Develop Reference

Tricky to read XML from web service C#

I have looked everywhere, and cannot find anything to help me.
I am writing a program that connects to a webservice and then the webservice sends an XML response. After the response is received I have to retrieve certain values from it, but this is where it gets tricky
Here is a snippet of the returned XML:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<MobilePortalSellingCategoriesHierarchy xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Response xmlns="http://blabla.com/service/">Successful</Response>
<ResponseNumber xmlns="http://blabla.com/service/">0</ResponseNumber>
<SellingCategoriesHierarchy xmlns="http://tym2sell.com/PortalService/">
<Response>Successful</Response>
<ResponseNumber>0</ResponseNumber>
<SellingCategories>
<PortalSellingCategory>
<SellingCategoryId xsi:nil="true" />
<SellingCategoryName>category1</SellingCategoryName>
<DeliveryMethod />
<DeliveryMethodNumber>0</DeliveryMethodNumber>
<SellingCategories>
<PortalSellingCategory>
<SellingCategoryId xsi:nil="true" />
<SellingCategoryName>category1_Item</SellingCategoryName>
<DeliveryMethod />
<DeliveryMethodNumber>0</DeliveryMethodNumber>
<SellingCategories>
<PortalSellingCategory>
<SellingCategoryId>2</SellingCategoryId>
<SellingCategoryName>Item2</SellingCategoryName>
<DeliveryMethod>Display</DeliveryMethod>
<DeliveryMethodNumber>1</DeliveryMethodNumber>
<VoucherValue>0.00</VoucherValue>
<IsVariablePrice>true</IsVariablePrice>
<MinimumVoucherValue>1.00</MinimumVoucherValue>
<MaximumVoucherValue>1000.00</MaximumVoucherValue>
<VoucherValueIncrement>1.00</VoucherValueIncrement>
<AdditionalInputItems>
<PortalAdditionalInputItem>
<InputItemId>-1</InputItemId>
<Label>Value:</Label>
<IsNumericOnly>true</IsNumericOnly>
<MaximumLength>7</MaximumLength>
<Hidden>false</Hidden>
</PortalAdditionalInputItem>
<PortalAdditionalInputItem>
<InputItemId>4</InputItemId>
<Label>Mobile Number</Label>
<IsNumericOnly>true</IsNumericOnly>
<MaximumLength>15</MaximumLength>
<Hidden>false</Hidden>
</PortalAdditionalInputItem>
</AdditionalInputItems>
<TwoStep>false</TwoStep>
<SelectedIcon>SamplePicture</SelectedIcon>
<UnSelectedIcon>SamplePicture</UnSelectedIcon>
This repeats from the SellingCategories node just under Response for a couple of times.
Here is a Snippet of my code where I get the XML as string.
XmlDocument xml = new XmlDocument();
xml.LoadXml(receivedData);
XmlNodeList xnList = xml.SelectNodes("/MobilePortalSellingCategoriesHierarchy");
foreach (XmlNode xn in xnList)
{
string sellingCategoryName = xn["SellingCategoryName"].InnerText;
string SelectedIcon = xn["SelectedIcon"].InnerText;
string UnSelectedIcon = xn["UnSelectedIcon"].InnerText;
richTextBox1.AppendText(string.Format("Name: {0} {1} {2}", sellingCategoryName, SelectedIcon, UnSelectedIcon));
}
I have tried changing xml.SelectNodes("/MobilePortalSellingCategoriesHierarchy");
to
xml.SelectNodes("/MobilePortalSellingCategoriesHierarchy/SellingCategoriesHierarchy/SellingCategories/PortalSellingCategory");
I need to select each SellingCategoryName and list the SellingCategoryName(s) and all the other items underneath it.
I was hoping to get something in the lines of:
Category1
Category1_Item
Item2
SamplePicture
Sample Picture
Mine only reads the First Node and then returns "Successful" to me.
I havve also tried:
XElement root = XElement.Load("FilePath");
var sellingCategoryNames = from PortalSellingCategory in root.Elements("MobilePortalSellingCategoriesHierarchy")
where (string)PortalSellingCategory.Element("SellingCategoriesHierarchy").Element("SellingCategories").Element("PortalSellingCategory") != ""
select PortalSellingCategory;
foreach (var xEle in sellingCategoryNames)
{
richTextBox1.Text = (string)xEle;
}
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What you are doing with
xml.SelectNodes("/MobilePortalSellingCategoriesHierarchy");
is selecting your root node, which is just one. Thats why you only get one item in your list back. Is the hierarchy important? I can see that PortalSellingCategory can also be inside another PortalSellingCategory. If not maybe you could try the following select:
xml.SelectNodes("//PortalSellingCategory");
This will search for every node named "PortalSellingCategory" in your response, no mather where in the hierarchy it is.
EDIT:
And yes, you should look out for the namespaces, sry for didnt seeing that.
If you like geeting all the nodes with XPath you must create a new NamespaceManager and at it to your selectNodes call:
XmlDocument xml = new XmlDocument();
xml.LoadXml(data);
XmlNamespaceManager ns = new XmlNamespaceManager(xml.NameTable);
ns.AddNamespace("ns", "http://tym2sell.com/PortalService/");
XmlNodeList xnList = xml.SelectNodes("//ns:PortalSellingCategory", ns);

I would use XElement instead of XMLDocument, and then use Linq to query or pick the elmements like: XElement xContact = ....
int contactno = (int?)xContact.Element("command").Element("contactperson").Attribute("contactpersonid") ?? -1;
if (xContact.Element("command").Element("contactperson").Element("name").Element("firstname") != null)
console.writeline(xContact.Element("command").Element("contactperson").Element("name").Element("firstname").Value);

var doc= new XmlDocument();
doc.Load("FilePath");
var nodeList = xml.GetElementsByTagName("PortalSellingCategory");
Hi,
It returns the collection of nodes, and you just have to query it to get needed informations.
Feel free to ask help if needed.
Dimitri.

How to check XMLNode is exist or not in Windows Phone

I am writing Windows Phone 8 application, and I am getting XML data from web service,in some response, in my XML document I am getting some "Tags" and in other response I do not getting those tags, so how do I check that XNode is exist or not?
See my XML document below:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<root>
<Group>
<Id>205647</Id>
<Name>Docs</Name>
</Group>
<Group>
<Id>205648</Id>
<Name>Photos</Name>
</Group>
</root>
Now, in above document, the Descendant "GROUP" is exist in some results and doesn't exist in other results,How do I check that?

Create an extension method like this :
public static string TryGetElementValue(this XElement parentEl, string elementName, string defaultValue = null)
{
var foundEl = parentEl.Element(elementName);
if(foundEl != null)
{
return foundEl.Value;
}
else
{
return defaultValue;
}
}
This approach allows you to keep a clean code with isolating the check of element presence. It also allow you to define a default value, which can be helpful

You could go through all nodes with the XmlTextReader and look for a specific XmlNode Name.
http://www.w3schools.com/xpath/xpath_syntax.asp
Try this snippet with your xml:
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load("your.xml");
//Select the book node with the matching attribute value.
XmlNode nodeToFind;
XmlElement root = doc.DocumentElement;
// Selects all the title elements that have an attribute named group
nodeToFind = root.SelectSingleNode("//title[#group]");
if( nodeToFind != null )
{
// It was found, manipulate it.
}
else
{
// It was not found.
}
Have a look at this too. updating an existing xml file in Windows Phone
Hope it helps!

c# Reading XML comment using XDocument

How to read xml comment when using XDocument?
XDocument doc = XDocument.Load("joker.xml");
foreach (XElement element in doc.Descendants("server"))
{
//I use this to read server tag...
}
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<ho>
<!-- For X use only -->
<servers>
<server NAME="xx" ></server>
<!-- Dummy servers -->
<server NAME="xx" ></server>
<server NAME="xx" ></server>
</servers>
</ho>

The Node object is the primary data type for the entire DOM.
A node can be an element node, an attribute node, a text node, or any other of the node types explained in the "Node types" chapter.
An XML element is everything from (including) the element's start tag to (including) the element's end tag.
XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Load("");
foreach (var node in xdoc.Descendants("servers").Nodes())
{
if (node is XComment)
{
//THEN READ YOUR COMMENT
}
}

Check node type when reading xml. If it's XComment then you are reading comment. E.g. in your case previous node of server element will be comment:
foreach(var s in doc.Descendants("server"))
{
var comment = s.PreviousNode as XComment;
if (comment != null)
Console.WriteLine(comment.Value); // outputs "Dummy servers"
}

you will have to use the XmlReader.Create method and read it and switch between the nodes to indicate which node it is current reading
Dont be fooled by the Create method... it reads the xml file in question but creates an instance of the XmlReader object:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.xml.xmlreader.create(v=vs.110).aspx
XmlReader xmlRdr = XmlReader.Create("Joker.XML");
// Parse the file
while (xmlRdr.Read())
{
switch (xmlRdr.NodeType)
{
case XmlNodeType.Element:
// Current node is an Xml Element
break;
case XmlNodeType.Comment:
// This is a comment so do something with xmlRdr.value
... and so on
PART 2 - for those who want to use LINQ (not that it makes a difference really)...
XDocument xml = XDocument.Load("joker.xml");
var commentNodes = from n in xml.Descendants("server")
where n.NodeType == XmlNodeType.Comment
select n;
foreach(XNode node in commentNodes)
{
// now you are iterating over the comments it has found
}

Selecting Particular Node List in XML

<Report xmlns="Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse.Report.Alert" xmlns:p1="w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"; Name="Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse.Report.Alert" p1:schemaLocation="Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehou?Schema=True">
<Title>Alert Report</Title>
<Created>6/27/2013 9:32 PM</Created>
<StartDate>6/1/2013 9:29 PM</StartDate>
<EndDate>6/27/2013 9:29 PM</EndDate>
<TimeZone>(UTC)</TimeZone>
<Severity>Warning, Critical</Severity>
<Priority>Low, Medium, High</Priority>
<AlertTable>
<Alerts>
<Alert>
<AlertName></AlertName>
<Priority></Priority>
</Alert>
</Alerts>
</AlertTable>
</Report>
So I'm trying to pull down the list of nodes that appear under Alerts child. So /Report/AlertTable/Alerts.
I've done very similar before but in this format it is not working for some reason. Can someone point me out in the right direction?
XmlDocument Log = new XmlDocument();
Log.Load("test.xml");
XmlNodeList myLog = Log.DocumentElement.SelectNodes("//Report/AlertTable/Alerts");
foreach (XmlNode alert in myLog)
{
Console.Write("HERE");
Console.WriteLine(alert.SelectNodes("AlertName").ToString());
Console.WriteLine(alert.SelectNodes("Priority").ToString());
Console.Read();
}
EDIT:
One of the responses had me try to use a bunch of namespace with p1 but had no such luck.
EDIT:
Did not work either:
var name = new XmlNamespaceManager(log.NameTable);
name.AddNamespace("Report", "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance");
XmlNodeList xml = log.SelectNodes("//Report:Alerts", name);

From a site:
nodename Selects all nodes with the name "nodename"
/ Selects from the root node
// Selects nodes in the document from the current node that match the selection no matter where they are
So I believe
"/AlertTable/Alerts"
would work, as that would be 'from the root node' as well as
"Report/AlertTable/Alerts"
XPath Site

Figured this sucker out.
It had to do with the namespace of "Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse.Report.Alert". Changing this to anything but that won't read the XML properly.
XmlDocument log = new XmlDocument();
log.Load(#"C:\Users\barranca\Desktop\test.xml");
// XmlNodeList xml = log.SelectNodes("//ns1:Alerts");
var name = new XmlNamespaceManager(log.NameTable);
name.AddNamespace("ns1", "Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse.Report.Alert");
XmlNodeList xml = log.SelectNodes("//ns1:Alert", name);
foreach (XmlNode alert in xml)
{
Console.Write("HERE");
XmlNode test = alert.SelectSingleNode("//ns1:AlertName",name);
string testing = test.InnerText;
Console.Write(testing);
}

How to get data from an XML File in C# using XMLDocument class?

Good Evening All, and happy weekend!.
I have been trying all day to understand how to parse my simple XML file so I can understand it enough to write a personal project I want to work on.
I have been reading articles on this site and others but cannot get past where I am :(
My XML Document is ...
<XML>
<User>
<ID>123456789</ID>
<Device>My PC</Device>
</User>
<History>
<CreationTime>27 June 2013</CreationTime>
<UpdatedTime>29 June 2013</UpdatedTime>
<LastUsage>30 June 2013</LastUsage>
<UsageCount>103</UsageCount>
</History>
<Configuration>
<Name>Test Item</Name>
<Details>READ ME</Details>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
</Configuration>
</XML>
I am trying to get the value in the details element (READ ME). Below is my code
// Start Logging Progress
Console.WriteLine("Test Application - XML Parsing and Creating");
Console.ReadKey();
// Load XML Document
XmlDocument MyDoc = new XmlDocument(); MyDoc.Load(#"E:\MyXML.XML");
// Select Node
XmlNode MyNode = MyDoc.SelectSingleNode("XML/Configuration/Details");
// Output Node Value
Console.WriteLine(String.Concat("Details: ", MyNode.Value));
// Pause
Console.ReadKey();
My console application is running and outputing "Target: " but not giving me the detail within the element.
Can somebody see why this is happening, and perhaps give me advice if I am completely off the wheel? I have no previous knowledge in reading XML files; hence where I am now :)
Thanks! Tom

With the your XPATH expression
// Select Node
XmlNode MyNode = MyDoc.SelectSingleNode("XML/Configuration/Details");
your are selection an element so the type of the MyNode will be XmlElement but the Value of an XmlElement is always null (see on MSDN) so you need to use XmlElement.InnerText or XmlElement.InnerXml isntead.
So the changed your code to
// Output Node Value
Console.WriteLine(String.Concat("Details: ", MyNode.InnerText));
Or you can select the content of an element with using the XPATH text() function, in this case MyNode will be XmlText where you get its value with Value:
// Select Node
XmlNode MyNode = MyDoc.SelectSingleNode("XML/Configuration/Details/text()");
// Output Node Value
Console.WriteLine(String.Concat("Details: ", MyNode.Value));
As a sidenote if you are anyway learning XML manipulation in C# you should check out LINQ to XML which is another/newer way to working with XML in C#.

Just for interest, a little-known "simple" syntax is this:
XmlDocument myDoc = new XmlDocument();
myDoc.Load(#"D:\MyXML.XML");
string details = myDoc["XML"]["Configuration"]["Details"].InnerText;
Note that this (and the XPath approach) could go pop if your XML doesn't conform to the structure you're expecting, so you'd ideally put some validation in there as well.

U can use Xpath library for that (u must include "System.Xml.XPath"):
XmlDocument document = new XmlDocument();
document.Load("MyXml.xml");
XPathNavigator navigator = document.CreateNavigator();
foreach (XPathNavigator nav in navigator.Select("//Details"))
{
Console.WriteLine(nav.Value);
}
the above code iterate over every node called (Details) extracting information and print it.

If you want to retrieve a particular value from an XML file
XmlDocument _LocalInfo_Xml = new XmlDocument();
_LocalInfo_Xml.Load(fileName);
XmlElement _XmlElement;
_XmlElement = _LocalInfo_Xml.GetElementsByTagName("UserId")[0] as XmlElement;
string Value = _XmlElement.InnerText;
Value contains the text value