XmlSerializatio n, inheritance and attribute overriding.

[Ian]

I've got this problem with overriding attributes on an inheritance
chain where the XmlSerializer is concerned. For example:

public class A
{
private string aWord = String.Empty();

[System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlEl ementAttribute( "a-word")]
public virtual string Word { get { return aWord; } set { aWord =
value; } }
}

public class B : A
{
[System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlEl ementAttribute( "b-word")]
public override string Word { get { return base.Word; } set {
base.Word = value; } }
... Other stuff...
}

The idea here is that when I serialize an instance of A, I want the
element corresponding to the Word property to show up as "<a-word>"
but when I serialize an instance of B, I want to have that property
serialized as "<b-word>". When the XmlSerializer goes to serialize
it, I get the following:

System.InvalidO perationExcepti on: Member 'B.Word' hides inherited
member 'A.Word', but has different custom attributes.

I've also tried making a new property that access the old one and
telling it to ignore the inherited one, but it still serializes the
inherited one anyway, which I dont want. for example:

public class B : A
{
[System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlEl ementAttribute( "b-word")]
public virtual string NewWord { get { return base.Word; } set {
base.Word = value; } }

[System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlIg noreAttribute()]
public override string Word { get { return base.Word; } set {
base.Word = value; } }

}

This yields two elements (one a-word and one b-word.) I want to hide
the a-word all together.

Now I've done a bunch of work with the design time components where
overriding declarative attributes on inheritance is common practice.
And furthermore I dont think this is a language problem. Is this just
not possible? Obviously I can reflect on it just prior to
serialization and remove the attributes at runtime, but the nicest
part of the XmlSerializatio n is that you can do all this stuff
declaratively, and not have to do a ton of footwork. Am I expecting
too much?

Ian