C#

private static string serialize<T>(T ObjToSerialize)
{
    string retVal = string.Empty;

    XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(ObjToSerialize.GetType());
    System.Text.StringBuilder sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
    using (System.IO.StringWriter writer = new System.IO.StringWriter(sb))
    {
        serializer.Serialize(writer, ObjToSerialize);
    }
    retVal = sb.ToString();

    return retVal;
}
        
private static T deserialize<T>(string XmlString) where T : new()
{
    T type = new T();
    object retVal;

    XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
    doc.LoadXml(XmlString);
    XmlNodeReader reader = new XmlNodeReader(doc.DocumentElement);
    XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(type.GetType());
    object obj = ser.Deserialize(reader);

    retVal = (T)obj;

    return retVal;
}

Kevin Marois wrote:

It's telling me that I can't cast T to an object.

T retVal = null;

XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.LoadXml(XmlString);
XmlNodeReader reader = new XmlNodeReader(doc.DocumentElement);
XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
retVal = (T)ser.Deserialize(reader);

return retVal;

Mark Salsbery
Microsoft MVP - Visual C++

''' <summary>
''' Converts an item to an XML string.
''' </summary>
''' <typeparam name="T">The type of object to convert.</typeparam>
''' <param name="item">The item to convert.</param>
''' <returns>The string containing the XML representation of the object.</returns>
Public Shared Function ToXml(Of T)(ByVal item As T) As String
	If item Is Nothing Then
		Return String.Empty
	End If
	Dim serializer As New XmlSerializer(GetType(T), String.Empty)
	Dim stream As New MemoryStream
	Dim settings As New XmlWriterSettings
	settings = New XmlWriterSettings
	settings.OmitXmlDeclaration = True
	settings.Indent = True
	Dim writer As XmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(stream, settings)
	Dim ns As New XmlSerializerNamespaces
	ns.Add(String.Empty, String.Empty)
	serializer.Serialize(writer, item, ns)
	stream.Position = 0
	Dim xml As String = New StreamReader(stream).ReadToEnd
	writer.Close()
	stream.Close()
	Return xml
End Function

''' <summary>
''' Converts an XML string to an object.
''' </summary>
''' <typeparam name="T">The type of object to get.</typeparam>
''' <param name="xml">The string containing the XML representation of the object.</param>
''' <returns>The object represented by the XML string.</returns>
Public Shared Function FromXml(Of T)(ByVal xml As String) As T
	If String.IsNullOrEmpty(xml) Then
		Return CType(Nothing, T)
	End If
	Dim serializer As New XmlSerializer(GetType(T))
	Dim reader As New StringReader(xml)
	Dim xmlReader As New XmlTextReader(reader)
	Dim item As T = DirectCast(serializer.Deserialize(xmlReader), T)
	reader.Close()
	Return item
End Function

public ListBox.Collection Items
{
    get { return listbox1.Items; }
    set { listbox1.Items = value; }
}

public ListBox.ObjectCollection Items
       {
           get { return listBox1.Items; }
           set { listBox1.Items = value; }//Error--System.Windows.Forms.ListBox.Items' cannot be assigned to -- it is read only
       }

public ListBox.ObjectCollection Items
        {
            get { return listBox1.Items; }
       }

//ControlAccessibleObject
//ControlCollection
//IntegerCollection
//ObjectCollection
//SelectedIndexCollection
//SelectedObjectCollection

[Editor("System.Windows.Forms.Design.StringCollectionEditor, System.Design", "System.Drawing.Design.UITypeEditor, System.Drawing")]

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(path + "\\Sessions.txt");
            RichTextBox rtb = new RichTextBox();
            rtb.Text = sr.ReadToEnd();

            for (int i = 0; i < rtb.Lines.Length-1; i++)
            {
                session1.listBox1.Items.Add(rtb.Lines[i]);//session1 is my UserControl
                //session1.aItems.Add(rtb.Lines[i]);   // this is working too
            }
            sr.Close();
        }