Generating an Xml Serialization assembly as part of my build

Question

This code produces a FileNotFoundException, but ultimately runs without issue:

void ReadXml()
{
    XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyClass));
    //...
}

Here is the exception:

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A first chance exception of type 'System.IO.FileNotFoundException' occurred in mscorlib.dll

Additional information: Could not load file or assembly 'MyAssembly.XmlSerializers, Version=1.4.3190.15950, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

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It appears that the framework automatically generates the serialization assembly if it isn't found. I can generate it manually using sgen.exe, which alleviates the exception.

How do I get visual studio to generate the XML Serialization assembly automatically?

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Update: The Generate Serialization Assembly: On setting doesn't appear to do anything.

Answer 1

As Martin has explained in his answer, turning on generation of the serialization assembly through the project properties is not enough because the SGen task is adding the /proxytypes switch to the sgen.exe command line.

Microsoft has a documented MSBuild property which allows you to disable the /proxytypes switch and causes the SGen Task to generate the serialization assemblies even if there are no proxy types in the assembly.

SGenUseProxyTypes

A boolean value that indicates whether proxy types should be generated by SGen.exe. The SGen target uses this property to set the UseProxyTypes flag. This property defaults to true, and there is no UI to change this. To generate the serialization assembly for non-webservice types, add this property to the project file and set it to false before importing the Microsoft.Common.Targets or the C#/VB.targets

As the documentation suggests you must modify your project file by hand, but you can add the SGenUseProxyTypes property to your configuration to enable generation. Your project files configuration would end up looking something like this:

  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|x86' ">
    <!-- Snip... -->
    <GenerateSerializationAssemblies>On</GenerateSerializationAssemblies>
    <SGenUseProxyTypes>false</SGenUseProxyTypes>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|x86' ">
    <!-- Snip... -->
    <GenerateSerializationAssemblies>On</GenerateSerializationAssemblies>
    <SGenUseProxyTypes>false</SGenUseProxyTypes>
  </PropertyGroup>