Convert XML String to Object

You need to use the xsd.exe tool which gets installed with the Windows SDK into a directory something similar to:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\bin

And on 64-bit computers:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\bin

And on Windows 10 computers:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\bin

On the first run, you use xsd.exe and you convert your sample XML into a XSD file (XML schema file):

xsd yourfile.xml

This gives you yourfile.xsd, which in a second step, you can convert again using xsd.exe into a C# class:

xsd yourfile.xsd /c

This should give you a file yourfile.cs which will contain a C# class that you can use to deserialize the XML file you're getting - something like:

XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(msg));msg resultingMessage = (msg)serializer.Deserialize(new XmlTextReader("yourfile.xml"));

Should work pretty well for most cases.

Update: the XML serializer will take any stream as its input - either a file or a memory stream will be fine:

XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(msg));MemoryStream memStream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(inputString));msg resultingMessage = (msg)serializer.Deserialize(memStream);

or use a StringReader:

XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(msg));StringReader rdr = new StringReader(inputString);msg resultingMessage = (msg)serializer.Deserialize(rdr);

You have two possibilities.

Method 1. XSD tool

1. Open Developer Command Prompt
   You can find it in Start Menu > Programs > Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 > Visual Studio Tools Or if you have Windows 8 can just start typing Developer Command Prompt in Start screen
2. Change location to your XML file directory by typing cd /D "C:\path\to\xml"
3. Create XSD file from your xml file by typing xsd file.xml
4. Create C# classes by typing xsd /c file.xsd

And that's it! You have generated C# classes from xml file in C:\path\to\xml\file.cs

Method 2 - Paste special

1. Copy content of your XML file to clipboard
2. Add to your solution new, empty class file (Shift+Alt+C)
3. Open that file and in menu click Edit > Paste special > Paste XML As Classes
   

And that's it!

Usage

Usage is very simple with this helper class:

using System;using System.IO;using System.Web.Script.Serialization; // Add reference: System.Web.Extensionsusing System.Xml;using System.Xml.Serialization;namespace Helpers{    internal static class ParseHelpers    {        private static JavaScriptSerializer json;        private static JavaScriptSerializer JSON { get { return json ?? (json = new JavaScriptSerializer()); } }        public static Stream ToStream(this string @this)        {            var stream = new MemoryStream();            var writer = new StreamWriter(stream);            writer.Write(@this);            writer.Flush();            stream.Position = 0;            return stream;        }        public static T ParseXML<T>(this string @this) where T : class        {            var reader = XmlReader.Create(@this.Trim().ToStream(), new XmlReaderSettings() { ConformanceLevel = ConformanceLevel.Document });            return new XmlSerializer(typeof(T)).Deserialize(reader) as T;        }        public static T ParseJSON<T>(this string @this) where T : class        {            return JSON.Deserialize<T>(@this.Trim());        }    }}

All you have to do now, is:

    public class JSONRoot    {        public catalog catalog { get; set; }    }    // ...    string xml = File.ReadAllText(@"D:\file.xml");    var catalog1 = xml.ParseXML<catalog>();    string json = File.ReadAllText(@"D:\file.json");    var catalog2 = json.ParseJSON<JSONRoot>();

Try this method to Convert Xml to an object. It is made for exactly what you are doing:

protected T FromXml<T>(String xml){    T returnedXmlClass = default(T);    try    {        using (TextReader reader = new StringReader(xml))        {            try            {                returnedXmlClass =                     (T)new XmlSerializer(typeof(T)).Deserialize(reader);            }            catch (InvalidOperationException)            {                // String passed is not XML, simply return defaultXmlClass            }        }    }    catch (Exception ex)    {    }    return returnedXmlClass ;        }

Call it using this code:

YourStrongTypedEntity entity = FromXml<YourStrongTypedEntity>(YourMsgString);