Serialize a nullable int

Solution 1:

XmlSerializer supports the ShouldSerialize{Foo}() pattern, so you can add a method:

public bool ShouldSerializeID() {return ID.HasValue;}

There is also the {Foo}Specified pattern - not sure if XmlSerializer supports that one.

Solution 2:

I'm using this micro-pattern to implement Nullable serialization:

[XmlIgnore]
public double? SomeValue { get; set; }

[XmlAttribute("SomeValue")] // or [XmlElement("SomeValue")]
[EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never)]
public double XmlSomeValue { get { return SomeValue.Value; } set { SomeValue= value; } }  
[EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never)]
public bool XmlSomeValueSpecified { get { return SomeValue.HasValue; } }

This provides the right interface to the user without compromise and still does the right thing when serializing.

Solution 3:

I figured out a workaround utilizing two properties. An int? property with an XmlIgnore attribute and an object property which gets serialized.

    /// <summary>
    /// Score db record
    /// </summary>        
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlIgnore()]
    public int? ID 
    { 
        get 
        { 
            return iID_m; 
        } 
        set 
        { 
            iID_m = value; 
        } 
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Score db record
    /// </summary>        
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElement("ID",IsNullable = false)]
    public object IDValue
    {
        get
        {
            return ID;
        }
        set
        {
            if (value == null)
            {
                ID = null;
            }
            else if (value is int || value is int?)
            {
                ID = (int)value;
            }
            else
            {
                ID = int.Parse(value.ToString());
            }
        }
    }

Solution 4:

Wow thanks this question/answer really helped me out. I heart Stackoverflow.

I made what you are doing above a little more generic. All we're really looking for is to have Nullable with slightly different serialization behavior. I used Reflector to build my own Nullable, and added a few things here and there to make the XML serialization work the way we want. Seems to work pretty well:

public class Nullable<T>
{
    public Nullable(T value)
    {
        _value = value;
        _hasValue = true;
    }

    public Nullable()
    {
        _hasValue = false;
    }

    [XmlText]
    public T Value
    {
        get
        {
            if (!HasValue)
                throw new InvalidOperationException();
            return _value;
        }
        set
        {
            _value = value;
            _hasValue = true;
        }
    }

    [XmlIgnore]
    public bool HasValue
        { get { return _hasValue; } }

    public T GetValueOrDefault()
        { return _value; }
    public T GetValueOrDefault(T i_defaultValue)
        { return HasValue ? _value : i_defaultValue; }

    public static explicit operator T(Nullable<T> i_value)
        { return i_value.Value; }
    public static implicit operator Nullable<T>(T i_value)
        { return new Nullable<T>(i_value); }

    public override bool Equals(object i_other)
    {
        if (!HasValue)
            return (i_other == null);
        if (i_other == null)
            return false;
        return _value.Equals(i_other);
    }

    public override int GetHashCode()
    {
        if (!HasValue)
            return 0;
        return _value.GetHashCode();
    }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        if (!HasValue)
            return "";
        return _value.ToString();
    }

    bool _hasValue;
    T    _value;
}

You lose the ability to have your members as int? and so on (have to use Nullable<int> instead) but other than that all behavior stays the same.

Solution 5:

Unfortunately, the behaviours you describe are accurately documented as such in the docs for XmlElementAttribute.IsNullable.