Serializing/Deserializing XML files in C#

Suppose we start from a bare XML file we know nothing about. The easiest way to turn it to C# object is to use XSD executable from Microsoft SDK.

Mine xsd.exe was located in:

'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\bin\xsd.exe'

There are 4 simple stept on how to use xsd and then Visual Studio to deserialize XML:

1. Access Visual Studio command prompt from Start Menu > Program Files >Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 > Visual Studio Tools.
2. From the current directory, type XSD.exe . This will list all the arguments and options for the said utility.
3. To create a schema file from an existing *.xml file, type XSD.exe \path to your xml\filename.xml. The XSD file will be created on the current directory.
4. To create a class file from the schema file, type XSD.exe \path to your schema\filename.xsd  /c . The class file will be created on the current directory.

In my case Config was the base class XSD tool has given me in output C# class:

            XmlSerializer s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Config));

            Config newCfg;

            XmlReader r = XmlReader.Create("epuapcfg.xml");

            //TextReader r = new StreamReader("epuapcfg.xml");

            newCfg = (Config)s.Deserialize(r);

            r.Close();


TIP1: Always remember that ALL classes must have parameterless constructors to be serialized!!!!