Formatting of XML created by DataContractSerializer

Question

Is there an easy way to get DataContractSerializer to spit out formatted XML rather then one long string? I don\'t want to change the tags or content in any way, just have it ad

Answer 1

based on the other samples posted here that use XmlWriter, here's a version (from http://ClipFlair.codeplex.com) that works with streams (and Ionic.Zip library in specific) and also shows how the code is when you don't apply formatting (using conditional compilation - just comment out the #define to make it write unformatted XML)

#define WRITE_FORMATTED_XML

using System.Xml;

namespace ClipFlair.Windows
{

  public partial class BaseWindow : FloatingWindow
  {

    //...

    #if WRITE_FORMATTED_XML
    private static XmlWriterSettings XML_WRITER_SETTINGS = new XmlWriterSettings() { Indent=true, IndentChars="  "};
    #endif

    //...

    public virtual void SaveOptions(ZipFile zip, string zipFolder = "") //THIS IS THE CORE SAVING LOGIC
    {
      if (SavingOptions != null) SavingOptions(this, null); //notify any listeners

      View.Busy = true;
      try
      {
        ZipEntry optionsXML = zip.AddEntry(zipFolder + "/" + View.GetType().FullName + ".options.xml",
          new WriteDelegate((entryName, stream) =>
          {
            DataContractSerializer serializer = new DataContractSerializer(View.GetType()); //assuming current View isn't null
            #if WRITE_FORMATTED_XML
            using (XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(stream, XML_WRITER_SETTINGS))
              serializer.WriteObject(writer, View);
            #else
            serializer.WriteObject(stream, View);
            #endif
          }));
      }
      catch (Exception e)
      {
        MessageBox.Show("ClipFlair options save failed: " + e.Message); //TODO: find the parent window
      }
      finally
      {
        View.Busy = false; //in any case (error or not) clear the Busy flag
      }

      if (SavedOptions != null) SavedOptions(this, null); //notify any listeners
    }

    //...

  }

}