XmlSerializer.UnknownElement Event

Definition

Occurs when the XmlSerializer encounters an XML element of unknown type during deserialization.

public:
 event System::Xml::Serialization::XmlElementEventHandler ^ UnknownElement;
public event System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementEventHandler UnknownElement;
member this.UnknownElement : System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementEventHandler 
Public Custom Event UnknownElement As XmlElementEventHandler 

Event Type

Examples

The following example deserializes a class named Group from a file named UnknownElements.xml. Whenever an element is found in the file that has no corresponding member in the class, the UnknownElement event occurs. To try the example, paste the following XML code into a file named UnknownElements.xml.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Group xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <GroupName>MyGroup</GroupName>
  <GroupSize>Large</GroupSize>
  <GroupNumber>444</GroupNumber>
  <GroupBase>West</GroupBase>
</Group>
#using <System.Xml.dll>
#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml::Serialization;
using namespace System::Xml;
using namespace System::Xml::Schema;

public ref class Group
{
public:
   String^ GroupName;
};

public ref class Test
{
private:
   void Serializer_UnknownElement( Object^ sender, XmlElementEventArgs^ e )
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "Unknown Element" );
      Console::Write( "\t {0}", e->Element->Name );
      Console::WriteLine( " {0}", e->Element->InnerXml );
      Console::WriteLine( "\t LineNumber: {0}", e->LineNumber );
      Console::WriteLine( "\t LinePosition: {0}", e->LinePosition );
      Group^ x = dynamic_cast<Group^>(e->ObjectBeingDeserialized);
      Console::WriteLine( x->GroupName );
      Console::WriteLine( sender );
   }

public:
   void DeserializeObject( String^ filename )
   {
      XmlSerializer^ ser = gcnew XmlSerializer( Group::typeid );

      // Add a delegate to handle unknown element events.
      ser->UnknownElement += gcnew XmlElementEventHandler( this, &Test::Serializer_UnknownElement );

      // A FileStream is needed to read the XML document.
      FileStream^ fs = gcnew FileStream( filename,FileMode::Open );
      Group^ g = dynamic_cast<Group^>(ser->Deserialize( fs ));
      fs->Close();
   }
};

int main()
{
   Test^ t = gcnew Test;

   // Deserialize the file containing unknown elements.
   t->DeserializeObject( "UnknownElements.xml" );
}
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Schema;

public class Group{
   public string GroupName;
}

public class Test{
   static void Main(){
      Test t = new Test();
      // Deserialize the file containing unknown elements.
      t.DeserializeObject("UnknownElements.xml");
   }
   private void Serializer_UnknownElement(object sender, XmlElementEventArgs e){
      Console.WriteLine("Unknown Element");
      Console.WriteLine("\t" + e.Element.Name + " " + e.Element.InnerXml);
      Console.WriteLine("\t LineNumber: " + e.LineNumber);
      Console.WriteLine("\t LinePosition: " + e.LinePosition);
      
      Group x  = (Group) e.ObjectBeingDeserialized;
      Console.WriteLine (x.GroupName);
      Console.WriteLine (sender.ToString());
   }
   private void DeserializeObject(string filename){
      XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Group));
      // Add a delegate to handle unknown element events.
      ser.UnknownElement+=new XmlElementEventHandler(Serializer_UnknownElement);
      // A FileStream is needed to read the XML document.
     FileStream fs = new FileStream(filename, FileMode.Open);
     Group g = (Group) ser.Deserialize(fs);
     fs.Close();
    }
}
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml.Serialization
Imports System.Xml
Imports System.Xml.Schema

Public Class Group
   Public GroupName As String 
End Class

Public Class Test
   Shared Sub Main()
      Dim t As Test = new Test()
      ' Deserialize the file containing unknown elements.
      t.DeserializeObject("UnknownElements.xml")
   End Sub

   Private Sub Serializer_UnknownElement _
   (sender As Object , e As XmlElementEventArgs)
      Console.WriteLine("Unknown Element")
      Console.WriteLine(ControlChars.Tab & e.Element.Name + " " & e.Element.InnerXml)
      Console.WriteLine(ControlChars.Tab & e.LineNumber & ":"  & e.LineNumber)
      Console.WriteLine(ControlChars.Tab & e.LinePosition & ":"   & e.LinePosition)
      
      Dim x As Group = CType( e.ObjectBeingDeserialized, Group)
      Console.WriteLine (x.GroupName)
      Console.WriteLine (sender.ToString())
   End Sub
   
   Private Sub DeserializeObject(filename As String)
      Dim ser As XmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(GetType(Group))
      ' Add a delegate to handle unknown element events.
      AddHandler ser.UnknownElement, _
      AddressOf Serializer_UnknownElement 
      ' A FileStream is needed to read the XML document.
     Dim fs As FileStream  = new FileStream(filename, FileMode.Open)
     Dim g  As Group = CType(ser.Deserialize(fs),Group)
     fs.Close()
   End Sub
End Class

Remarks

By default, after calling the Deserialize method, the XmlSerializer ignores XML attributes of unknown types. However, you can use this event to handle such node types.

Note

If the XmlAnyElementAttribute is applied to a field that returns an array of XmlElement objects, all unknown elements are collected in the array. In that case, the UnknownElement event does not occur.

Applies to

See also