Xml reader skipping values

Question

I have the following XML snippet-

I am using XmlReader to retrieve specific data from it like so -

using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(xml)))
        {
            string country = "";
            string Year = "";
            string count = "";
            string tss= "";
            string tss2 = "";


            reader.MoveToContent();
            while (reader.Read())
            {

                reader.ReadToFollowing("RowType");
                country = reader.GetAttribute("Label");
                country = country.Replace("'", "");

                reader.ReadToFollowing("Year");
                Year = reader.GetAttribute("Label");

                reader.ReadToFollowing("Value");
                count = reader.ReadElementContentAsString();

                reader.ReadToFollowing("Field");
                tss = reader.GetAttribute("Label");

                reader.ReadToFollowing("Field");
                tss2 = reader.GetAttribute("Label");
            }
        }

This is working fine for the first iteration, however on the second, it retrieves the values from the third row in the XML, and continues to skip to the next row after the one it should be parsing.

How can I resolve this?

user2480047 · Accepted Answer

Actually, your code is right; what is not right is the structure of the document. Or better, your code does not account for the specific structure of the document.

You can change that by adding the following bit:

XmlReaderSettings settings = new XmlReaderSettings();
settings.ConformanceLevel = ConformanceLevel.Fragment;
using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(xml), settings))

By default the XMLReader expects ConformanceLevel.Document and thus the file should have a structure like the following one:

I understand that the lack of separation between elements (e.g., Id="1"Label="Scotland" instead of Id="1" Label="Scotland") is a typo because separations have to exist in any case.

------------------- UPDATE

You report that your code does not deliver the expected result even after changing the conformance level. I have done a new test of your code and it works fine; at least, it iterates correctly. Thus, what I understand is that you want to retrieve different values than what you code does (it mixes app names, attributes and content).

Below you can see my own code (although I insist that yours iterates through the given information OK, too), which is more adaptable than yours; I am also including some comments in the parts where I think that you want to retrieve different information than what your code does. The basic idea is just retrieving information from the content (content), but your code takes it from anywhere.

        string path = @"XML file";
        XmlReaderSettings settings = new XmlReaderSettings();
        settings.ConformanceLevel = ConformanceLevel.Fragment;
        using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create(path, settings))
        {
            string country = "";
            string Year = "";
            string count = "";
            string tss = "";
            string tss2 = "";

            while (reader.ReadToFollowing("Row"))
            {
                XmlReader reader2 = reader.ReadSubtree();
                while (reader2.Read())
                {
                    if (reader2.NodeType == XmlNodeType.Element)
                    {
                        if (reader2.Name == "RowType")
                        {
                            country = reader2.GetAttribute("Label");
                            country = country.Replace("'", ""); //country_year = reader.ReadElementContentAsString(); -> "Scotland" -> 1985
                        }
                        else if (reader2.Name == "Year")
                        {
                            //IF XML IS -> 1994
                            //Then -> Year = reader2.GetAttribute("Label")
                            Year = reader2.GetAttribute("Label"); //-> 1994
                        }
                        else if (reader2.Name == "Value")
                        {
                            count = reader2.ReadElementContentAsString(); 
                        }
                        else if (reader2.Name == "Field")
                        {
                            if (reader2.GetAttribute("Label") == "Country")
                            {
                                tss = reader2.ReadElementContentAsString(); //I understand that this is what you want to read, instead the Label name
                            }
                            else if (reader2.GetAttribute("Label") == "Soccer")
                            {
                                tss2 = reader2.ReadElementContentAsString();//I understand that this is what you want to read, instead the Label name
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

This should deliver what you are looking for; or, in the worst scenario, a much clear idea about how to deal with the XML reading. Also it might be a good thing to include a try...catch just in case; note that any error while reading/dealing with the variables would provoke the reading process to be immediately stopped.

Xml reader skipping values

Answers (2)

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