Convert XmlDocument to String

Question

Here is how I'm currently converting XMLDocument to String

StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter();
XmlTextWriter xmlTextWriter = new XmlTextWriter(stringWriter);

xmlDoc.WriteTo(xmlTextWriter);

return stringWriter.ToString();

The problem with this method is that if I have " ((quotes) which I have in attributes) it escapes them.

For Instance:

<Campaign name="ABC">
</Campaign>

Above is the expected XML. But it returns

<Campaign name=\"ABC\">
</Campaign>

I can do String.Replace "\" but is that method okay? Are there any side-effects? Will it work fine if the XML itself contains a "\"

Chris Moutray · Answer 1 · 2012-08-20T12:59:51.967

734

Assuming xmlDoc is an XmlDocument object whats wrong with xmlDoc.OuterXml?

return xmlDoc.OuterXml;

The OuterXml property returns a string version of the xml.

edited Aug 20 '12 at 12:59

answered Mar 09 '10 at 07:35

Chris Moutray

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Well you are right. I tried that first but when I saw the quotes in the debugger. I thought its because of OuterXml and try that StringWriter method. But I was wrong the quotes were only in the debugger. So I'll just use OuterXml. Thanks – akif Mar 09 '10 at 07:43
Worked for me! Just do a null check on xmlDoc! return xmlDoc == null ? "xmlDoc is null" : xmlDoc.OuterXml; – SarjanWebDev Oct 27 '14 at 01:04
1

@SarjanWebDev if you think your object could be null, then the null-check goes without saying and for every answer here; and really for every interaction with an object in C# - personally I try to ensure objects are always constructed so that I don't have to bloat the code with null-checks everywhere... i guess it just depends on your code base... – Chris Moutray Oct 27 '14 at 06:09
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(y) but OuterXml doesn't include declarative tag – hazjack Sep 28 '15 at 04:50
@hazjack I wouldn't expect it to, that doesn't make sense; in any event w3 says it optional for v1 spec http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/#sec-prolog-dtd – Chris Moutray Sep 28 '15 at 06:35
@hazjack also I would say that the encoding format doesn't really apply to the c# string more so the final output if you were to write to file or stream. – Chris Moutray Sep 28 '15 at 06:43
Yes, thanks for the link. The version 1.1 says it must have an xml declaration http://www.w3.org/TR/xml11/#sec-prolog-dtd – hazjack Sep 28 '15 at 08:24
@hazjack ok I see... your example was for v1.0 – Chris Moutray Sep 28 '15 at 08:43
3

@hazjack if you want declarative tag then make use of the XmlDeclaration Class https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.xml.xmldeclaration.aspx - if you then want to write it to file then then use the save method found on you XmlDocument instance https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dw229a22.aspx - to me the declarative tag only makes sense if you're writing to say file and not a C# string – Chris Moutray Sep 28 '15 at 08:52
Should be the accepted answer since you can't use XmlWriter in some platforms like UWP – fillobotto Jan 09 '16 at 13:33
Large files throw OUtOfMemoryException – Ruslan_K Nov 06 '20 at 02:27

score 209 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 27 '12 at 16:44

209

There aren't any quotes. It's just VS debugger. Try printing to the console or saving to a file and you'll see. As a side note: always dispose disposable objects:

using (var stringWriter = new StringWriter())
using (var xmlTextWriter = XmlWriter.Create(stringWriter))
{
    xmlDoc.WriteTo(xmlTextWriter);
    xmlTextWriter.Flush();
    return stringWriter.GetStringBuilder().ToString();
}

edited Mar 27 '12 at 16:44

Brian

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answered Mar 09 '10 at 07:33

Darin Dimitrov

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+1 for fixing the code to use `using` blocks and not `XmlTextWriter`. – John Saunders Mar 09 '10 at 08:02
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Worthing noting (as mentioned in the remarks here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.xml.xmlwriter.aspx) that the elements and attributes will not be written until you call the Close method of the XmlWriter. – TonE Aug 23 '11 at 14:47
Some of them may be written immediately. It depends on buffering. Regardless, I added a call to `Flush`, though a call to `Close` or just closing the `xmlTextWriter` `using` block would accomplish the same. – Brian Mar 27 '12 at 16:46
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To make the xml pretty, pass in this settings object to XmlWriter.Create: XmlWriterSettings settings = new XmlWriterSettings(); settings.Indent = true; settings.IndentChars = " "; settings.Encoding = Encoding.UTF8; – Adam Bruss Sep 18 '12 at 16:44

score 13 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 01 '16 at 14:09

13

If you are using Windows.Data.Xml.Dom.XmlDocument version of XmlDocument (used in UWP apps for example), you can use yourXmlDocument.GetXml() to get the XML as a string.

answered Mar 01 '16 at 14:09

Whyser

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SixOThree · Answer 4 · 2015-02-06T22:51:05.107

6

As an extension method:

public static class Extensions
{
    public static string AsString(this XmlDocument xmlDoc)
    {
        using (StringWriter sw = new StringWriter())
        {
            using (XmlTextWriter tx = new XmlTextWriter(sw))
            {
                xmlDoc.WriteTo(tx);
                string strXmlText = sw.ToString();
                return strXmlText;
            }
        }
    }
}

Now to use simply:

yourXmlDoc.AsString()

edited Feb 06 '15 at 22:51

answered Oct 01 '12 at 19:36

SixOThree

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This example fails to call Dispose on the two writers. – Joel Mueller Jan 12 '15 at 21:57
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@Joel Mueller Dispose is called anyway when leaving code despite of return. – Peter Krassoi Nov 29 '21 at 13:07

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 11 '21 at 07:50

3

you can use xmlDoc.InnerXml property to get xml in string

answered Jan 11 '21 at 07:50

احمد بندارى

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score 2 · Answer 6 · edited Aug 02 '12 at 20:28

2

" is shown as \" in the debugger, but the data is correct in the string, and you don't need to replace anything. Try to dump your string to a file and you will note that the string is correct.

edited Aug 02 '12 at 20:28

saluce

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answered Mar 09 '10 at 07:35

Arsen Mkrtchyan

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Convert XmlDocument to String

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