How to get XML elements between specific nodes with LINQ

Question

I'm trying to process some XML with LINQ (vb.net) to return all rows between two specific rows:

XML:

<ss:Table>
   <ss:Row ss:FirstRow="true">...</ss:Row>
   <ss:Row>1</ss:Row>
   <ss:Row>2</ss:Row>
   <ss:Row>3</ss:Row>
   <ss:Row ss:LastRow="true">...</ss:Row>
</ss:Table>

I can grab the starting row using the following:

Dim Rows = From item In dg...<Table>...<Row> Select item Where item.@ss:FirstRow = "true"

But I bet there is a LINQ elegant way of getting rows with (1,2,3). Obviously I can't find it or I wouldn't be asking here. Thanks!

did you see [post][1] which has a similar question. Hope it helps [1]: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/860420/linq-to-xml-syntax-for-xml-element-with-attributes?rq=1 — Harrison, Mar 24 '13 at 00:07

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 31 '13 at 10:22

I think you are after the two functions ElementsAfterSelf and TakeWhile to do the trick. Apologies that my answer is in C#.

var xml = @"
<Table>
    <Row FirstRow='true'>bob</Row>
    <Row>1</Row>
    <Row>2</Row>
    <Row>3</Row>
    <Row LastRow='true'>bob</Row>
    <Row FirstRow='true'>mary</Row>
    <Row>4</Row>
    <Row>5</Row>
    <Row>6</Row>
    <Row LastRow='true'>mary</Row>
    <Row FirstRow='true'>jane</Row>
    <Row>7</Row>
    <Row>8</Row>
    <Row>9</Row>
    <Row LastRow='true'>jane</Row>
</Table>";

var doc = XDocument.Parse(xml);
var rows = (from row in doc.Root.Elements("Row")
            where row.Attribute("FirstRow") != null
            select new
            {
                Name = row.Value,
                Values = row.ElementsAfterSelf().TakeWhile(n => n.Attribute("LastRow") == null).ToList()
            }).ToList();

rows.Dump();

I used LinqPad to put together the answer hence the Dump method call at the end to see the output of the operation.

How to get XML elements between specific nodes with LINQ

1 Answers1