Not possible to XML data from object

Question

I have a very simple application, where a XML file is de-serialized into objects. When I try to read out the values from the object I get null .

My XML-file looks like this:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
    <Settings>
      <HomePage>http://www.google.dk</HomePage>
      <DefaultAudioLevel>100</DefaultAudioLevel>
    </Settings>

And my model looks like this:

[Serializable()]
public class Settings
{   
    [XmlElement("HomePage")]
    public string Homepage { get; set; }

    [XmlElement("DefaultAudioLevel")]
    public string DefaultAudioLevel { get; set; }
}

And the SettingSerializer.cs :

public class SettingSerializer
{
    private string path;
    private string EXE = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name;
    Settings settings = null;

    public SettingSerializer(string xmlPath = null)
    {
        path = new FileInfo(xmlPath ?? EXE + ".xml").FullName.ToString();
    }

    public void Deserialize()
    {
        XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Settings));

        StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(path);
        settings = (Settings)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
        reader.Close();
    }
}

And my test class:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    SettingSerializer serializer = new SettingSerializer();

    serializer.Deserialize();

    Settings settings = new Settings();

    Console.WriteLine(settings.Homepage);    

    Console.WriteLine(settings.DefaultAudioLevel);

    Console.ReadKey();
}

Can anybody spot the error?

Answer 1

Change your Serializer to this:

public class SettingSerializer
{
    private string path;
    private string EXE = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name;

    public SettingSerializer(string xmlPath = null)
    {
        path = new FileInfo(xmlPath ?? EXE + ".xml").FullName.ToString();
    }

    public Settings Deserialize()
    {
        XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Settings));

        StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(path);
        var settings = (Settings)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
        reader.Close();

        return settings;
    }
}

Then in your main method you can do this:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    SettingSerializer serializer = new SettingSerializer();

    Settings settings = serializer.Deserialize();

    Console.WriteLine(settings.Homepage);    

    Console.WriteLine(settings.DefaultAudioLevel);

    Console.ReadKey();
}

As you had it originally, there is no connection between the settings that was being deserialized and the settings that was contained in the main method. You just create a new object and print out whatever its default values are, which in your case are null or empty strings.