Question

If I have a base class that inherits from a generic list, and the derived class needs to be serialized with a custom name for the list entries how can I enter the correct serializartion attributes and/or refer to the base list?

public abstract class SpecialList<T> : List<T>
{
    //Other methods here 
}

public class Cache : SpecialList<CacheEntry>
{

    [XmlElementAttribute("CustomName")]
    public List<CacheEntry> Entries {
        get { return ???; }
        set { ??? = value; }
    }
}

Is this actually possible without either overriding the base class methods, writing custom serialization, or implementing IXmlSerializable?

I’m expecting to produce output XML something like this:

<cache>
    <customname></customname>
    <customname></customname>
</cache>

Answer 1

If you want to write elements with custom element names, you need to override the base class properties .. or write new methods to encapsulate the base class properties.