Re: Serialization Question
- From: "Cowboy \(Gregory A. Beamer\)" <NoSpamMgbworld@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:21:19 -0600
There are a couple of options, depending on which is easier for your team.
1. Go ahead and serialize and then run the serialized XML through a XSL transformation to fit the format they require. This means you are manually calling the serialization and using a XSLTransform object. Note that this option can get tricky, as you are going to return an XML string from the web service method, which may not work for them.
The basics of transform are here:
http://www.csharpfriends.com/Articles/getArticle.aspx?articleID=63
You do not have to write to a file, of course. I looked to see if there was a good web service XML Transform example on the web, but I have not seen it. If I get a chance, I will play a bit and blog it.
2. Create a custom serialization for your client. This is a bit deep and would not be my first choice, as you would be both changing out some attributes and inheriting from the normal .NET serialization bits.
3. Create another object that has the clients format and transfer the information from your object to that object when the web routine that this client uses is hit. This is a bit wasteful, of course, but it is fairly simple in terms of setting up the web service. And, you can move to a better system. If the client accepts XML that is not typed as an object, then XML is a better option, as you do not go through hoops to have the WSDL appear to have an address object.
The other is to retool your object to fit the XML you desire, which will probably end up with some O/R mapping to translate to your database schema so you can work with the object too. If you have already invested a lot in the format you have currently, this path is not a wise direction, unless you need to refactor the system anyway.
I hope I am getting you closer.
--
Gregory A. Beamer
MVP; MCP: +I, SE, SD, DBA
Blog:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/GregoryBeamer
*************************************************
| Think outside the box! |
*************************************************
"Terry Holland" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:eOSqrOHkJHA.2344@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.If it were me, I would probably have an object like so:
AddressLine1
AddressLine2
City
StateProvince, only when applicable, so this does not fit all countries
PostalCode
I can then set up the output according to country, so your address would be
AddressLine1
AddressLine2 (optional)
City
PostalCode
I'll give you a bit more of the background. Our company need to transmit files to a partner organisation and they are expecting an XML file of the format I described. In particular their scheme definition for the address is defined below
<xs:element name="Address" type="UKPostalAddressStructure"/>
....
<xs:complexType name="UKPostalAddressStructure">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="Line" type="xs:string" minOccurs="2" maxOccurs="6"/>
<xs:element name="PostCode" type="xs:string"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
Question 2: Why is format of the XML important?
The only reason I can see is you are trying to serialize this information and present it, via some sort of service boundary, as XML, not as a serialized object. If so, I would take the XML through a transformation to get the format you desire rather than attempt to have the object serialize differently.
You are correct that the format is based on an external requirement. Im not too hot on XML so when you say "...take the XML through a transformation... " could you expand a bit on this. I have overcome my problem in the immediate term by manually creating an XMLDocument in the desired format and transmitting this document (I needed to get something out urgently). I would however be interested in exploring transformations for when I refactor
NOTE:
The reason why your XML is not like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Person xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance";
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema";>
<Name>John Smith</Name>
<Address>
<Line>1 Acacia Avenue</Line>
<Line>London</Line>
<PostCode>WC1 1AA</PostCode>
</Address>
</Person>
is two fold:
1. The inner "Address" nodes represent another object. In this case, it is an ArrayList, but it could have been Array(of String) or other type of list object, while the PostalCode is a separate property.If I had Address as Array(of String) then all parts of address would have serialized as <Line> elements, including the Postcode
2. The ordering, I believe, comes from the order in the object, so you can end up with the Address lines before the postal code by changing order of the list and the string. If this does not work, there is a hierarchy that simple types are rendered prior to complex types, but I do not think this is the case.The order in the class doesnt seem to make any difference ie Postcode property appears after Address property in class but before in the serialized file
--
Gregory A. Beamer
MVP; MCP: +I, SE, SD, DBA
Blog:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/GregoryBeamer
*************************************************
| Think outside the box! |
*************************************************
"Terry Holland" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:ePWLo7BkJHA.1172@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWhen I call the SerializeObject method in Test.clsPerson the following XML
is saved to file
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Person xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance";
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema";>
<Name>John Smith</Name>
<Address>
<PostCode>WC1 1AA</PostCode>
<Address>
<Line>1 Acacia Avenue</Line>
<Line>London</Line>
</Address>
</Address>
</Person>
How could I change things so the the XML file produced is of this format:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Person xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance";
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema";>
<Name>John Smith</Name>
<Address>
<Line>1 Acacia Avenue</Line>
<Line>London</Line>
<PostCode>WC1 1AA</PostCode>
</Address>
</Person>
The changes required are
1) The <Address> element does not get repeated for the Address property of
clsPerson and the Address arraylist in clsAddress.
2) The <PostCode> element appears below the <Line> elements
tia
Terry Holland
'=========================================================
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml.Serialization
Namespace Test
<XmlRoot("Person", [Namespace]:="", IsNullable:=False)> _
Public Class clsPerson
Public Name As String = ""
Public Address As clsAddress
Public Sub New()
Name = "John Smith"
Address = New clsAddress
End Sub
Public Sub SerializeObject()
Try
' Create a new XmlSerializer instance.
Dim s As New
Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(GetType(clsPerson))
' Writing the XML file to disk requires a TextWriter.
Dim writer As New StreamWriter("C:\Test.xml")
' Serialize the object, and close the StreamWriter.
s.Serialize(writer, Me)
writer.Close()
Catch x As System.InvalidOperationException
Throw x
End Try
End Sub
End Class
Public Class clsAddress
Private m_alLine As New ArrayList
Public PostCode As String = ""
Public Sub New()
m_alLine.Add("1 Acacia Avenue")
m_alLine.Add("London")
PostCode = "WC1 1AA"
End Sub
<XmlArray("Address"), XmlArrayItem("Line", GetType(String))> _
Public Property Address() As ArrayList
Get
Return m_alLine
End Get
Set(ByVal value As ArrayList)
m_alLine = value
End Set
End Property
End Class
End Namespace
- References:
- Serialization Question
- From: Terry Holland
- Re: Serialization Question
- From: Cowboy \(Gregory A. Beamer\)
- Re: Serialization Question
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