How do I serialize an enum value as an int?

The easiest way is to use [XmlEnum] attribute like so:

[Serializable]
public enum EnumToSerialize
{
    [XmlEnum("1")]
    One = 1,
    [XmlEnum("2")]
    Two = 2
}

This will serialize into XML (say that the parent class is CustomClass) like so:

<CustomClass>
  <EnumValue>2</EnumValue>
</CustomClass>

Most of the time, people want names, not ints. You could add a shim property for the purpose?

[XmlIgnore]
public MyEnum Foo {get;set;}

[XmlElement("Foo")]
[EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never), Browsable(false)]
public int FooInt32 {
    get {return (int)Foo;}
    set {Foo = (MyEnum)value;}
}

Or you could use IXmlSerializable, but that is lots of work.

Please see the full example Console Application program below for an interesting way to achieve what you're looking for using the DataContractSerializer:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    [DataContract(Namespace="petermcg.wordpress.com")]
    public class Request
    {
        [DataMember(EmitDefaultValue = false)]
        public RequestType request;
    }

    [DataContract(Namespace = "petermcg.wordpress.com")]
    public enum RequestType
    {
        [EnumMember(Value = "1")]
        Booking = 1,
        [EnumMember(Value = "2")]
        Confirmation = 2,
        [EnumMember(Value = "4")]
        PreBooking = 4,
        [EnumMember(Value = "5")]
        PreBookingConfirmation = 5,
        [EnumMember(Value = "6")]
        BookingStatus = 6
    }

    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            DataContractSerializer serializer = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(Request));

            // Create Request object
            Request req = new Request();
            req.request = RequestType.Confirmation;

            // Serialize to File
            using (FileStream fileStream = new FileStream("request.txt", FileMode.Create))
            {
                serializer.WriteObject(fileStream, req);
            }

            // Reset for testing
            req = null;

            // Deserialize from File
            using (FileStream fileStream = new FileStream("request.txt", FileMode.Open))
            {
                req = serializer.ReadObject(fileStream) as Request;
            }

            // Writes True
            Console.WriteLine(req.request == RequestType.Confirmation);
        }
    }
}

The contents of request.txt are as follows after the call to WriteObject:

<Request xmlns="petermcg.wordpress.com" xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
    <request>2</request>
</Request>

You'll need a reference to the System.Runtime.Serialization.dll assembly for DataContractSerializer.

using System.Xml.Serialization;

public class Request
{    
    [XmlIgnore()]
    public RequestType request;

    public int RequestTypeValue
    {
      get 
      {
        return (int)request;
      } 
      set
      {
        request=(RequestType)value; 
      }
    }
}

public enum RequestType
{
    Booking = 1,
    Confirmation = 2,
    PreBooking = 4,
    PreBookingConfirmation = 5,
    BookingStatus = 6
}

The above approach worked for me.

How do I serialize an enum value as an int?

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