gistfile1.txt

using System;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System.IO;

namespace Scrap
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            string s = "<config><update_mins>23</update_mins></config>";

            Console.WriteLine("Deserializing static xml");
            XmlSerializer searializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Config));
            Config result = (Config)searializer.Deserialize(new StringReader(s));

            Console.WriteLine("Minutes: " + result.Minutes);
            Console.WriteLine("Seconds: " + result.Seconds);

            Console.WriteLine();
            Console.WriteLine();

            StringWriter s2w = new StringWriter();
            searializer.Serialize(s2w, result);

            Console.WriteLine(s2w.ToString());

            Console.WriteLine("Deserializing generated xml (only seconds)");
            XmlSerializer de = new XmlSerializer(typeof (Config));
            Config deserialized = (Config) de.Deserialize(new StringReader(s2w.ToString()));

            Console.WriteLine("Minutes: " + deserialized.Minutes);
            Console.WriteLine("Seconds: " + deserialized.Seconds);

            Console.ReadKey(true);
        }
    }

    [XmlRoot(ElementName = "config")]
    public class Config
    {
        [XmlElement(ElementName = "update_mins")]
        public int Minutes
        {
            get
            {
                return this.Seconds / 60;
            }

            set
            {
                this.Seconds = value * 60;
            }
        }

        [XmlElement(ElementName = "update_secs")]
        public int Seconds { get; set; }
    }
}