C# Write property as CDATA when serializing to XML

problem

I have a simple CronItem object, I am serializing it to XML, and I want that its Info value to be wrapped inside a CDATA section when serializing, to obtain something like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<CronItem>
  <Id>42</Id>
  <Name>Bloat</Name>
  <Info><![CDATA[gibberish]]></Info>
</CronItem>

This is the CronItem class:

public partial class CronItem
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Info { get; set; }
}
solution

I had to make CronItem implement the IXmlSerializable interface, and use the WriteCData method on the Info property. Here is the full class:

using System;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Schema;
using System.Xml.Serialization;

namespace DummyConsoleApp
{
    public partial class CronItem : IXmlSerializable
    {
        public XmlSchema GetSchema()
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }

        public void ReadXml(XmlReader reader)
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }

        public void WriteXml(XmlWriter writer)
        {
            writer.WriteElementString("Id", Id.ToString());
            writer.WriteElementString("Name", Name);

            writer.WriteStartElement("Info");

            if (Info != null)
            {
                writer.WriteCData(Info);
            }

            writer.WriteEndElement();
        }
    }
}

This is the full program that calls the serialization process:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Serialization;

namespace DummyConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var cronItem = new CronItem
            {
                Id = 42,
                Name = "Bloat",
                Info = "gibberish"
            };

            Console.Write(Serialize(cronItem));
            Console.Read();
        }

        public static string Serialize<T>(T value)
        {
            var xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
            var stringWriter = new StringWriter();

            using (var writer = XmlWriter.Create(stringWriter))
            {
                xmlSerializer.Serialize(writer, value);
                return stringWriter.ToString();
            }
        }
    }
}
Gravatar
Author: Dan Dumitru
Last Edit: February 7, 2021
Last Edit February 7, 2021
Created May 7, 2020
Views 185
Tags
C#

Join us!

Do you like this website?

Bookmark it and come back here to write a post yourself when you run into something shareable.

Early collaborators will get to own a part of the project (5 to 20%)... >> read more

Your Comment

Feel free to post additional info or improvement suggestions.
preview
Optional, never shown, displays gravatar.

Formatting Tips

This editor uses Markdown to easily add code in your posts.

Triple backticks for full line(s) of code (or indent 4 spaces)

```
let foo = 'bar';
```

[link text](http://a.com)

*italic* **bold**

More Tips