input string was not in a correct format when deserialize xml

Question

I have a weird problem. i have this Xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Facilities RunTime="2016-03-09 14:18:11">
<Facility ID="789">
    <Name>Facility 4</Name>
    <Contact />
    <AreaName>Center</AreaName>
    <MunicipalCode>453</MunicipalCode>
    <SMSInfo />
    <Materials />
  </Facility>
  <Facility ID="-1">
    <Name>Facility 2</Name>
    <Contact />
    <AreaName>Mark</AreaName>
    <MunicipalCode />
    <SMSInfo />
    <Materials />
  </Facility>
</Facilities>

When i try to deserialize this xml, it fails on on tag <MunicipalCode /> when its empty (see the element MunicipalCode in the second root Facility) but not on <MunicipalCode>453</MunicipalCode> (in the first root) so when i change the empty one to <MunicipalCode>test test </MunicipalCode> then it doesnt fail

this is my model, and i have tried to handle this value in case it comes as null.

[Table("FacilityNew")]
    public class FacilityNew
    {

        [XmlAttribute("ID"), Key]
        public int Id { get; set; }

        [XmlElement("SMSInfo")]
        public virtual SMSInfo smsInfos { get; set; }

        [XmlElement("Name")]
        public string Name { get; set; }

        [XmlElement("Contact")]
        public string Contact { get; set; }

        [XmlElement("AreaName")]
        public string AreaNameID { get; set; }

        [XmlIgnore]
        public string MunicipalCode { get; set; }

        [XmlElement("MunicipalCode")]
        [Browsable(false)] // not displayed in grids
        [EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never)] // not displayed by intellisense
        public string MunicipalCodeStirng
        {
            get
            {
                if ((MunicipalCode) != null)
                {
                    return MunicipalCode;
                }
                else
                    return "";
            }
            set
            {
                if ((value)!=null)
                {
                    MunicipalCode = value;
                }
                else
                {
                    MunicipalCode = "";
                }
            }
        }

        [XmlArray("Materials")]
        [XmlArrayItem("Material")]
        public virtual List<Material> Materials { get; set; }

        public FacilityNew()
        {
            this.Materials = new List<Material>();
        }
    }

but it still fails its weird because the other empty tags doesn't fail, and i got "input string was not in a correct format " and if i change the name of this tag to <MunicipalCodeASDF /> or something else, it doesn't fail.

this is how i deserialize,

 XmlSerializer deserializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(FacilityNew));
           StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(path);
            allaFacilities = (FacilityNew)deserializer.Deserialize(sr);

what is the problem

it fails on on tag when its empty but not on 453 - I don't understand this, can you clarify where and when the deserialization fails. — CodingGorilla
– CodingGorilla, Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 17:48
@CodingGorilla it fails on the second Facility there the MunicipalCode is Empty, but doesnt fail in the first Facility there the Municipal is not empty — B.j
– B.j, Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 18:03

B.j · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-10 07:15:01Z

1

the problem is solved by adding a regex inside the deserializer

  public static T Deserialize<T>(string xml){
        XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
        string cleanXml = Regex.Replace(xml, @"<[a-zA-Z].[^(><.)]+/>",
                                        new MatchEvaluator(RemoveText));
        MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream((new UTF8Encoding()).GetBytes(cleanXml));
        XmlTextWriter xmlTextWriter = new XmlTextWriter(memoryStream, Encoding.UTF8);
        return (T)xs.Deserialize(memoryStream);
    }

static string RemoveText(Match m) { return "";}

answered Mar 10, 2016 at 7:15

B.j

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