How do I save an XML node's content to a string?

Question

I have and XML like this:

<album>
  <image size="small">http://exaplem/example.jpg</image>
  <image size="medium">http://exaplem/example.jpg</image>
  <image size="large"> http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/174s/42566323.png </image>
  <image size="extralarge"> http://exaplem/example.jpg </image>
</album>

...and I want to extract and save <image size="large">...</image> as string.

My goal is obtaining the child text node of the extracted element. For example http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/174s/42566323.png.

I've tried with

XmlNodeList xnList = xml.SelectNodes("image[@size='large']");
foreach (XmlNode xn in xnList)
{
    .....
}

... but I'm lost.

What's the best way to do what I require to do?

i edit it sorry, first post. i try with XmlNodeList xnList = xml.SelectNodes("image[@size='large']"); — Gonzalo Hernandez, Dec 04 '12 at 10:08
No prob. If you want help from the community you'll have to show that at least you tried to do something, people here will help you but they won't do the work for you. — Rui Jarimba, Dec 04 '12 at 10:10
this looks similar to what you're trying to achieve: [How do I write an XML string to a file?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/590881/how-do-i-write-an-xml-string-to-a-file) — markpsmith, Dec 04 '12 at 10:15
@GonzaloHernandez I've edited your question's text. Please check how I changed your original question. Put some "love" when you ask a question, avoid "chat language". — Matías Fidemraizer, Dec 04 '12 at 10:18

Vitaliy · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-04T10:36:34.393

2

It's better to use LINQ 2 XML:

Assuming you have following xml document:

</album>
  <image size="small">http://exaplem/example.jpg</image>
  <image size="medium">http://exaplem/example.jpg</image>
  <image size="large"> http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/174s/42566323.png </image>
  <image size="extralarge"> http://exaplem/example.jpg </image>
</album>

Try something like this:

var doc = XDocument.Parse(yourDocumentString);
var largeImageUrl = doc.Root.Elements("image").Single(image => image.Attribute("size").Value == "large").Value;

edited Dec 04 '12 at 10:36

answered Dec 04 '12 at 10:15

Vitaliy

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But isn't xpath more simple? `var url = doc.XPathSelectElement("//image[@size='large']").Value` – L.B Dec 04 '12 at 10:18
@L.B I'd vote for XDocument rather than XPath as .NET XPath implementation isn't on top of 2.0 specification and Linq2Xml is more feature rich by far. – Matías Fidemraizer Dec 04 '12 at 10:20
`XPathSelectElement` is an extension method for `XDocument` and `XElement`. still Linq2Xml. – L.B Dec 04 '12 at 10:22
@L.B. Maybe it's simplier, I've never used it ;) Enjoy! – Vitaliy Dec 04 '12 at 10:23
@L.B Yes, but I suspect that's a shortcut to regular XPath implementation. Correct me if I'm wrong with that (I'll be happy to know it). – Matías Fidemraizer Dec 04 '12 at 10:23
@L.B Thanks for sharing info about "XPathSelectElement"! – Vitaliy Dec 04 '12 at 10:25
@GonzaloHernandez Sorry, I've edited answer. ".Value" is not method - it's property. – Vitaliy Dec 04 '12 at 10:38

How do I save an XML node's content to a string?

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