CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#xmlxmldocument
kiunx3
kiunx3

Reputation: 43

Is there a better way to access the ChildNodes in my XML Document?

This is my XmlDocument

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Config>
  <Path1></Path1>
  <Path2></Path2>
  <Path3></Path3>
  <Path4></Path4>
  <Path5></Path5>
  <PdfMenu>
    <PdfDocument Attribute1="1" Attribute2="1.1" Attribute3="1.2" Attribute4="1.3" Attribute5="1.4" />
    <PdfDocument Attribute1="2" Attribute2="2.1" Attribute3="2.2" Attribute4="2.3" Attribute5="2.4" />
    <PdfDocument Attribute1="3" Attribute2="3.1" Attribute3="3.2" Attribute4="3.3" Attribute5="3.4" />
  </PdfMenu>
</Config>

I am currently using this to address the Nodes in <PdfMenu>

foreach (XmlNode n in xmlDoc.ChildNodes.Item(1).ChildNodes.Item(5).ChildNodes)

Right now, every time I add another <Path> I have to adjust the Item Number. Is there a better way to do that?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 41

Answers (2)

Greg
Greg

Reputation: 4528

It's possible to fetch all PdfDocument nodes by using SelectNodes(). If the xpath starts with double forwardslash //, it tells the code to fetch all instances (of the following node).

XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.LoadXml(@"<Config>
    <Path1></Path1>
    <Path2></Path2>
    <Path3></Path3>
    <Path4></Path4>
    <Path5></Path5>
    <PdfMenu>
        <PdfDocument Attribute1='1' Attribute2='1.1' Attribute3='1.2'
                        Attribute4='1.3' Attribute5='1.4'/>
        <PdfDocument Attribute1='2' Attribute2='2.1' Attribute3='2.2'
                        Attribute4='2.3' Attribute5='2.4'/>
        <PdfDocument Attribute1='3' Attribute2='3.1' Attribute3='3.2'
                        Attribute4='3.3' Attribute5='3.4'/>
    </PdfMenu>
</Config>");

foreach (var element in xmlDoc.SelectNodes("//PdfDocument"))
{
    Console.WriteLine(element);
}

This is really the old way of achieving the solution. The LINQ to XML API solutions by @Yitzhak Khabinsky is the more preferred way.

Upvotes: 1

Yitzhak Khabinsky
Yitzhak Khabinsky

Reputation: 22301

It is better to use LINQ to XML API. It is available for more than 10 years in the .Net framework.

The Descendants() method goes directly to the elements you need regardless how many other elements in the XML.

c#

void Main()
{
    XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Parse(@"<Config>
    <Path1></Path1>
    <Path2></Path2>
    <Path3></Path3>
    <Path4></Path4>
    <Path5></Path5>
    <PdfMenu>
        <PdfDocument Attribute1='1' Attribute2='1.1' Attribute3='1.2'
                     Attribute4='1.3' Attribute5='1.4'/>
        <PdfDocument Attribute1='2' Attribute2='2.1' Attribute3='2.2'
                     Attribute4='2.3' Attribute5='2.4'/>
        <PdfDocument Attribute1='3' Attribute2='3.1' Attribute3='3.2'
                     Attribute4='3.3' Attribute5='3.4'/>
    </PdfMenu>
</Config>");

    foreach (var element in xdoc.Descendants("PdfDocument"))
    {
        Console.WriteLine(element);
    }
}

Upvotes: 3

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