Writing XML Files in C#?

Question

How would I go about doing this:

for( var i = 0; i < emp; i++ )
{
    Console.WriteLine("Name: ");
    var name = Console.ReadLine();

    Console.WriteLine("Nationality:");
    var country = Console.ReadLine();

    employeeList.Add( new Employee(){
                        Name = name,
                        Nationality = country
                     } );
}

I want a test run of, for example:

Imran Khan
Pakistani

to generate an XML File:

<employee>
   <name> Imran Khan </name>
   <nationality> Pakistani </nationality>
</employee>

Any suggestions?

possible duplicate of [What is the best way to build XML in C# code?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/284324/what-is-the-best-way-to-build-xml-in-c-sharp-code) — TJHeuvel, Apr 02 '12 at 10:59
Many ways to do this - serialization or direct output using custom classes or LINQ to XML (for example). — Oded, Apr 02 '12 at 11:01

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 02 '12 at 10:58

My suggestion is to use xml serialization:

[XmlRoot("employee")]
public class Employee {
    [XmlElement("name")]
    public string Name { get; set; }

    [XmlElement("nationality")]
    public string Nationality { get; set; }
}

void Main() {
    // ...
    var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Employee));
    var emp = new Employee { /* properties... */ };
    using (var output = /* open a Stream or a StringWriter for output */) {
        serializer.Serialize(output, emp);
    }
}

+1, thinking of the third-party libraries for xml I used in C++, C# xml serialization looks irresistable. — ApprenticeHacker, Apr 02 '12 at 11:07

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:15

3

There are several ways, but the one I like is using the class XDocument.

Here's a nice example on how to do it. How can I build XML in C#?

If you have any questions, just ask.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:15

Community

1
1

answered Apr 02 '12 at 10:58

walther

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gideon · Answer 3 · 2012-04-02T11:13:48.847

To give you an idea of how XDocument works based on your loop, you would do this:

XDocument xdoc = new XDocument();
xdoc.Add(new XElement("employees"));
for (var i = 0; i < 3; i++)
{
     Console.WriteLine("Name: ");
     var name = Console.ReadLine();

      Console.WriteLine("Nationality:");
      var country = Console.ReadLine();

      XElement el = new XElement("employee");
      el.Add(new XElement("name", name), new XElement("country", country));
      xdoc.Element("employees").Add(el);
}

After running, xdoc would be something like:

<employees>
  <employee>
    <name>bob</name>
    <country>us</country>
  </employee>
  <employee>
    <name>jess</name>
    <country>us</country>
  </employee>
</employees>

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 02 '12 at 11:00

0

<employee>
   <name> Imran Khan </name>
   <nationality> Pakistani </nationality>
</employee>

XElement x = new  XElement ("employee",new XElement("name",e.name),new XElement("nationality",e.nationality) );

answered Apr 02 '12 at 11:00

Royi Namir

144,742
138
468
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Code only answers are rarely helpful. Please elaborate on your code and explain why and how this solves the question. – RyanNerd Dec 13 '19 at 12:20

Writing XML Files in C#?

4 Answers4