👀 Views: 67 💬 Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-12

xml json deserialization newtonsoft dotnet C#

I've been struggling with this for a few days now and could really use some help. I'm a bit lost with I'm working on a .NET 5 application where I'm using Newtonsoft.Json to deserialize XML data into C# objects. The scenario arises when the XML structure has optional elements that may not always be present. Instead of setting default values, I'm getting a `JsonSerializationException` when these elements are missing. For example, given the following XML: ```xml <person> <name>John Doe</name> <age>30</age> <address></address> </person> ``` I have the following class structure: ```csharp public class Person { public string Name { get; set; } public int Age { get; set; } public string Address { get; set; } } ``` When I attempt to deserialize the XML using the following code: ```csharp var xmlData = "<person><name>John Doe</name><age>30</age></person>"; var person = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Person>(xmlData); ``` I receive the following behavior message: ``` Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException: behavior converting value "" to type 'System.String'. ``` I want the `Address` field to default to `null` if it's not present in the XML. I've tried adding the `JsonProperty` attribute with a default value, but the behavior remains the same. What is the correct approach to handle optional XML elements without throwing exceptions? I have considered using attributes like `JsonProperty(Required = Required.Default)` but I’m unsure of the proper implementation. Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated! I'm working in a Windows 11 environment. Cheers for any assistance! I'm on Debian using the latest version of C#. I'd be grateful for any help.