Collapse sub nodes to list using linq

[jiajun98]

I have a class that defines the xml and another class that defines the candidate and another class that it is a list of the class candidate.I am trying to create dynamically the list according to number of nodes that I have in the xml.I have tried all kind of variations and nothing worked, until the nodes Candidates I got all the information but the CandidateList came null all the time.\[code\]public class Candidate{}public class CandidateList : List<Candidate>{}public class Request{ public CandidateList CandidateList { get; set; }}\[/code\]\[code\]<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><Requests> <Request> <MidaClientID>1040</MidaClientID> <!--elided other elements--> <OrderDescription></OrderDescription> <Candidates> <Candidate> <QuestNum>6</QuestNum> <!--elided other elements--> <EventNum>012</EventNum> </Candidate> <Candidate> <QuestNum>6</QuestNum> <!--elided other elements--> <EventNum>012</EventNum> </Candidate> </Candidates> </Request></Requests>\[/code\]\[code\]try{ IEnumerable<Request> req = from r in input.Descendants("Request") select new Request() { MidaClientID = (int)r.Element("MidaClientID") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("MidaClientID") : 0, Password = (string)r.Element("MidaClientPassword") != null ? (string)r.Element("MidaClientPassword") : string.Empty, ClientNum = (int)r.Element("ClientNum") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("ClientNum") : 0, ClientName = (string)r.Element("ClientName") != null ? (string)r.Element("ClientName") : string.Empty, ContactNum = (int)r.Element("ContactNum") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("ContactNum") : 0, ContactFirstName = (string)r.Element("ContactFirstName") != null ? (string)r.Element("ContactFirstName") : string.Empty, ContactLastName = (string)r.Element("ContactLastName") != null ? (string)r.Element("ContactLastName") : string.Empty, ContactEmail = (string)r.Element("ContactEmail") != null ? (string)r.Element("ContactEmail") : "", OrderID = (int)r.Element("OrderID") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("OrderID") : 0, OrderDesc = (string)r.Element("OrderDescription") != null ? (string)r.Element("OrderDescription") : "", CandidateList = (from i in input.Root.Element("Candidates").Elements("Candidate") select new Candidate() { QuestNum = (int)r.Element("QuestNum") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("QuestNum") : 0, CandNum = (int)r.Element("CandNum") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("CandNum") : 0, EventNum = (int)r.Element("EventNum") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("EventNum") : 0, EventDate = (string)(r.Element("EventDate")) == string.Empty ? DateTime.Today : (DateTime)(r.Element("EventDate")), EventTime = (string)(r.Element("EventTime")) == string.Empty ? DateTime.Now : (DateTime)(r.Element("EventTime")), CandFirstName = (string)r.Element("CandFirstName") != null ? (string)r.Element("CandFirstName") : string.Empty, CandLastName = (string)r.Element("CandLastName") != null ? (string)r.Element("CandLastName") : string.Empty, CandPhone1 = (string)r.Element("CandPhone1") != null ? (string)r.Element("CandPhone1") : string.Empty, CandPhone2 = (string)r.Element("CandPhone2") != null ? (string)r.Element("CandPhone2") : string.Empty, CandPhone3 = (string)r.Element("CandPhone3") != null ? (string)r.Element("CandPhone3") : string.Empty, CandAttach1 = (string)r.Element("CandAttach1") != null ? (string)r.Element("CandAttach1") : string.Empty, CandAttach2 = (string)r.Element("CandAttach2") != null ? (string)r.Element("CandAttach2") : string.Empty, CandAttach3 = (string)r.Element("CandAttach3") != null ? (string)r.Element("CandAttach3") : string.Empty }) as CandidateList }; return req.ToList();}catch (Exception ex){ throw ex;}\[/code\]