Using XmlSerializer with an array in the root element

You should use [XmlElement], and not [XmlArray] to decorate the Items property – it’s already an array, and you only want to set the element name.

public class StackOverflow_12924221
{
    [XmlRoot("scan_details")]
    public class ScanDetails
    {
        [XmlElement("object")]
        public ScanDetail[] Items { get; set; }
    }

    public class ScanDetail
    {
        [XmlAttribute("name")]
        public string Filename { get; set; }
    }

    const string XML = @"<scan_details> 
                            <object name=""C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Target1.doc""> 
                            </object> 
                            <object name=""C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Target2.doc""> 
                            </object> 
                        </scan_details> ";

    public static void Test()
    {
        XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(ScanDetails));
        MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(XML));
        var obj = xs.Deserialize(ms) as ScanDetails;
        foreach (var sd in obj.Items)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(sd.Filename);
        }
    }
}