How to cast Dataset to Strongly Typed Object ?

[samundramanthan]

Following is my xml file called PropertyInfo.xml :-

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<PropertyInformation>
  <locations>
    <location name="Bombay">
      <Buildings>
        <Building name="Majestic House">
          <Rooms>
            <Room name="Delmonte Conference Room">
              <Capacity>325</Capacity>
            </Room>
            <Room name="Majestic Ballroom">
              <Capacity>150</Capacity>
            </Room>
          </Rooms>
        </Building>
 
        <Building name="Taj Mahal Palace Hotel">
          <Rooms>
            <Room name="THE LUXURY GRANDE">
              <Capacity>4</Capacity>
            </Room>
          </Rooms>
        </Building>
      </Buildings>
    </location>
    <location name="New York">
      <Buildings>
        <Building name="City Group Center">
          <Rooms>
            <Room name="LeMessurier Hall">
              <Capacity>210</Capacity>
            </Room>
          </Rooms>
        </Building>
      </Buildings>
    </location>
  </locations>
</PropertyInformation>

I created following 4 Models to map above xml file :-

public class Room
{
        [XmlAttribute("name")]
        public String Name { get; set; }
        public int Capacity { get; set; }
}
 
 public class Building
 {
        [XmlAttribute("name")]
        public String Name { get; set; }
        public List<Room> Rooms { get; set; }
 }
 
 public class Location
 {
        [XmlAttribute("name")]
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public Building Buildings { get; set; }
 }
 
[XmlRoot("PropertyInformation")]
 public class PropertyInformation
 {
        [XmlArray("locations")]
        [XmlArrayItem("location")]
        public List<Location> Locations { get; set; }
 }
 
 I created following DAL class to load the information from PropertyInfo.xml :-
 
public class PropertyInfoDal
{
  public List<Location> LoadPropertyInfo()
  {           
    DataSet ds = new DataSet();
    XmlSerializer  xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(DataSet));
    FileStream readStream = new FileStream("~/App_Data/PropertyInfo.xml", FileMode.Open);
    ds = (DataSet) xmlSerializer.Deserialize(readStream);
    readStream.Close();
 
    //How to Cast DataSet to Strongly Typed Object( List<Location>) before it gets returned ??
    //I started with this much below
     List<Location> locations =  (from row in ds.Tables[0].AsEnumerable()
               select new PropertyLocation
                   {
                   Name = row.Field<String>("Name"),
                   Buildings = ?????
                   }).ToList();
 
       return  locations;
       }
}

In above LoadPropertyInfo() method, how to cast DataSet to List<Location> locations before returning "locations" ? Pls help. Thanks!

[RachelCook]

Actually, I'm not that good in the dataset, but I think this website http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163877.aspx can help you a little to solve your problem. Just try it, there's no harm in trying.

[Joseph Martell]

Remember that XML Serialization is meant as a shortcut so you don't have to write as much code by hand to store and retrieve your objects from files. In this case you can actually bypass the data set completely and just put your xml directly into your objects.

First, you have to fix an issue with your XML Serialization attributes. According to your XML file you are including an array of buildings in each location so Location should look like this:

    public class Location {
        [XmlAttribute("name")]
        public string Name { get; set; }
 
        [XmlArray("Buildings")]
        [XmlArrayItem("Building")]
        public List<Building> Buildings { get; set; }
    }
 

Then your deserialization code gets dramatically simpler:

        public List<Location> LoadPropertyInfo() {
            XmlSerializer  xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(PropertyInformation));
            FileStream readStream = new FileStream("Example.xml", FileMode.Open);
 
            PropertyInformation pi = (PropertyInformation)xmlSerializer.Deserialize(readStream);    
            readStream.Close();
 
            return pi.Locations;
        }
 

This code can be improved with better error handling, but for an example it gets the job done.