Serialize an object to XML without using attributes

How can I use XmlSerializer/DataContractSerializer to serialize an object which class does not specify any serialization attributes?

Some use cases:

• A large existing class, which I don't wish to pollute with serialization attributes


• Serializing a class for which no source code is available


• Switching from using XmlSerializer to DataContractSerializer to JSON without changing class code

For example, how would I serialize the following without uncommenting the attributes:

// [Serializable]
public MyClass
{
    // [XmlIgnore] - uncommenting this would be the easy way
    public int DontSerializeMeEvenThoughImPublic { get; set; }

    // [XmlAttribute] - uncommenting this would be the easy way
    public double SerializeMeAsXmlAttribute { get; set; }
}