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Serialize and Deserialize an Object to an XML File in C# 2.0

The example in this tip uses an ArrayList object to serialize, deserialize, and store itself in an XML file. However, you can also use user-defined objects. First, add items to an ArrayList object:

ArrayList myItems = new ArrayList(); myItems.Add("item1");myItems.Add("item2");myItems.Add("item3");

Next, you need to serialize the myItems object and store it in a file named myItems.xml:

System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer serializer =   new System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(typeof(ArrayList));System.IO.TextWriter writer =   new System.IO.StreamWriter("myItems.xml", false);serializer.Serialize(writer, myItems);writer.Close();

Finally, deserialize the same object from myItems.xml:

System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer serializer =   new System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer(typeof(ArrayList));System.IO.TextReader reader =   new System.IO.StreamReader("myItems.xml");ArrayList ObjItems = (ArrayList)serializer.Deserialize(reader);reader.Close();

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