It is not possible with XmlSerializer. You could achieve this with DataContractSerializer using the PreserveObjectReferences property. You may take a look at this post which explains the details.
Here's a sample code:
public class Person
{
public string Name;
public Person Friend;
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Person p1 = new Person();
p1.Name = "John";
Person p2 = new Person();
p2.Name = "Mike";
p1.Friend = p2;
Person[] group = new Person[] { p1, p2 };
var serializer = new DataContractSerializer(group.GetType(), null,
0x7FFF /*maxItemsInObjectGraph*/,
false /*ignoreExtensionDataObject*/,
true /*preserveObjectReferences : this is where the magic happens */,
null /*dataContractSurrogate*/);
serializer.WriteObject(Console.OpenStandardOutput(), group);
}
}
This produces the following XML:
<ArrayOfPerson z:Id="1" z:Size="2" xmlns="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/ToDelete" xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:z="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/">
<Person z:Id="2">
<Friend z:Id="3">
<Friend i:nil="true"/>
<Name z:Id="4">Mike</Name>
</Friend>
<Name z:Id="5">John</Name>
</Person>
<Person z:Ref="3" i:nil="true"/>
</ArrayOfPerson>
Now set PreserveObjectReferences
to false
in the constructor and you will get this:
<ArrayOfPerson xmlns="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/ToDelete" xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Person>
<Friend>
<Friend i:nil="true"/>
<Name>Mike</Name>
</Friend>
<Name>John</Name>
</Person>
<Person>
<Friend i:nil="true"/>
<Name>Mike</Name>
</Person>
</ArrayOfPerson>
It is worth mentioning that the XML produced this way is not interoperable and can only be deserialized with a DataContractSerializer (same remark as with the BinaryFormatter).
与恶龙缠斗过久,自身亦成为恶龙;凝视深渊过久,深渊将回以凝视…