Cannot deserialize list of elements in child node using XMLSerializer

Question

I have the following schema (part of it is posted):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <xsd:element name="RESPONSE">
        <xsd:complexType>
            <xsd:sequence>
                <xsd:element ref="SERVICE"/>
                <xsd:element ref="ACTION"/>
                <xsd:element ref="STATUS"/>
                <xsd:element ref="HEADER"/>
                <xsd:element ref="MESSAGE"/>
            </xsd:sequence>
        </xsd:complexType>
    </xsd:element>
    <xsd:element name="SERVICE" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="ACTION" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="STATUS" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="MESSAGE">
        <xsd:complexType>
            <xsd:sequence>
                <xsd:choice>
                    <xsd:element ref="ITEM" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                    <xsd:element ref="PARSER"/>
                </xsd:choice>
            </xsd:sequence>
        </xsd:complexType>
    </xsd:element>
    <xsd:element name="HEADER">
        <xsd:complexType>
            <xsd:sequence>
                <xsd:element ref="MEMBER_ID"/>
                <xsd:element ref="USER_ID"/>
                <xsd:element ref="RUN_NO"/>
                <xsd:element ref="TOT_ITEMS"/>
                <xsd:element ref="ERR_ITEMS"/>
            </xsd:sequence>
        </xsd:complexType>
    </xsd:element>
    <xsd:element name="ITEM">
        <xsd:complexType>
            <xsd:sequence>
                <xsd:element ref="ENQUIRY_REFERENCE" minOccurs="0"/>
                <xsd:choice>
                    <xsd:element ref="RSP_REPORT"/>
                    <xsd:sequence>
                        <xsd:element ref="ERROR" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                        <xsd:element ref="NO_ERRORS"/>
                    </xsd:sequence>
                </xsd:choice>
            </xsd:sequence>
            <xsd:attribute name="seq" type="xsd:string" use="optional"/>
        </xsd:complexType>
    </xsd:element>
    <xsd:element name="MEMBER_ID" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="USER_ID" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="RUN_NO" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="TOT_ITEMS" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="ERR_ITEMS" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="RSP_MSG" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="CONSUMER_SEQ" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="FIELD" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="DATA" type="xsd:string"/>
    <xsd:element name="NO_ERRORS" type="xsd:string"/>
</xsd:schema>

Now, I used the XSD2Code to generate the following class (only a part of it is shown):

    namespace EnquiryRsp
{
    using System;
    using System.Diagnostics;
    using System.Xml.Serialization;
    using System.Collections;
    using System.Xml.Schema;
    using System.ComponentModel;
    using System.Collections.Generic;


    public partial class RESPONSE
    {

        private string sERVICEField;

        private string aCTIONField;

        private string sTATUSField;

        private HEADER hEADERField;

        private MESSAGE mESSAGEField;

        public RESPONSE()
        {
            this.mESSAGEField = new MESSAGE();
            this.hEADERField = new HEADER();
        }

        public string SERVICE
        {
            get
            {
                return this.sERVICEField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.sERVICEField = value;
            }
        }

        public string ACTION
        {
            get
            {
                return this.aCTIONField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.aCTIONField = value;
            }
        }

        public string STATUS
        {
            get
            {
                return this.sTATUSField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.sTATUSField = value;
            }
        }

        public HEADER HEADER
        {
            get
            {
                return this.hEADERField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.hEADERField = value;
            }
        }

        public MESSAGE MESSAGE
        {
            get
            {
                return this.mESSAGEField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.mESSAGEField = value;
            }
        }
    }

    public partial class HEADER
    {

        private string mEMBER_IDField;

        private string uSER_IDField;

        private string rUN_NOField;

        private string tOT_ITEMSField;

        private string eRR_ITEMSField;

        public string MEMBER_ID
        {
            get
            {
                return this.mEMBER_IDField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.mEMBER_IDField = value;
            }
        }

        public string USER_ID
        {
            get
            {
                return this.uSER_IDField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.uSER_IDField = value;
            }
        }

        public string RUN_NO
        {
            get
            {
                return this.rUN_NOField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.rUN_NOField = value;
            }
        }

        public string TOT_ITEMS
        {
            get
            {
                return this.tOT_ITEMSField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.tOT_ITEMSField = value;
            }
        }

        public string ERR_ITEMS
        {
            get
            {
                return this.eRR_ITEMSField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.eRR_ITEMSField = value;
            }
        }
    }

    public partial class MESSAGE
    {

        private List<object> itemsField;

        public MESSAGE()
        {
            this.itemsField = new List<object>();
        }

        public List<object> Items
        {
            get
            {
                return this.itemsField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.itemsField = value;
            }
        }
    }

    public partial class ITEM
    {

        private string eNQUIRY_REFERENCEField;

        private List<object> itemsField;

        private string seqField;

        public ITEM()
        {
            this.itemsField = new List<object>();
        }

        public string ENQUIRY_REFERENCE
        {
            get
            {
                return this.eNQUIRY_REFERENCEField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.eNQUIRY_REFERENCEField = value;
            }
        }

        public List<object> Items
        {
            get
            {
                return this.itemsField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.itemsField = value;
            }
        }

        public string seq
        {
            get
            {
                return this.seqField;
            }
            set
            {
                this.seqField = value;
            }
        }
    }

  }

The following is the XML I am trying to deserialize:

    <RESPONSE xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="EnquiryRsp.xsd">
    <SERVICE>ENQUIRY</SERVICE>
    <ACTION>A_SC</ACTION>
    <STATUS>OK</STATUS>
    <HEADER>
        <MEMBER_ID>XXX</MEMBER_ID>
        <USER_ID>XXXXX</USER_ID>
        <RUN_NO>1</RUN_NO>
        <TOT_ITEMS>1</TOT_ITEMS>
        <ERR_ITEMS/>
    </HEADER>
    <MESSAGE>
        <ITEM>
            <ENQUIRY_REFERENCE>FOS000279511111UKU</ENQUIRY_REFERENCE>
            <RSP_REPORT>
                <ENQUIRY_TYPE>RV</ENQUIRY_TYPE>
                <REPORT_DATE>26/12/2007</REPORT_DATE>
                <ENQUIRY_NO>17248697</ENQUIRY_NO>
                <PRODUCT_TYPE>PLN</PRODUCT_TYPE>
                <NO_OF_APPLICANTS>1</NO_OF_APPLICANTS>
                <ACCOUNT_TYPE>S</ACCOUNT_TYPE>
                <ENQUIRY_REFERENCE>FOS000279511111UKU</ENQUIRY_REFERENCE>
                <AMOUNT>0.00</AMOUNT>
                <MBR_TYPE>FULL</MBR_TYPE>
                <MBR_STS>ACTIV</MBR_STS>
                <CONSUMER>      
                </CONSUMER>
                <DISCLAIMER>
                    <DI_TEXT></DI_TEXT>
                    <DI_TEXT_AR lang="ar"></DI_TEXT_AR>
                </DISCLAIMER>
            </RSP_REPORT>
        </ITEM>
    </MESSAGE>
</RESPONSE>

I am unable to deserialize ITEM list within the Message. When I deserialize the XML with XmlSerializer.Deserialize method, it does not fail but keeps Message.Items list empty. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

try to use

[XmlRoot("RESPONSE")] public partial class RESPONSE

[XmlElement("SERVICE")] public string SERVICE

example

    [XmlRoot("Context")]
    public class Context
    {
        public Context() { this.Persons = new Persons(); }

        [XmlArray("Persons")]
        [XmlArrayItem("Person")]
        public Persons Persons { get; set; }
    }

    public class Persons : List<Human> { }

    public class  Human
    {
        public Human() { }
        public Human(string name) { Name = name; }
        public string Name { get; set; }
    }

    class Program
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Context ctx = new Context();
            ctx.Persons.Add(new Human("john"));
            ctx.Persons.Add(new Human("jane"));

            var writer = new StringWriter();
            new XmlSerializer(typeof(Context)).Serialize(writer, ctx);

            Console.WriteLine(writer.ToString());
        }
    }