DataMemberAttribute.EmitDefaultValue Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Runtime.Serialization

Assembly:

System.Runtime.Serialization.Primitives.dll

Source:

DataMemberAttribute.cs

Gets or sets a value that specifies whether to serialize the default value for a field or property being serialized.

public:
 property bool EmitDefaultValue { bool get(); void set(bool value); };

public bool EmitDefaultValue { get; set; }

member this.EmitDefaultValue : bool with get, set

Public Property EmitDefaultValue As Boolean

Property Value

Boolean

true if the default value for a member should be generated in the serialization stream; otherwise, false. The default is true.

Examples

The following example shows the EmitDefaultValue property set to false on various fields.

[DataContract]
public class Employee
{
    // The CLR default for as string is a null value.
    // This will be written as <employeeName xsi:nill="true" />
    [DataMember]
    public string EmployeeName = null;

    // This will be written as <employeeID>0</employeeID>
    [DataMember]
    public int employeeID = 0;

    // The next three will not be written because the EmitDefaultValue = false.
    [DataMember(EmitDefaultValue = false)]
    public string position = null;
    [DataMember(EmitDefaultValue = false)]
    public int salary = 0;
    [DataMember(EmitDefaultValue = false)]
    public int? bonus = null;

    // This will be written as <targetSalary>57800</targetSalary>
    [DataMember(EmitDefaultValue = false)]
    public int targetSalary = 57800;
}

<DataContract()>  _
Public Class Employee
    ' The CLR default for as string is a null value.
    ' This will be written as <employeeName xsi:nil="true" />
    <DataMember()>  _
    Public employeeName As String = Nothing
    
    ' This will be written as <employeeID>0</employeeID>
    <DataMember()>  _
    Public employeeID As Integer = 0
    
    ' The next two will not be written because the EmitDefaultValue = false.
    <DataMember(EmitDefaultValue := False)> Public position As String = Nothing
    <DataMember(EmitDefaultValue := False)> Public salary As Integer = 0

    ' This will be written as <targetSalary>555</targetSalary> because 
    ' the 555 does not match the .NET default of 0.
    <DataMember(EmitDefaultValue := False)> Public targetSalary As Integer = 555
End Class

Remarks

In the .NET Framework, types have a concept of default values. For example, for any reference type the default value is null, and for an integer type it is 0. It is occasionally desirable to omit a data member from the serialized data when it is set to its default value. To do this, set the EmitDefaultValue property to false (it is true by default).

Note

Setting the EmitDefaultValue property to false is not a recommended practice. It should only be done if there is a specific need to do so (such as for interoperability or to reduce data size).