using System;

using System.IO;

using System.Xml.Serialization;

​

public interface IMyClass

{

    string Name { get; set; }

}

​

[Serializable]

public class MyClass : IMyClass

{

    public string Name { get; set; }

}

​

public class Program

{

    public static void Main()

    {

        IMyClass myObject = new MyClass { Name = "Example" };

​

        // This failes because we're using the interface which cannot have the serializable attribute

        XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(IMyClass));

        // This works because the base class has the Serializable attribute

        // XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyClass));

        using (StringWriter writer = new StringWriter())

        {

            try

            {

                serializer.Serialize(writer, myObject);

                Console.WriteLine("Serialized XML: " + writer.ToString());

            }

            catch (InvalidOperationException ex)

            {

                Console.WriteLine("Serialization failed: " + ex.Message);

            }

        }

    }

}