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XmlRootAttribute Class

Controls XML serialization of the attribute target as an XML root element.

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

'Declaration
<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Class Or AttributeTargets.Struct Or AttributeTargets.Enum Or AttributeTargets.Interface Or AttributeTargets.ReturnValue)> _
Public Class XmlRootAttribute _
	Inherits Attribute
'Usage
Dim instance As XmlRootAttribute

The XmlRootAttribute belongs to a family of attributes that controls how the XmlSerializer serializes or deserializes an object. For a complete list of similar attributes, see Attributes That Control XML Serialization.

You can apply the XmlRootAttribute to a class, structure, enumeration, or interface. You can also apply the attribute to the return value of an XML Web service method.

Every XML document must have a single root element that contains all the other elements. The XmlRootAttribute allows you to control how the XmlSerializer generates the root element by setting certain properties. For example, specify the name of the generated XML element by setting the ElementName property.

For more information about using attributes, see Extending Metadata Using Attributes.

NoteNote:

You can use the word XmlRoot in your code instead of the longer XmlRootAttribute.

The following example applies the XmlRootAttribute to a class. The attribute specifies the element name, namespace, and whether the element is qualified, and whether the xsi:nil attribute is generated if the class is set to Nothing.

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

<XmlRoot(Namespace:="www.contoso.com", _
    ElementName:="MyGroupName", _
    DataType:="string", _
    IsNullable:=True)> _
Public Class Group

    Private groupNameValue As String 
    ' Insert code for the Group class. 
    Public Sub New()

    End Sub 

    Public Sub New(ByVal groupNameVal As String)

        groupNameValue = groupNameVal
    End Sub 

    Property GroupName() As String 
        Get 
            Return groupNameValue
        End Get 

        Set(ByVal Value As String)
            groupNameValue = Value
        End Set 
    End Property 
End Class 

Public Class Test

    Shared Sub Main()

        Dim t As Test = New Test()
        t.SerializeGroup()
    End Sub 

    Private Sub SerializeGroup()

        ' Create an instance of the Group class, and an 
        ' instance of the XmlSerializer to serialize it. 
        Dim myGroup As Group = New Group("Redmond")
        Dim ser As XmlSerializer = New XmlSerializer(GetType(Group))

        ' A FileStream is used to write the file. 
        Dim fs As FileStream = New FileStream("group.xml", FileMode.Create)
        ser.Serialize(fs, myGroup)
        fs.Close()
        Console.WriteLine(myGroup.GroupName)
        Console.WriteLine("Done... Press any key to exit.")
        Console.ReadLine()
    End Sub 

End Class
#using <mscorlib.dll>
#using <System.Xml.dll>
using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
using namespace System::Xml::Schema;
using namespace System::Xml::Serialization;

[XmlRoot(Namespace = S"www.contoso.com", 
     ElementName = S"MyGroupName", 
     DataType = S"string", 
     IsNullable=true)]
public __gc class Group
{
private:
    String* groupNameValue;
    // Insert code for the Group class.
public:
    Group()
    {
    }

    Group(String* groupNameVal)
    {
        groupNameValue = groupNameVal;
    }
    __property String* get_GroupName()
    {
       return groupNameValue;
    }
    __property void set_GroupName( String* value )
    {
       groupNameValue = value;
    }
};

void SerializeGroup()
{
   // Create an instance of the Group class, and an
   // instance of the XmlSerializer to serialize it.
   Group* myGroup = new Group(S"Redmond");
   XmlSerializer* ser = new XmlSerializer(__typeof(Group));
   // A FileStream is used to write the file.
   FileStream* fs = new FileStream(S"group.xml",FileMode::Create);
   ser->Serialize(fs,myGroup);
   fs->Close();
   Console::WriteLine(myGroup->GroupName);
   Console::WriteLine(S"Done");
   Console::ReadLine();
}

int main()
{
   SerializeGroup();
}

System.Object
  System.Attribute
    System.Xml.Serialization.XmlRootAttribute

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, 1.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
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