How to remove declaration and add root element in existing XML file using C#

Question

I'm fairly new to XML and C#, so please understand if this question is too sily to ask.

I'm converting XML format using C# win-form application. The app opens a xml file using 'OpenFileDialog', then conversion will be excuted(this is already done, but I still need to add or remove some more like below) . After conversion, the app will save the modified xml file using 'SaveFileDialog'.

Original XML Format

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> 
   <DataList>
    <Data>
     <ID>1</ID>
     <Name>Mike</Name>
     <Age>23</Age>
    </Data> 
    <Data>
     <ID>1</ID>
     <Name>Mike</Name>
     <Age>23</Age>
    </Data>
    <Data>
     <ID>1</ID>
     <Name>Mike</Name>
     <Age>23</Age>
    </Data>
     ..<Data></Data> continued...
   </DataList>

I want to edit the XML file as below

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> **→ Remove this delaration!**
 <MainInterface> **→ Add 'root element' before existing nodes**
   <DataList>
    <Data>
     <ID>1</ID>
     <Name>Mike</Name>
     <Age>23</Age>
    </Data> 
    <Data>
     <ID>1</ID>
     <Name>Mike</Name>
     <Age>23</Age>
    </Data>
    <Data>
     <ID>1</ID>
     <Name>Mike</Name>
     <Age>23</Age>
    </Data>
     ..<Data></Data> continued...
   </DataList>
 </MainInterface> **→ close newly added root element**

I've tried below code but seem like it doesn't work

            OpenFileDialog openFileDialogue = new OpenFileDialog();           
            openFileDialog1.DefaultExt = "xml";
            openFileDialog1.Filter = "xml files (*.xml)|*.xml";
            openFileDialog1.Title = "Select a xml File";
            openFileDialog1.ShowDialog();

            XDocument xmlFile = XDocument.Load(openFileDialog1.FileName);
            **// Remove Declaration**
            XDocument doc = new XDocument(new XDeclaration(null, null, null));

            **// Add Root Element**
            XElement doc1 = XElement.Parse(openFileDialog1.FileName);
            XElement root = new XElement("MainInterface", doc1);
            //doc.Save(_data)
            openFileDialog1.FileName = root.ToString();

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Do something for conversion ~~~
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            SaveFileDialog saveFileDialogue1 = new SaveFileDialog();
            saveFileDialog1.Filter = "xml File |*.xml";
            saveFileDialog1.Title = "Conversion Completed! Save a XML file";
            saveFileDialog1.FileName = "XML Converted.xml";            
            saveFileDialog1.ShowDialog();

            xmlFile.Save(saveFileDialog1.FileName);

Should I use XML Writer? Is there simpler way of removing declaration and adding root element on the existing xml file? Thank you in advance.

This should answer your question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/711954/can-i-use-xdocument-save-and-exclude-the-xml-declaration — uross, Apr 29 '13 at 05:38

roybalderama · Answer 1 · 2013-04-29T05:48:01.980

Is that your XML structure? or is it bound to change?

See my way to parse this:

var xDoc    = XDocument.Load(openFileDialog1.FileName);
//Use code below if you'll use string to Load XDocument
/*var xmlString = @"<?xml version=""1.0"" encoding=""utf-8"" ?> 
<DataList>
    <Data>
        <ID>1</ID>
        <Name>Mike</Name>
        <Age>23</Age>
    </Data> 
    <Data>
        <ID>1</ID>
        <Name>Mike</Name>
        <Age>23</Age>
    </Data>
    <Data>
        <ID>1</ID>
        <Name>Mike</Name>
        <Age>23</Age>
    </Data>
    <Data></Data> continued...
</DataList>
";

var xDoc     = XDocument.Parse(xmlString);*/

var dataList = xDoc.Descendants(@"Data");   
var newXDoc  = new XDocument(new XDeclaration(null, null, null),
                   new XElement("MainInterface",
                       new XElement("DataList",
                           dataList.Select(data =>
                               new XElement("Data",
                                   data.Element("ID"),
                                   data.Element("Name"),
                                   data.Element("Age")
                               )
                           ) 
                       )                              
                   )
               );

See this image link for my XML Dump with LINQPad.

Makhsut Islamov · Answer 2 · 2013-04-29T05:01:16.047

-1

Just get xml as string and play with it! To remove header you can use Replace function! To add root element just add <MainInterface> to the begining and </MainInterface> to the end of xml string.

To convert to string you can use XDocument.ToString()

edited Apr 29 '13 at 05:01

answered Apr 29 '13 at 04:52

Makhsut Islamov

111
8

How to remove declaration and add root element in existing XML file using C#

2 Answers2