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();