Can I serialize a generic list of serializable objects without having to specify their type.
Something like the intention behind the broken code below:
List<ISerializable> serializableList = new List<ISerializable>();
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(serializableList.GetType());
serializableList.Add((ISerializable)PersonList);
using (StreamWriter streamWriter = System.IO.File.CreateText(fileName))
{
xmlSerializer.Serialize(streamWriter, serializableList);
}
Edit:
For those who wanted to know detail: when I try to run this code, it errors on the XMLSerializer[...] line with:
Cannot serialize interface System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable.
If I change to List<object>
I get "There was an error generating the XML document.". The InnerException detail is "{"The type System.Collections.Generic.List`1[[Project1.Person, ConsoleFramework, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null]] may not be used in this context."}"
The person object is defined as follows:
[XmlRoot("Person")]
public class Person
{
string _firstName = String.Empty;
string _lastName = String.Empty;
private Person()
{
}
public Person(string lastName, string firstName)
{
_lastName = lastName;
_firstName = firstName;
}
[XmlAttribute(DataType = "string", AttributeName = "LastName")]
public string LastName
{
get { return _lastName; }
set { _lastName = value; }
}
[XmlAttribute(DataType = "string", AttributeName = "FirstName")]
public string FirstName
{
get { return _firstName; }
set { _firstName = value; }
}
}
The PersonList is just a List<Person>
.
This is just for testing though, so didn't feel the details were too important. The key is I have one or more different objects, all of which are serializable. I want to serialize them all to one file. I thought the easiest way to do that would be to put them in a generic list and serialize the list in one go. But this doesn't work.
I tried with List<IXmlSerializable>
as well, but that fails with
System.Xml.Serialization.IXmlSerializable cannot be serialized because it does not have a parameterless constructor.
Sorry for the lack of detail, but I am a beginner at this and don't know what detail is required. It would be helpful if people asking for more detail tried to respond in a way that would leave me understanding what details are required, or a basic answer outlining possible directions.
Also thanks to the two answers I've got so far - I could have spent a lot more time reading without getting these ideas. It's amazing how helpful people are on this site.