C# XmlSerializer Add an Attribute to a Field

Question

I want to add a custom Attribute belonging to a field

Goal is to get the following XML:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<doc>
    <assembly>
        <name>class1</name>
    </assembly>
    <members>
      <member name="P:class1.clsPerson.isAlive">
            <Element>
            isAlive
            </Element>
            <Description>
            Whether the object is alive or dead
            </Description>
            <StandardValue>
            false
            </StandardValue>
        </member>
    </members>
</doc>

What I currently have:

 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using System.Xml.Serialization;

 namespace class1
 {
     public class clsPerson
     {
         [XmlElement(ElementName="isAlive")]
         [Description("Whether the object is alive or dead")]
         [StandardValue(false)]
         public bool isAlive { get; set; }
     }

     class Program
     {
         static void Main(string[] args)
         {
             clsPerson p = new clsPerson();
             p.isAlive = true;
             System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer x = new System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(p.GetType());
             x.Serialize(Console.Out, p);
             Console.WriteLine();
             Console.ReadLine();
         }
     }
 }

My current Annotation classes:

using System;

namespace class1
{
    internal class StandardValueAttribute : Attribute
    {
        public readonly object DefaultValue;

        public StandardValueAttribute(Object defaultValue)
        {
            this.DefaultValue = defaultValue;
        }
    }
}

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace class1
{
    internal class DescriptionAttribute : Attribute
    {
        private string v;

        public DescriptionAttribute(string v)
        {
            this.v = v;
        }
    }
}

How can I add my custom Attributes like Description and StandardValue to the XMLSerializer?

Answer 1

It looks like you want to reinvent the wheel. if you trying to export a code documentation I suggest you using the built in functionality:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b2s063f7.aspx

The XML documentation files are then generated and you can even use them in intellisense

The XMLSerializer will just store the content of an instance.

Answer 2

Using xml Linq

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Linq;

namespace ConsoleApplication14
{
    class Program
    {
        const string FILENAME = @"c:\temp\test.xml";
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            XDocument doc = XDocument.Load(FILENAME);
            string name = "P:class1.clsPerson.isAlive";

            XElement person = doc.Descendants("member").Where(x => (string)x.Attribute("name") == name).FirstOrDefault();
            person.Add(new object[] {
                new XElement("Description", "Whether the object is alive or dead"),
                new XElement("StandardValue", false)
            });
        }

    }

}