Read XML Values in C#

Question

I have XML file which i want to read through xpath in C#

My XML will look like:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<doc>
     <members>
        <member test="testing" name="T:QuexstBase.Tools.RegistryHelper.RegistryHelper">
            <summary>
            RegistryHelper class to use registry operations.
            </summary>
        </member>
        <member test="testing" name="F:QuexstBase.Tools.RegistryHelper.RegistryHelper.baseKey">
            <summary>
            private member base key
            </summary>
        </member>
        <member  test="tester"  name="F:QuexstBase.Tools.RegistryHelper.RegistryHelper.subKey">
            <summary>
            default sub key
            </summary>
        </member>
    </members>
</doc>

I want to read /members/member/@test whose value is testing. I don't want to use foreach or for loop for these.

And why do you particularly want to use XPath? Are you getting the XPath itself from somewhere else? (I only ask as I find writing queries in LINQ to XML significantly simpler than XPath...) — Jon Skeet, Oct 30 '12 at 07:18
The XPathDocument class provides a fast, read-only, in-memory representation of an XML document using the XPath data model that's why i want to use xpath — Rahul Rajput, Oct 30 '12 at 07:23
do you want to read names only? what to you mean by "I don't want to use foreach loop"? what output do you want to get at the end? — Roman Pekar, Oct 30 '12 at 07:53

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 30 '12 at 07:21

3

var xDoc = XDocument.Parse(xml);//or XDocument.Load(fileName)
var members = xDoc.XPathSelectElements("//member[@test='testing']")
                  .ToList();

answered Oct 30 '12 at 07:21

L.B

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+1 I think using LINQ is better than my solution. It's short and clear. – Roman Pekar Oct 30 '12 at 07:39

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

var xml = @"<doc>
        <members>
        <member test=""testing"" name=""T:QuexstBase.Tools.RegistryHelper.RegistryHelper"">
            <summary>
            RegistryHelper class to use registry operations.
            </summary>
        </member>
        <member test=""testing"" name=""F:QuexstBase.Tools.RegistryHelper.RegistryHelper.baseKey"">
            <summary>
            private member base key
            </summary>
        </member>
        <member  test=""tester""  name=""F:QuexstBase.Tools.RegistryHelper.RegistryHelper.subKey"">
            <summary>
            default sub key
            </summary>
        </member>
    </members>
</doc>";

var ms = new System.IO.MemoryStream(System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(xml));
var doc = new XPathDocument(ms);
var nav = doc.CreateNavigator();
var nodes = nav.Select("//member[@test='testing']");

update: take a look at this post XDocument or XmlDocument

Ria · Answer 3 · 2012-10-30T07:48:04.543

1

Try to use XmlDocument:

XmlDocument document = new XmlDocument();
document.LoadXml("your xml string");
var nodes = document.SelectNodes("/members/member/@test");
//or for single node  
var node = document.SelectSingleNode("/members/member/@test");

edited Oct 30 '12 at 07:48

answered Oct 30 '12 at 07:41

Ria

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ya but selectNodes will give me list of nodes and i already mention i don't want to use foreach loop – Rahul Rajput Oct 30 '12 at 07:42
Ria it will give me only 1st node value if you look at xml /members/member/@test there are 3 values of test and i want the list of values of 'testing' – Rahul Rajput Oct 30 '12 at 08:27

Read XML Values in C#

3 Answers3