XmlConvert and Object type

[Jon the Blind]

I'm looking for a way to retrieve data via
System.Reflecti on.FieldInfo.Ge tValue (which returns an Object) and convert
it to XML using XmlConvert.ToSt ring.

XmlConvert accepts only specified data types, so I could have a big ugly
branching Select statement to call the correct ToString overload... but
there must be an easier way.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Jon

[Chris Lovett]

XmlConvert cannot convert any arbitrary object to XML. For that you need
the XmlSerializer:

YourObjectType t = ...
XmlSerializer s = new XmlSerializer(t ypeof(YourObjec tType));
s.Serialize(Con sole.Out, t);

This will give you all the public members. If you want to also serialize
the private state then use the System.Runtime. Serialization with the
System.Runtime. Serialization.F ormatters.Soap. SoapFormatter class.
"Jon the Blind" <no****@spamfre e.biz> wrote in message
news:e2******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP10.phx.gbl...

I'm looking for a way to retrieve data via
System.Reflecti on.FieldInfo.Ge tValue (which returns an Object) and convert
it to XML using XmlConvert.ToSt ring.

XmlConvert accepts only specified data types, so I could have a big ugly
branching Select statement to call the correct ToString overload... but
there must be an easier way.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Jon

[Jon the Blind]

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear enough about what I need. I'm not looking to
convert complex types, just value types (plus Guids and Strings) passed in a
variable of type Object.

I'm using Reflection to retrieve the values, and I want to insert them into
XML attributes. The safest way to do this is with XmlConvert, but it won't
accept an Object type. I can write a big branching statement for all the
possible actual types of my object (per sample code below), but I was hoping
for something a little more elegant.

Dim xmlString as String
Dim value as Object = CType(myStuffFr omReflection,
FieldInfo).GetV alue(someObj)

If TypeOf(obj) Is String Then
dim s as String = CType(value, String)
xmlString = XmlConvert.ToSt ring(s) ' ToString only has overloads
for strongly-typed variables
ElseIf TypeOf(obj) Is Integer Then
dim i as Integer = CType(value, Integer)
xmlString = XmlConvert.ToSt ring(i)
' etc...
Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Jon


"Jon the Blind" <no****@spamfre e.biz> wrote in message
news:e2******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP10.phx.gbl...

I'm looking for a way to retrieve data via
System.Reflecti on.FieldInfo.Ge tValue (which returns an Object) and convert
it to XML using XmlConvert.ToSt ring.

XmlConvert accepts only specified data types, so I could have a big ugly
branching Select statement to call the correct ToString overload... but
there must be an easier way.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Jon