genxs(1) - f34

1genxs(1)                    General Commands Manual                   genxs(1)
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NAME

6       genxs - Mono's Xml Serializer Generator
7

SYNOPSIS

9       genxs configurationFile [destinationFolder]
10

DESCRIPTION

12       genxs  is  a  tool  for generating custom XML serialization writers and
13       readers for classes.
14
15       configurationFile is configuration file which specifies several  infor‐
16       mation,  such as the class for which to generate the reader and writer,
17       the name and namespace of the classes to generate, and a collection  of
18       hooks to apply. By using hooks it is possible to customize the behavior
19       of the serializer without needing to modify the generated file, so  you
20       can safely regenerate it if the source class is modified.
21
22       destinationFolder  specifies  the folder where the files will be gener‐
23       ated.
24
25       NOTE: This tool only runs in the  Mono  runtime,  since  it  uses  some
26       internal classes not available in other runtimes.
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CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT

29       The  configuration file is an xml document based on the following gram‐
30       mar ("?" means optional, "*" 0 or more):
31
32            <configuration>
33                 <serializer class="name" assembly="name"> *
34                      <reader>name</reader> ?
35                      <writer>name</writer> ?
36                      <namespace>name</namespace> ?
37                      <outFileName>name</outFileName> ?
38                      <readerHooks> ?
39                           <hook ...> *
40                      </readerHooks>
41                      <writerHooks> ?
42                           <hook ...> *
43                      </writerHooks>
44                 </serializer>
45            </configuration>
46
47       A configuration file can have multiple "serializer" elements,  each  of
48       which  specifies  the class for which to generate a serializer together
49       with several generation options. The source class is specified  in  the
50       following attributes:
51
52          * class : name of the class (including namespace).
53
54          * assembly : assembly name. It can include the complete path.
55
56       Generation options are specified in child elements:
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58          * reader : name of the reader class.
59
60          * noReader : if "true", it does not generate reader class.
61
62          * writer : name of the writer class.
63
64          * baseSerializer  : name of the base xml serializer class. This item
65            is 2.0 only.
66
67          * implementation : name of the serializer implementation class. This
68            item is 2.0 only.
69
70          * noWriter : if "true", it does not generate writer class.
71
72          * namespace : namespace of the reader and writer classes.
73
74          * generateAsInternal : if "true", it generates classes as internal.
75
76          * outFileName : name of the generated file.
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78          * readerHooks : a list of hooks to apply to the reader.
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80          * writerHooks : a list of hooks to apply to the writer.
81

SPECIFYING HOOKS

83       Using  hooks  you can customize the behavior of readers and writers.  A
84       hook specification follows this grammar:
85
86            <hook type="name">
87                 <select> ?
88                      <typeName>name</typeName> ?
89                      <typeAttribute>name</typeAttribute> *
90                      <typeMember>name</typeMember> ?
91                 </select>
92                 <replace>source code</replace> ?
93                 <insertBefore>source code</insertBefore> ?
94                 <insertAfter>source code</insertAfter> ?
95            </hook>
96
97       The "type" attribute  specifies  the  context  in  which  the  hook  is
98       applied. It can be one of the following:
99
100          * attributes : hook is applied where attributes are serialized/dese‐
101            rialized.
102
103          * elements : hook is applied where elements are serialized/deserial‐
104            ized.
105
106          * unknownAttribute  :  hook  is applied where unknown attributes are
107            processed.
108
109          * unknownElement : hook is applied where unknown elements  are  pro‐
110            cessed.
111
112          * member  :  hook  is applied where a member is serialized/deserial‐
113            ized.
114
115          * type : hook is applied for the whole type.
116
117       The "select" element specifies the classes and  members  to  which  the
118       hook has to be added. It can contain the following elements:
119
120          * typeName : the class with that name will be selected (must include
121            namespace)
122
123          * typeAttribute : all classes which have that attribute applied will
124            be  selected  (specify  the  full  attribute class name, including
125            namespace). Several attribute names can be specified.
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127          * typeMember : name of the class member for which the hook  must  be
128            added.
129
130       The  hook  source code can be specified using any of the following ele‐
131       ments:
132
133          * replace : the provided source code  will  replace  all  serializa‐
134            tion/deserialization operations in the hook context.
135
136          * insertBefore  : the source code will be added before the hook con‐
137            text.
138
139          * insertAfter : the source code will be added after  the  hook  con‐
140            text.
141
142       When  writing  the  code  for a hook you can use some special variables
143       that are defined during the code generation process. The variables  are
144       the following:
145
146          * $TYPE: name of the class being generated, without namespace.
147
148          * $FULLTYPE:  full  name  of  the  class  being generated, including
149            namespace.
150
151          * $OBJECT: the object being serialized or deserialized. When using a
152            replace  reader hook of type "type", the hook code must assign the
153            deserialized object to this variable.
154
155          * -I $ELEMENT: name of the  element  of  the  object  being  serial‐
156            ized/deserialized.
157
158          * $NAMESPACE:  namespace  of the element of the object being serial‐
159            ized/deserialized.
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161          * $MEMBER: name of the member  being  serialized/deserialized.  Only
162            valid in the "member" context.
163

HOOK EXAMPLES

165       The  following example adds a call to a Validate method after the dese‐
166       rialization of any object:
167
168       <hook type="type">
169            <insertAfter>
170                 System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema.Validate$TYPE ($OBJECT);
171            </insertAfter>
172       </hook>
173
174       This example specifies the code to be used to deserialize the XmlSchema
175       class:
176
177       <hook type="type">
178            <select>
179                 <typeName>System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema</typeName>
180            </select>
181            <replace>
182                 $OBJECT = System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema.Read (Reader, null);
183            </replace>
184       </hook>
185
186       That one specifies the code to be used to read XmlSchema instances:
187
188       <hook type="type">
189            <select>
190                 <typeName>System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema</typeName>
191            </select>
192            <replace>$OBJECT.Write (Writer);</replace>
193       </hook>
194
195       With  this  two  hooks  the serializer will print some information when
196       serializing the class "MyClass":
197
198       <hook type="type">
199            <select>
200                 <typeName>MyNamespace.MyClass</typeName>
201            </select>
202            <insertBefore>Console.WriteLine ("Serializing MyClass");</replace>
203            <insertAfter>Console.WriteLine ("MyClass serialized");</insertAfter>
204       </hook>
205       <hook type="member">
206            <select>
207                 <typeName>MyNamespace.MyClass</typeName>
208            </select>
209            <insertAfter>
210                 Console.WriteLine ("Serialized member $MEMBER");
211            </insertAfter>
212       </hook>
213
214       This hook writes an additional element for all types that have the cus‐
215       tom attribute "MyAttribute":
216
217       <hook type="elements">
218            <select>
219                 <typeAttribute>MyNamespace.MyAttribute</typeAttribute>
220            </select>
221            <insertAfter>
222                 Writer.WriteStartElement ("privateData");
223                 Writer.WriteString ($OBJECT.PrivateData);
224                 Writer.WriteEndElement ();
225            </insertAfter>
226       </hook>
227

CONFIGURATION FILE EXAMPLE

229       This is the configuration file used to generate the serializer for Ser‐
230       viceDescription:
231
232       <configuration>
233            <serializer class="System.Web.Services.Description.ServiceDescription" assembly="System.Web.Services">
234                 <reader>ServiceDescriptionReaderBase</reader>
235                 <writer>ServiceDescriptionWriterBase</writer>
236                 <namespace>System.Web.Services.Description</namespace>
237                 <outFileName>ServiceDescriptionSerializerBase.cs</outFileName>
238                 <readerHooks>
239                      <hook type="unknownElement">
240                           <select>
241                                <typeAttribute>System.Web.Services.Configuration.XmlFormatExtensionPointAttribute</typeAttribute>
242                           </select>
243                           <replace>ServiceDescription.ReadExtension (Reader, $OBJECT);</replace>
244                      </hook>
245                      <hook type="type">
246                           <select>
247                                <typeName>System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema</typeName>
248                           </select>
249                           <replace>$OBJECT = System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema.Read (Reader, null);</replace>
250                      </hook>
251                 </readerHooks>
252                 <writerHooks>
253                      <hook type="elements">
254                           <select>
255                                <typeAttribute>System.Web.Services.Configuration.XmlFormatExtensionPointAttribute</typeAttribute>
256                           </select>
257                           <insertBefore>ServiceDescription.WriteExtensions (Writer, $OBJECT);</insertBefore>
258                      </hook>
259                      <hook type="type">
260                           <select>
261                                <typeName>System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema</typeName>
262                           </select>
263                           <replace>$OBJECT.Write (Writer);</replace>
264                      </hook>
265                 </writerHooks>
266            </serializer>
267       </configuration>
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AUTHORS

270       Lluis Sanchez Gual (lluis@ximian.com)
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LICENSE

273       GenXS is released under the terms of the GNU GPL.
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