C# - How can I (de)serialize internal classes (from)to XML with attributes?

Question

I want to (de)serialize internal classes.

internal class Data
{
    public string? Name { get; set; }
    public string? Type { get; set; }
    public List<DataWithAttribute> DataList { get; set; }
}

internal class DataWithAttribute
{
    public string? FirstAttribute { get; set; }
    public string? SecondAttribute { get; set; }
}

to get xml

<Data>
    <Name>Some name</Name>
    <Type>Some value</Type>
    <DataList>
        <DataWithAttribute FirstAttribute="some value" SecondAttribute="some value" />
        <DataWithAttribute FirstAttribute="some value" SecondAttribute="some value" />
        <DataWithAttribute FirstAttribute="some value" SecondAttribute="some value" />
    </DataList>
</Data>

I cannot write real code and data (because NDA)

I tried XmlSerializer, but It requires public classes.

So, I tried DataContractSerializer: it works with internal, but it doesn't support attributes.

Answer 1

I assume, as you said XmlSerializer works, but it doesn't because the class is not public.

I would recommend to write public dummy classes for this purpose:

public class DataDummy
{
    public string? Name { get; set; }
    public string? Type { get; set; }
    public List<DataWithAttribute> DataList { get; set; }
}

public class DataWithAttributeDummy
{
    public string? FirstAttribute { get; set; }
    public string? SecondAttribute { get; set; }
}

You should serialize and deserialize to them, and afterwards you do an explicit TypeConversion from and to your real Classes

For Example:

Data initialData = ...;
DataDummy initialDataDummyfied = (DataDummy)initialData;

or the other way around:

DataDummy deserializedData = ...;
Data usableData = (Data)initialData;

as long as the classes are the same, this should work.