C# XML manipulation

Question

I want to manipulate a xml file. For example I want to add <Compile Include="Program2.cs" /> and delete <Compile Include="clsBlubb.cs" />. I do not know exactly how to get the right Xml Element (ItemGroup) dynamically and how to add or delete an element. It would be grateful if somebody can help me.

Example Xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="12.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="System" />
    <Reference Include="System.Core" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="clsBlubb.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Program.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

I tend to deserialize XML into an object, it makes for easier manipulation (for me at least!) http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10518372/how-to-deserialize-xml-to-object — Michael B, Mar 28 '14 at 10:09
you can use XPath to manipulate the xml http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/9494/Manipulate-XML-data-with-XPath-and-XmlDocument-C — Suresh Kumar Veluswamy, Mar 28 '14 at 10:16
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2470103/best-way-to-manipulate-xml-in-net — Ramie, Mar 28 '14 at 10:17

Sergey Berezovskiy · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-28T12:07:22.660

It's easy to do with Linq to Xml:

var xdoc = XDocument.Load(path_to_xml); // load xml file
var ns = xdoc.Root.GetDefaultNamespace();

// create new Compile element
var compile = new XElement(ns + "Compile", 
                   new XAttribute("Include" ,"Program2.cs"));

// add it to last ItemGroup element
xdoc.Root.Elements(ns + "ItemGroup").Last().Add(compile); 

// remove another Compile element
xdoc.Root.Elements(ns + "ItemGroup")
    .SelectMany(ig => ig.Elements(ns + "Compile"))
    .Where(c => (string)c.Attribute("Include") == "clsBlubb.cs")
    .Remove();

xdoc.Save(path_to_xml); // save changes back to file

Output:

<Project ToolsVersion="12.0" DefaultTargets="Build" 
         xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="System" />
    <Reference Include="System.Core" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="Program.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Program2.cs" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

C# XML manipulation

1 Answers1