Writing an object to XML

Question

What ways there are for doing a one way XML serialization in .Net? XmlSerializer won't write properties that don't have a public setter. While this limitation is understandable for deserialization I would be satisfied with just serialization for web use. The JSON.Net serialization works great in this situation as it serializes the full object graph not minding even if some properties have no setters defined.

The main goal for these classes is a normal .Net class library. These classes are consumed by other code in 90% of the cases so I am after a solution that doesn't sacrifice the normal usability of the classes.

The resulting class library should support .Net 2.0.

Answer 1

I would take a look at the DataContractSerializer. While this type is declared in the .NET 3.0 framework that would not stop you from using the new version of System.Runtime.Serialization.dll in your project.

For a good understanding of how DataContractSerializer differs from XmlSerializer I would check out Chris Lively's answer.

Answer 2

You might want to check this site out: XmlSerializer vs DataContractSerializer

Beyond that you might consider overriding how your object is being serialized and deciding for yourself what should and should not be in the xml stream.