XmlArrayAttribute.IsNullable Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Xml.Serialization

Assembly:

System.Xml.XmlSerializer.dll

Source:

XmlArrayAttribute.cs

Gets or sets a value that indicates whether the XmlSerializer must serialize a member as an empty XML tag with the xsi:nil attribute set to true.

public:
 property bool IsNullable { bool get(); void set(bool value); };

public bool IsNullable { get; set; }

member this.IsNullable : bool with get, set

Public Property IsNullable As Boolean

Property Value

Boolean

true if the XmlSerializer generates the xsi:nil attribute; otherwise, false.

Examples

The following example contains two arrays: one with the IsNullable property set to true, and another with the IsNullable property set to false.

public ref class MyClass
{
public:

   [XmlArray(IsNullable=true)]
   array<String^>^IsNullableIsTrueArray;

   [XmlArray(IsNullable=false)]
   array<String^>^IsNullableIsFalseArray;
};

public class MyClass
{
   [XmlArray (IsNullable = true)]
   public string [] IsNullableIsTrueArray;

   [XmlArray (IsNullable = false)]
   public string [] IsNullableIsFalseArray;
}

Public Class MyClass1
    <XmlArray(IsNullable := True)> _
    Public IsNullableIsTrueArray() As String

    <XmlArray(IsNullable := False)> _
    Public IsNullableIsFalseArray() As String
End Class

Remarks

The XML schema specification for structures allows an XML document to explicitly signal that an element's content is missing. Such an element contains the attribute xsi:nil set to true. For more information, see the World Wide Web Consortium specification titled XML Schema Part 1: Structures.

If the IsNullable property is set to true, the xsi:nil attribute is generated for class members that have been set to null. For example, if you set a field named MyStringArray to null, the XmlSerializer generates the following XML code.

<MyStringArray xsi:nil = "true" />  

If the IsNullable property is false, no XML element is generated.

Note

You cannot apply the IsNullable property to a member typed as a value type because a value type cannot contain null.