CODEWITHSUNDEEP
xmlvb.net
Josh streit
Josh streit

Reputation: 207

Read XML in VB.net

I have googled for the last hour or so with no luck (I'd like to think I'm a great googler too!), so here I am.

I have an XML file that I'm using for my programs settings, it looks like so:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<config>
    <store>
        <number>0323</number>
        <address>address</address>
        <phone>phone</phone>
    </store>

    <emailsettings>
        <emailfrom>emailfrom</emailfrom>
        <emailpass>pass</emailpass>
        <emailsubject>received</emailsubject>
        <smtpserver>smtp.gmail.com</smtpserver>
        <smtpport>587</smtpport>
        <enablessl>true</enablessl>
        <emailbody>package received</emailbody>
    </emailsettings>
    <dbconfig>
        <dbpath>path</dbpath>
    </dbconfig>
</config>

How can I use vb.net to get each element and return a specific value that I want? Per se, I'd like to return <number> (under <store>) in textbox1, and <emailbody> (under <emailsettings>) in textbox2.

Help pleaseeeeee! Thanks :)

Upvotes: 8

Views: 21766

Answers (4)

Steve
Steve

Reputation: 5545

If you are familiar with datasets and datatables, this is an easy way to do it:

Dim DS As New DataSet
DS.ReadXml("Data.xml")

DataSets can read any XML. I even use this to call rest-enabled XML services.

Upvotes: 0

Heinzi
Heinzi

Reputation: 172200

Ah, a perfect example for showing off the powerful XML features of VB.NET with Framework 3.5:

Sub Main()
    Dim xml = XDocument.Load("config.xml")
    Console.WriteLine("Number: " & xml.<config>.<store>.<number>.Value)
    Console.WriteLine("Body: " & xml.<config>.<emailsettings>.<emailbody>.Value)
End Sub

yields:

Number: 0323
Body: package received

Upvotes: 22

Rick
Rick

Reputation: 5039

Here's a Console app using the VB.Net XML Literal support. 

Module Module1

    Sub Main()

        Dim xElem = <config>
                       <store>
                           <number>0323</number>
                           <address>address</address>
                           <phone>phone</phone>
                       </store>

                       <emailsettings>
                           <emailfrom>emailfrom</emailfrom>
                           <emailpass>pass</emailpass>
                           <emailsubject>received</emailsubject>
                           <smtpserver>smtp.gmail.com</smtpserver>
                           <smtpport>587</smtpport>
                           <enablessl>true</enablessl>
                           <emailbody>package received</emailbody>
                       </emailsettings>
                       <dbconfig>
                           <dbpath>path</dbpath>
                       </dbconfig>
                   </config>

        Dim number = xElem.<store>.<number>.Value
        Dim emailbody = xElem.<emailsettings>.<emailbody>.Value

        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Number={0}", number))
        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("emailbody={0}", emailbody))
        Console.ReadLine()

        '--- What it'd look like if you loaded from a file using XDocument.Load
        Dim xDoc = XDocument.Load(New IO.StringReader(xElem.ToString))
        number = xDoc.Root.<store>.<number>.Value
        emailbody = xDoc.Root.<emailsettings>.<emailbody>.Value

        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Number={0}", number))
        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("emailbody={0}", emailbody))
        Console.ReadLine()


    End Sub

End Module

The results will be:

Number=0323
emailbody=package received

Number=0323
emailbody=package received

Upvotes: 5

Achilles
Achilles

Reputation: 11299

You can use XML Serialization. Create classes that represent your XML structure and use the XML Serialization Class to deserialize the data. Once you have done that you can use the data in your application.

Below is a link to an example from MSDN:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms950721.aspx

Upvotes: 1

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