeOverrides.

  6. Add the XmlAttributes to the XmlAttributeOverrides using the Add method.

  7. Create an instance of the XmlSerializer using the XmlAttributeOverrides.

  8. Serialize or deserialize an object that contains the set of XmlAnyElementAttribute objects.

The following example creates a new XmlAnyElementAttribute and adds it to the collection of objects accessed through the XmlAnyElements property. The XmlAttributes is then added to a XmlAttributeOverrides which is used to create an XmlSerializer. The XmlSerializer is used to serialize or deserialize an object. To see the effect of using the XmlAnyElementAttributes property, create an XML document named UnknownElements.xml by running the SerializeObject method in the Main method. Edit the resulting document to include other (unknown) elements. Comment out the SerializeObject call in the Main method, and uncomment the call to the DeserializeObject method, which prints out the name and value of any unknown XML element.

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml.Serialization
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Group
   Public GroupName As String 
   <XmlAnyElement> _
   Public Things () As object
End Class 

Public Class Test
   Shared Sub Main()
      Dim t As Test = New Test()
      ' 1 Run this and create the XML document. 
      ' 2 Add New elements to the XML document. 
      ' 3 Comment out the New line, and uncomment 
      ' the DeserializeObject line to deserialize the 
      ' XML document and see unknown elements.
     t.SerializeObject("UnknownElements.xml")

      't.DeserializeObject("UnknownElements.xml") 
   End Sub 

   Private Sub SerializeObject(filename As String)
      Dim ser As XmlSerializer = New XmlSerializer(GetType (Group))
      Dim writer As TextWriter = New StreamWriter(filename)

      Dim g As Group = New Group()
      g.GroupName = "MyGroup"
      ser.Serialize(writer, g)
      writer.Close()
   End Sub 


   Private Sub DeserializeObject(filename As String)

      Dim ser As XmlSerializer = CreateOverrideSerializer()
      ' A FileStream is needed to read the XML document. 
      Dim fs As FileStream = New FileStream(filename, FileMode.Open)
     Dim g As Group = CType( _
     	ser.Deserialize(fs), Group)
     fs.Close()
     Console.WriteLine(g.GroupName)
     Console.WriteLine(g.Things.Length)
     Dim xelement As XmlELement
     for each xelement in g.Things
        Console.WriteLine(xelement.Name &": " & xelement.InnerXml)
     next
   End Sub 


   Private Function CreateOverrideSerializer() As XmlSerializer 
      Dim myAnyElement As XmlAnyElementAttribute = _
      New XmlAnyElementAttribute()
      Dim xOverride As XmlAttributeOverrides = _
      New XmlAttributeOverrides()
      Dim xAtts As XmlAttributes = New XmlAttributes()
      xAtts.XmlAnyElements.Add(myAnyElement)
      xOverride.Add(GetType(Group), "Things", xAtts)
      return New XmlSerializer(GetType(Group) , xOverride)
   End Function 
End Class
#using <mscorlib.dll>
#using <System.dll>
#using <System.xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml::Serialization;
using namespace System::Xml;

public __gc class Group
{
public:
   String* GroupName;

   [XmlAnyElement]
   Object* Things[];

};

void SerializeObject(String* filename);
void DeserializeObject(String* filename);
XmlSerializer* CreateOverrideSerializer();

int main()
{
   // 1 Run this and create the XML document.
   // 2 Add new elements to the XML document.
   // 3 Comment out the next line, and uncomment
   // the DeserializeObject line to deserialize the
   // XML document and see unknown elements.
   SerializeObject(S"UnknownElements.xml");

   // DeserializeObject(S"UnknownElements.xml");
}

void SerializeObject(String* filename)
{
   XmlSerializer* ser = new XmlSerializer( __typeof(Group));
   TextWriter* writer = new StreamWriter(filename);
   Group* g = new Group();
   g->GroupName = S"MyGroup";
   ser->Serialize(writer, g);
   writer->Close();
}


void DeserializeObject(String* filename)
{

   XmlSerializer* ser = CreateOverrideSerializer();
   // A FileStream is needed to read the XML document.
   FileStream* fs = new FileStream(filename, FileMode::Open);
   Group* g = __try_cast<Group*>( ser->Deserialize(fs ));
   fs->Close();
   Console::WriteLine(g->GroupName);
   Console::WriteLine(g->Things->Length);
   for ( int i = 0; i < g->Things->Length; ++i )
   {
      XmlElement* xelement = __try_cast<XmlElement*>( g->Things[i] );
      Console::WriteLine( S"{0}: {1}", xelement->Name, xelement->InnerXml );
   }
}

XmlSerializer* CreateOverrideSerializer()
{
   XmlAnyElementAttribute* myAnyElement = new XmlAnyElementAttribute();
   XmlAttributeOverrides* xOverride = new XmlAttributeOverrides();
   XmlAttributes* xAtts = new XmlAttributes();
   xAtts->XmlAnyElements->Add(myAnyElement);
   xOverride->Add(__typeof(Group), S"Things", xAtts);
   return new XmlSerializer(__typeof(Group) , xOverride);
}

System.Object
  System.Collections.CollectionBase
    System.Xml.Serialization.XmlAnyElementAttributes

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
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