Question

1. I auto-generated some classes using xsd.exe for a project I am working on.
2. I am building an xml document using the auto-generated classes.
3. A subset of the schema is very html-like and I am trying to bring raw HTML into my classes
4. To that end, I’m trying to deserialize an HTML snippet into the class (not the root node) that corresponds to HTML in my document.

It sounds good in theory right? The problem is that my raw text wont deserialize. Am I doing something wrong? I have a lot of experience with XML and basic experience with the .NET XmlSerializer. The serializer doesn’t error, it just fails to deserialize the contents.

This is the code I am using to deserialize:

    Dim FromValue As String = "<StrucDoc.Text><table><tr><td>Inside Text</td></tr></table></StrucDoc.Text>"
    Dim ms As New IO.MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(FromValue))
    Dim ToValue As HL7.V3.StrucDocText
    Dim t As New System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(GetType(HL7.V3.StrucDocText))
    ToValue = t.Deserialize(ms)

The is the important part of the auto-generated code… It’s very large:

'''<remarks/>
<System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("xsd", "4.0.30319.1"), _
 System.SerializableAttribute(), _
 System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute(), _
 System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code"), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTypeAttribute(TypeName:="StrucDoc.Text", [Namespace]:="urn:hl7-org:v3")> _
Partial Public Class StrucDocText

Private itemsField() As Object

Private textField() As String

Private idField As String

Private languageField As String

Private styleCodeField As String

Private mediaTypeField As String

Public Sub New()
    MyBase.New()
    Me.mediaTypeField = "text/x-hl7-text+xml"
End Sub

'''<remarks/>
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("br", GetType(StrucDocBr)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("content", GetType(StrucDocContent)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("footnote", GetType(StrucDocFootnote)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("footnoteRef", GetType(StrucDocFootnoteRef)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("linkHtml", GetType(StrucDocLinkHtml)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("list", GetType(StrucDocList)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("paragraph", GetType(StrucDocParagraph)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("renderMultiMedia", GetType(StrucDocRenderMultiMedia)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("sub", GetType(StrucDocSub)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("sup", GetType(StrucDocSup)), _
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("table", GetType(StrucDocTable))> _
Public Property Items() As Object()
    Get
        Return Me.itemsField
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As Object())
        Me.itemsField = value
    End Set
End Property

'''<remarks/>
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTextAttribute()> _
Public Property Text() As String()
    Get
        Return Me.textField
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As String())
        Me.textField = value
    End Set
End Property

'''<remarks/>
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlAttributeAttribute(DataType:="ID")> _
Public Property ID() As String
    Get
        Return Me.idField
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As String)
        Me.idField = value
    End Set
End Property

'''<remarks/>
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlAttributeAttribute(DataType:="NMTOKEN")> _
Public Property language() As String
    Get
        Return Me.languageField
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As String)
        Me.languageField = value
    End Set
End Property

'''<remarks/>
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlAttributeAttribute(DataType:="NMTOKENS")> _
Public Property styleCode() As String
    Get
        Return Me.styleCodeField
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As String)
        Me.styleCodeField = value
    End Set
End Property

'''<remarks/>
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlAttributeAttribute()> _
Public Property mediaType() As String
    Get
        Return Me.mediaTypeField
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As String)
        Me.mediaTypeField = value
    End Set
End Property
End Class

After execution, the ToValue.itemsField == null. I am expecting an array with one StrucDocTable element.

Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Found the answer and I am sharing it for the sanity of all. I had two problems:

1. The html just be exactly formatted in the desired structure. I added tbody to the HTML.

2. Added XML namespacing to the markup and the XmlSerializer construction.

   Dim FromValue As String = "<StrucDoc.Text xmlns=""urn:hl7-org:v3""><table><tbody><tr><td>Inside Text</td></tr></tbody></table></StrucDoc.Text>"
   Dim ms As New IO.MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(FromValue))
   Dim ToValue As HL7.V3.StrucDocText
   Dim t As New System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(GetType(HL7.V3.StrucDocText), "urn:hl7-org:v3")
   ToValue = t.Deserialize(ms)
   

After this, I get my values exactly as expected! I hope this helps someone out there!