Specflow C# - load/edit/save xml file

Question

Im using Visual studio 2019 and I would like to load, edit and save xml file.

xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Firstdelivery25 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns="http://www.acm.nl/Operations/2018/09">
    <Firstdelivery>
        <MessageId xmlns="http://www.acm.nl/DataModel/2018/09">
            <Source>ABC</Source>
        </MessageId>
    </Firstdelivery>
</Firstdelivery25>

Code in Visual studio:

using System.Linq;
using System.Xml.Linq;
using System.Xml;
using TechTalk.SpecFlow;
XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Load(@"C:\\XML files\\25.xml");
            var element = xdoc.Elements("Source").FirstOrDefault();
            if (element != null)
            {
                element.Value = "DEF";
            }

            xdoc.Save(@"C:\\VB_25.xml");

When I execute this, the test is passed successfully. However, when I open the new created VB_25.xml file, the old value is still there.

Any help/suggestions/tips would be appreciated.

The XML Element `Bron` doesn't exist, so nothing is changed. What you need is to get the `Firstdelivery25` then from it get the `Firstdelivery`, then the `MessageId` then the `source` and then change it's value. Or alternatively, you could create a C# class that represents this XML and deserialize it, change the value of a property and serialize it again — MindSwipe, Dec 17 '20 at 13:32
My mistake. I have changed "xdoc.Elements("Bron")" to xdoc.Elements("Source"). I ran it again but the new file is still showing the old value. — Vinni, Dec 17 '20 at 13:44

Christoph Lütjen · Answer 1 · 2020-12-18T14:04:07.027

var element = xdoc.Elements("Source").FirstOrDefault();

Given your provided XML elements will always be null and so you do nothing with your XML and that's why the result looks like the input.

Reason1: Elements() is looking for direct children only and <Source> is not a direct child in your doc.

See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.xml.linq.xcontainer.elements?view=net-5.0

Reason2: <Source> tag has a different namespace than the doc itself and so the query is looking in the wrong namespace.

Solution:

XNamespace ns = "http://www.acm.nl/DataModel/2018/09";
var element = xdoc.Descendants(ns + "Source").FirstOrDefault();

See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.xml.linq.xcontainer.descendants?view=net-5.0 which is searching for children including their children.

If you expect a node to exist, I'd also recommend to use First() instead of FirstOrDefault(). This way you'll get an exception that would have shown you the reason for your problem.

did try to use the "var element = xdoc.Descendants("Source").FirstOrDefault();". new file was still showing old value. thanx for the link. — Vinni, Dec 18 '20 at 09:30

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 18 '20 at 02:44

0

You can try to modifty XML Data by using XPathNavigator.

Here is a simple demo you can refer to.

http://www.acm.nl/DataModel/2018/09 is the xmlns of MessageId.

XmlDocument document = new XmlDocument();
document.Load("test.xml");
XPathNavigator navigator = document.CreateNavigator();

XmlNamespaceManager manager = new XmlNamespaceManager(navigator.NameTable);
manager.AddNamespace("id", "http://www.acm.nl/DataModel/2018/09");

foreach (XPathNavigator nav in navigator.Select("//id:Source", manager))
{
    nav.SetValue("Tessssssst");
}

document.Save(@"new.xml");

answered Dec 18 '20 at 02:44

大陸北方網友

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@Vinni Glad to hear that. If this answer helps, maybe you can [vote on / accept it](https://stackoverflow.com/help/someone-answers). – 大陸北方網友 Dec 21 '20 at 01:31
@Vinni To get a random number, does this [answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/2706537/8335151) help you? – 大陸北方網友 Jan 12 '21 at 09:45
I know I already accepted this answer which helped me a lot. But maybe you have some extra suggestions on this, if I want the 'nav.SetValue("Tessssssst")' to be a random number between 100000000 and 999999999. Thanx in advance. if needed I will create a new topic about this. – Vinni Jan 12 '21 at 09:47
thanx I will take a look. – Vinni Jan 12 '21 at 09:49

Specflow C# - load/edit/save xml file

2 Answers2