How to exclude a property from DataContractSerialization When It Has No Data?

Question

I'm using DataContractSerializer in my Web API application and in my action I'm returning a Data Type as below:

public class Event
{
  public string Name {get; set;}
  public IList<Division> Divisions {get;set;}
}

When serialized it's returning the below xml:

    <Event xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07
/EventTypeNameSpace">
        <Name>some name</Name>
        <Divisions i:nil="true" />
    </Event>

1) Why is it returning two xmlns:i and xmlns attributes? how can they be excluded?

2) How can I exclude the Divisions from the xml when it's null?

Marc Gravell · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-30 14:25:27Z

1

1: the "http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07" is the default namespace used by types serialized by data-contract serializer; if you don't like that - change your contract; the "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" defines "nil" as a special value

2: by defining the contract properly

[DataContract(Namespace="")]
public class Event
{
    [DataMember]
    public string Name { get; set; }

    [DataMember(EmitDefaultValue=false)]
    public IList<Division> Divisions { get; set; }
}

However: I should add - if you want tight control over what the layout looks like, you should probably be using XmlSerializer, not DataContractSerializer

answered May 30, 2013 at 14:25

Marc Gravell

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1 Comment

The Light Over a year ago

thanks. The problem is that if I add DataMember, I'd have to add it for all other members that I liked to avoid but it seems not possible.

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