/// <summary>
/// Reads an xml configuration file from the file system
/// It will immediately re-serialize and save if new serialization data is available due to property changes
/// </summary>
/// <param name="type">The type.</param>
/// <param name="path">The path.</param>
/// <param name="xmlSerializer">The XML serializer.</param>
/// <returns>System.Object.</returns>
public static object GetXmlConfiguration(Type type, string path, IXmlSerializer xmlSerializer)
{
object configuration;
byte[] buffer = null;
// Use try/catch to avoid the extra file system lookup using File.Exists
try
{
buffer = File.ReadAllBytes(path);
configuration = xmlSerializer.DeserializeFromBytes(type, buffer);
}
catch (Exception)
{
configuration = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
}
// Take the object we just got and serialize it back to bytes
var newBytes = xmlSerializer.SerializeToBytes(configuration);
// If the file didn't exist before, or if something has changed, re-save
if (buffer == null || !buffer.SequenceEqual(newBytes))
{
// Save it after load in case we got new items
File.WriteAllBytes(path, newBytes);
}
return(configuration);
}
public static string SerializeToUtfString <T>(this IXmlSerializer xmlSerializer, T data, bool omitXmlDeclaration, bool collapseArrayElements = true)
{
var encoding = new UTF8Encoding(false);
return(encoding.GetString(xmlSerializer.SerializeToBytes(data, omitXmlDeclaration, encoding, collapseArrayElements)));
}