Indentation and new line command for XMLwriter in C#

Question

I am writing some data to XML file...but when I open it all the values are in a single line...how can write it in readable format?ie each node in new line and indentation?

FileStream fs = new FileStream("myfile.xml", FileMode.Create);

XmlWriter w = XmlWriter.Create(fs);

w.WriteStartDocument();
w.WriteStartElement("myfile");                 

w.WriteElementString("id", id.Text);
w.WriteElementString("date", dateTimePicker1.Text);
w.WriteElementString("version", ver.Text);
w.WriteEndElement();
w.WriteEndDocument();
w.Flush();
fs.Close();

Dennis · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-20T13:22:13.077

45

Use a XmlTextWriter instead of XmlWriter and then set the Indentation properties.

Example

string filename = "MyFile.xml";

using (FileStream fileStream = new FileStream(filename, FileMode.Create))
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fileStream))
using (XmlTextWriter xmlWriter = new XmlTextWriter(sw))
{
  xmlWriter.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;
  xmlWriter.Indentation = 4;

  // ... Write elements
}

Following @jumbo comment, this could also be implemented like in .NET 2.

var filename = "MyFile.xml";
var settings = new XmlWriterSettings() 
{
    Indent = true,
    IndentChars = "    "
}

using (var w = XmlWriter.Create(filename, settings))
{
    // ... Write elements
}

edited Mar 20 '17 at 13:22

answered Nov 04 '10 at 05:53

Dennis

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except then you can't set the XmlSettings property if needed – Ed S. Jul 14 '14 at 17:30
4

Use of XmlTextWriter is [no longer recommended](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-Us/library/system.xml.xmltextwriter(v=vs.110).aspx) (since .Net2.0). See [this QA](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26075559/what-is-the-purpose-of-xmltextwriter-if-xmlwriter-is-the-recommended-one) for further info. – jumbo Mar 20 '17 at 10:59

score 33 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 19 '12 at 12:38

You need to first create an XmlWriterSettings object that specifies your indentation, then when creating your XmlWriter, pass in the XmlWriterSettings after your path.

Additionally, I use the using block to let C# handle the disposing of my resources so that I don't need to worry about losing any resources on an exception.

{
  XmlWriterSettings xmlWriterSettings = new XmlWriterSettings()
  {
    Indent = true,
    IndentChars = "\t",
    NewLineOnAttributes = true
  };

  using (XmlWriter w= XmlWriter.Create("myfile.xml", xmlWriterSettings))
  {
    w.WriteStartDocument();
    w.WriteStartElement("myfile");

    w.WriteElementString("id", id.Text);
    w.WriteElementString("date", dateTimePicker1.Text);
    w.WriteElementString("version", ver.Text);
    w.WriteEndElement();
    w.WriteEndDocument();
  }
}

Technically, setting "`Indent`" to true is all you need here to have the `Xml(Text?)Writer` emit new lines. — Zack, Sep 09 '14 at 14:37

Jerod Venema · Answer 3 · 2010-11-04T06:44:39.467

8

Check the Settings property:

w.Settings.Indent = true;

Edit: You can't set it directly:

System.Xml.XmlWriter.Create("path", new System.Xml.XmlWriterSettings())

edited Nov 04 '10 at 06:44

answered Nov 04 '10 at 05:51

Jerod Venema

44,124
5
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exception:The 'XmlWriterSettings.Indent' property is read only and cannot be set – Dark Knight Nov 04 '10 at 06:09
My fault, you need to use the "Create" method and pass it in directly; updated answer. – Jerod Venema Nov 04 '10 at 06:44

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 04 '10 at 05:51

3

Set the Formatting Property of the XmlTextWriter:

TextWriter textWriter;
var xmlTextWriter = new XmlTextWriter(textWriter);
xmlTextWriter.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;

answered Nov 04 '10 at 05:51

Guilherme Duarte

3,371
1
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What version of .NET (or assembly?) is this "`Formatting`" property in? My solution targets 4.5.1, and doesn't know about any "`Formatting`" property on `Xml(Text?)Writer`? – Zack Sep 09 '14 at 14:40
XmlTextWriter has been deprecated since .net 2.0 – LarryBud May 17 '18 at 14:17

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 30 '14 at 06:57

Use Settings As follow:

        XmlWriterSettings settings = new XmlWriterSettings();
        settings.Encoding = Encoding.UTF8;
        settings.Indent = true;

        using (MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
        using (XmlWriter xmlDoc = XmlWriter.Create(memoryStream, settings)){
         // logic here..
        }

This will get you where you want, though, you don't have to use MemoryStream, the importent part is the settings.

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 04 '17 at 19:23

A little VB.NET version using XmlWriter plus XmlWriterSettings direct to file:

Dim oSerializer As New XmlSerializer(GetType(MyType), New XmlRootAttribute("MyRootAttributeName"))
Using oXmlWriter As XmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create("MyFilePath", New XmlWriterSettings With {.Indent = True}) //Default encoding is utf-8
    oSerializer.Serialize(oXmlWriter, oInstanceOfMyType)
    oXmlWriter.Flush()
End Using

Check the doco for other settings and file overwrite options but this is clean and works as expected in lots of situations.

Indentation and new line command for XMLwriter in C#

6 Answers6

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