Why isn't there an XML-serializable dictionary in .NET?

Question

I need an XML-serializable dictionary. Actually, I now have two quite different programs that need one. I was rather surprised to see that .NET doesn't have one. I asked the question elsewhere and got sarcastic responses. I don't understand why it's a stupid question.

Can someone enlighten me, given how dependent various .NET features are on XML serialization, why there isn't an XML-serializable dictionary. Hopefully, you can also explain why some people consider that a daft question. I guess I must be missing something fundamental and I'm hoping you'll be able to fill in the gaps.

Answer 1

Which features in .NET do you think are dependent on XML Serialization?

The thing about XML Serialization is that it's not just about creating a stream of bytes. It's also about creating an XML Schema that this stream of bytes would validate against. There's no good way in XML Schema to represent a dictionary. The best you could do is to show that there's a unique key.

You can always create your own wrapper, for instance One Way to Serialize Dictionaries.

Answer 2

Create one of your own :-), the readonly feature is bonus but if you need a key other than a string then the class needs some modifications...

namespace MyNameSpace
{
    [XmlRoot("SerializableDictionary")]
    public class SerializableDictionary : Dictionary<String, Object>, IXmlSerializable
    {
        internal Boolean _ReadOnly = false;
        public Boolean ReadOnly
        {
            get
            {
                return this._ReadOnly;
            }

            set
            {
                this.CheckReadOnly();
                this._ReadOnly = value;
            }
        }

        public new Object this[String key]
        {
            get
            {
                Object value;

                return this.TryGetValue(key, out value) ? value : null;
            }

            set
            {
                this.CheckReadOnly();

                if(value != null)
                {
                    base[key] = value;
                }
                else
                {
                    this.Remove(key);
                }               
            }
        }

        internal void CheckReadOnly()
        {
            if(this._ReadOnly)
            {
                throw new Exception("Collection is read only");
            }
        }

        public new void Clear()
        {
            this.CheckReadOnly();

            base.Clear();
        }

        public new void Add(String key, Object value)
        {
            this.CheckReadOnly();

            base.Add(key, value);
        }

        public new void Remove(String key)
        {
            this.CheckReadOnly();

            base.Remove(key);
        }

        public XmlSchema GetSchema()
        {
            return null;
        }

        public void ReadXml(XmlReader reader)
        {
            Boolean wasEmpty = reader.IsEmptyElement;

            reader.Read();

            if(wasEmpty)
            {
                return;
            }

            while(reader.NodeType != XmlNodeType.EndElement)
            {
                if(reader.Name == "Item")
                {
                    String key = reader.GetAttribute("Key");
                    Type type = Type.GetType(reader.GetAttribute("TypeName"));

                    reader.Read();
                    if(type != null)
                    {
                        this.Add(key, new XmlSerializer(type).Deserialize(reader));
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        reader.Skip();
                    }
                    reader.ReadEndElement();

                    reader.MoveToContent();
                }
                else
                {
                    reader.ReadToFollowing("Item");
                }

            reader.ReadEndElement();
        }

        public void WriteXml(XmlWriter writer)
        {
            foreach(KeyValuePair<String, Object> item in this)
            {
                writer.WriteStartElement("Item");
                writer.WriteAttributeString("Key", item.Key);
                writer.WriteAttributeString("TypeName", item.Value.GetType().AssemblyQualifiedName);

                new XmlSerializer(item.Value.GetType()).Serialize(writer, item.Value);

                writer.WriteEndElement();
            }
        }

    }
}

Answer 3

They added one in .NET 3.0. If you can, add a reference to System.Runtime.Serialization and look for System.Xml.XmlDictionary, System.Xml.XmlDictionaryReader, and System.Xml.XmlDictionaryWriter.

I would agree that it is not in a particularly discoverable place.

Answer 4

Use the DataContractSerializer! See the sample below.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Xml;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            A a = new A();
            a.Value = 1;

            B b = new B();
            b.Value = "SomeValue";

            Dictionary<A, B> d = new Dictionary<A,B>();
            d.Add(a, b);
            DataContractSerializer dcs = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(Dictionary<A, B>));
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            using (XmlWriter xw = XmlWriter.Create(sb))
            {
                dcs.WriteObject(xw, d);
            }
            string xml = sb.ToString();
        }
    }

    public class A
    {
        public int Value
        {
            get;
            set;
        }
    }

    public class B
    {
        public string Value
        {
            get;
            set;
        }
    }
}

The above code produces the following xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<ArrayOfKeyValueOfABHtQdUIlS xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/Arrays"&gt;
    <KeyValueOfABHtQdUIlS>
        <Key xmlns:d3p1="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/ConsoleApplication1"&gt;
            <d3p1:Value>1</d3p1:Value>
        </Key>
        <Value xmlns:d3p1="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/ConsoleApplication1"&gt;
            <d3p1:Value>SomeValue</d3p1:Value>
        </Value>
    </KeyValueOfABHtQdUIlS>
</ArrayOfKeyValueOfABHtQdUIlS>