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trying to read an XMLfile and only get the data out of one child node using c#

i am reading from an XML file and it pulls the correct data but pulls the data from 2 different nodes due to repeating of the attributes "server", "database" and "user"
When the program runs, it runs through both rather than just the one node i need it to run through. How can i make it just get the data from the node <MySql_Connection_string/>
The code is as follows:
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load("xmlConnection.xml");
foreach (XmlNode node in doc.DocumentElement)
{
string databaseConnection = node.Attributes[0].InnerText;
if (databaseConnection == "MySQL")
{
foreach (XmlElement element in doc.DocumentElement)
{
foreach (XmlNode child in node.SelectNodes("//MySQL_Connection_string"))
{
MySQLServer = element.GetAttribute("Server");
MySQLDatabase = element.GetAttribute("Database");
MySQLUser = element.GetAttribute("user");
MySQLPassword = element.GetAttribute("password");
Console.WriteLine(MySQLServer);
Console.WriteLine(MySQLDatabase);
Console.WriteLine(MySQLUser);
Console.WriteLine(MySQLPassword);
}
}
}
}
The console.writeline is simply to see the outputs
the xml code is
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Database_Connections>
<MySQL_Connection_string Database_Connection="MySQL" Server="***" Database="littering_detection_jf" user="jordan" password="***" />
<PostgreSQL_Connection_string Database_Connection="postgreSQL" host="***" username="Jordan" password="***" database="intuvision" Port="***" />
<SQL_connection_string Database_Connection="SQL" Server="****" Database="anprdb" user="Jordan" password="***" />
</Database_Connections>

Get rid of all the foreach loops except the inner one:
foreach (XmlElement child in doc.SelectNodes("//MySQL_Connection_string"))
{
MySQLServer = child.GetAttribute("Server");
MySQLDatabase = child.GetAttribute("Database");
MySQLUser = child.GetAttribute("user");
MySQLPassword = child.GetAttribute("password");
Console.WriteLine(MySQLServer);
Console.WriteLine(MySQLDatabase);
Console.WriteLine(MySQLUser);
Console.WriteLine(MySQLPassword);
break; // not interested in any additional MySQL_Connection_string elements
}
This assumes that doc.SelectNodes("//MySQL_Connection_string") returns only XML elements, no other types of nodes which is the case here, so I replaced your XmlNode child by XmlElement child.

C# - Unable to get node value from xml file

I'm trying to get the inner text from a node after loading the XML file.
I have tried this code with another file and it worked. But here I can't get the node values.
Can anyone point out what am I doing wrong?
XML file - restaurant_reviews.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<restaurants xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns="http://www.algonquincollege.com/onlineservice/reviews">
<restaurant>
<name>Laughing Man</name>
<logo>
<name>Visit the Laughing Man</name>
<imagefile>laughing-man.gif</imagefile>
<width unit="px">50</width>
<height unit="px">200</height>
</logo>
</restaurant>
<restaurant>
<name>Gong’s Asian Cuisine</name>
<logo>
<name/>
<imagefile>gong-asian-cuisine.gif</imagefile>
<width unit="px">150</width>
<height unit="px">250</height>
</logo>
</restaurant>
</restaurants>
C# Code
List<string> names = new List<string>();
XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.Load(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(#"~/App_Data/restaurant_reviews.xml"));
XmlNodeList nodes = xmlDoc.SelectNodes("/restaurants/restaurant");
foreach (XmlNode itemNode in nodes)
{
XmlNode titleNode = itemNode.SelectSingleNode("name");
if (titleNode != null)
{
names.Add(titleNode.InnerText);
}
}

Whilst this question already has an accepted answer, I wanted to add this anyway, as removing namespaces and manipulating XML in this way doesn't feel right to me, it was added for a reason I suspect.
What I believe is the correct approach is too add an XML Namespace Manager to your XPath query.
var nsMgr = new XmlNamespaceManager(xmlDoc.NameTable);
nsMgr.AddNamespace("r", "http://www.algonquincollege.com/onlineservice/reviews");
Then in your SelectNodes and SelectSingleNodes, you add the namespace to the query and pass in the manager, like so.
XmlNodeList nodes = xmlDoc.SelectNodes("/r:restaurants/r:restaurant", nsMgr);
and
XmlNode titleNode = itemNode.SelectSingleNode("r:name", nsMgr);
But if you're happy with the other solution and can manipulate it in this way then go for it I guess.

If you remove this xmlns="http://www.algonquincollege.com/onlineservice/reviews" in your xml it works. I don't know why but the xmlDoc.SelectNodes("/restaurants/restaurant"); do not find any nodes with this xmlns namespace.
This is the code I worked with and it works:
string xml = #"<?xml version=""1.0""?>
<restaurants xmlns:xsi=""http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"" xmlns:xsd=""http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"">
<restaurant>
<name>Laughing Man</name>
<logo>
<name>Visit the Laughing Man</name>
<imagefile>laughing-man.gif</imagefile>
<width unit=""px"">50</width>
<height unit=""px"">200</height>
</logo>
</restaurant>
<restaurant>
<name>Gong’s Asian Cuisine</name>
<logo>
<name/>
<imagefile>gong-asian-cuisine.gif</imagefile>
<width unit=""px"">150</width>
<height unit=""px"">250</height>
</logo>
</restaurant>
</restaurants>";
List<string> names = new List<string>();
XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.LoadXml(xml);
XmlNodeList nodes = xmlDoc.SelectNodes("/restaurants/restaurant");
foreach (XmlNode itemNode in nodes)
{
XmlNode titleNode = itemNode.SelectSingleNode("name");
if (titleNode != null)
{
names.Add(titleNode.InnerText);
}
}

The problem was with namespace. Thanks to #Sean in the comment section I have resolved the issue. Thanks to #Presi also for pointing out the namespace attribute was the problem.
List<string> names = new List<string>();
XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.Load(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(#"~/App_Data/restaurant_reviews.xml"));
var namespaceName = "ns";
var namespacePrefix = string.Empty;
XmlNamespaceManager nameSpaceManager = null;
if (xmlDoc.LastChild.Attributes != null)
{
var xmlns = xmlDoc.LastChild.Attributes["xmlns"];
if (xmlns != null)
{
nameSpaceManager = new XmlNamespaceManager(xmlDoc.NameTable);
nameSpaceManager.AddNamespace(namespaceName, xmlns.Value);
namespacePrefix = namespaceName + ":";
}
}
XmlNodeList nodes = xmlDoc.SelectNodes(string.Format("/{0}restaurants/{0}restaurant", namespacePrefix), nameSpaceManager);
foreach (XmlNode itemNode in nodes)
{
XmlNode titleNode = itemNode.SelectSingleNode(namespacePrefix + "name", nameSpaceManager);
if (titleNode != null)
{
names.Add(titleNode.InnerText);
}
}

XML traversing using XmlDocument

I have the following code, which I use to traverse the XML:
private void btn_readXML_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load("e:\\contacts.xml");
// Load xml document.
TraverseNodes(doc.ChildNodes);
}
static List<string> xmlnodes = new List<string>();
private static void TraverseNodes(XmlNodeList nodes)
{
foreach (XmlNode node in nodes)
{
List<string> temp = new List<string>();
temp.Add("Node name: " + node.Name.ToString());
XmlAttributeCollection xmlAttributes = node.Attributes;
foreach (XmlAttribute at in xmlAttributes)
{
temp.Add(" Atrib: " + at.Name + ": " + at.Value);
}
xmlnodes.AddRange(temp);
TraverseNodes(node.ChildNodes);
}
But my problem is, I don't want to traverse the whole document, I only want to traverse the node and subsequently its children which has an attribute 'X'. Please note that I don't know where the node is present. So basically what I have to do is, find out if the node exists ( it'll have the attribute 'X'. That's how I identify its the right node) if yes then fetch its children.
Can anyone help me out here? I'm pretty new to XMLs. Thanks is advance!

Assuming your XML having following structure:
<Contacts>
<Contact X="abc">
<Child1></Child1>
</Contact>
<Contact X="def">
<Child2></Child2>
</Contact>
</Contacts>
Example code using XmlNode.SelectNodes:
var doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load("e:\\contacts.xml");
//get root element of document
XmlElement root = doc.DocumentElement;
//select all contact element having attribute X
XmlNodeList nodeList = root.SelectNodes("//Contact[#X]");
//loop through the nodelist
foreach (XmlNode xNode in nodeList)
{
//traverse all childs of the node
}
For different XPath Queries see this link.
UPDATE:
If you want to select all elements having attribute X in the document. No matters where they exists. You could use following:
//select all elements in the doucment having attribute X
XmlNodeList nodeList = root.SelectNodes("//*[#X]");

Try this:
private void btn_readXML_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load("e:\\contacts.xml");
var nodes = xdoc.SelectNodes("//yournodename");
// ex.
// var nodes = xdoc.SelectNodes("//Company");
TraverseNodes(nodes);
}

How to get element value using c#

XML file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<content>
<FingerPrintUserDetails>
<UserID>e57645</UserID>
<UserName>Jill</UserName>
<FPData>AQAAABQAAAD0AAAAAQASAAEAWgAAAAAA8AAAAHfrWpB6BHZBL10voxpdxu2Km5XVNh*oUNC80Rvpql3RhlqOiBPeet6iRPwb/BdN1fCF4Y/WHbQ40*mqoUKqilgN7bUqNuXP7M299HUWtoAGEO3nDKXXAnHd7dgytZbmHVv*mRBPJDSRw9VY/R1yOIu2cCDlLM*F8Q1lvTfMFDdfwNZynI0e2ZauCF58f0UX56XLFBallaAauxP5mvvhUmcmc6ITg7RhH9wc4181kgPjCuZg38pQepE5U07XIa3hQP8fwxPzdprifXECgB1Z3pTXWQP0q4ZD0Inlbq6Gszo1ucPrhQA0jYQRXtJUVuyBeg</FPData>
<Address>Pune</Address>
<ContactNo>848488484884</ContactNo>
</FingerPrintUserDetails>
<FingerPrintUserDetails>
<UserID>444</UserID>
<UserName>John</UserName>
<FPData>AQAAABQAAADkAAAAAQASAAEAZAAAAAAA4AAAAPLnmQ8FymAAHWYutR5pdtYvfDVmjsqLeli8tOSTFAtw6AkfA0r8XwrMzp9jFZJI7DlBk4G94BMq55gPEG7uBLZUNYrvhv0jDlDFMOjWGJ9RoWekFveTC*oZ7Tq/xmxuvY6FzLHVo*xzdKQI73Y0f9/eeMC0OgqnbQ3I0IP6cTkkKnTUZJOXKr7IFPHkjJAvCDmU7ec4vG50JHdBJIObmbzVcO0huTUQyE7CR1qYkUjmNFKgVKWPLRupEk4l/Ek0BuAba*9JlhBVUHzZuKbDQLc9lTFwevAgDuuAwxfZaLS*</FPData>
<Address>nagpur</Address>
<ContactNo>464645763</ContactNo>
</FingerPrintUserDetails>
<FingerPrintUserDetails>
<UserID>5555</UserID>
<UserName>Jack</UserName>
<FPData>AQAAABQAAAAEAQAAAQASAAEAZAAAAAAA9AAAAPz5mQO3uTeXLfU5Mb74XbCX5rERGZFPQMVG1vPpX87306O5oURlYiIe5dasJ2S8NlBZu2UU3zaUpNnB7viYDB6*wfFlgtopn/WdbXW0Yhik3hj8nDreEmaK12To8qfAJx2ooq43i0wBIL*0Jkba*QpHIprSajrhnCg1PjOLMP37sEauJUwXJaoDR/PPQYIxTFE5kf8xzGlJmqiGejD*Y8R3ewU9yIrxkdQ0S//LCdacULt2QvS/I3APo/j0FAgSCOU3SBLdDL6UBPD4fLeEzo7uUIW8gUMThzZX*u2iUuNwJdqWC2NsFtWkUWt03sz3xYQpR8pLA4vrsUmldzUMWe8</FPData>
<Address>beed</Address>
<ContactNo>5745745747</ContactNo>
</FingerPrintUserDetails>
</content>
C#:
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load("E://BioEnable_Project//fp_project_using_xml//fp_project_using_xml//Capture_Data.xml");
XmlElement root = doc.DocumentElement;
XmlNodeList nodes = root.SelectNodes("FPData");
foreach(XmlElement node in nodes)
{
MessageBox.Show(node.Value);
}
I have to check FPData value on each node..i use above code but not getting..

In your XPath, provide the full path to the node.
XmlNodeList nodes = root.SelectNodes("/content/FingerPrintUserDetails/FPData");
What is happening is that there is no direct FPData node under the document root.

XmlNodeList nodes = root.SelectNodes("content/FingerPrintUserDetails");
it will return array of FingerPrintUserDetails, then find FPData in them
XmlNodeList res = nodes[index].SelectNodes("FPData");

Using LINQ to XML:
XDocument doc = XDocument.Load("XmlFilePath");
var selectors = from elements in doc.Elements("content").Elements("FingerPrintUserDetails")
select elements;
foreach (var element in selectors)
{
MessageBox.Show(element.Element("FPData").Value);
}

XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load("E://BioEnable_Project//fp_project_using_xml//fp_project_using_xml//Capture_Data.xml");
XmlNodeList lst = doc.GetElementsByTagName("FingerPrintUserDetails");
foreach (XmlElement elem in lst)
{
XmlNode pfData = doc.GetElementsByTagName("FPData")[0];
MessageBox.Show(pfData.Value);
}

Problem in reading XML node with unknown root/parent nodes

I have been trying to read an xml file. I have to extract value of nodes "Date" and "Name", but the problem is, they might appear at any level in XML hierarchy.
So when I try with this code,
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load("test1.xml");
XmlElement root = doc.DocumentElement;
XmlNodeList nodes = root.SelectNodes("//*");
string date;
string name;
foreach (XmlNode node in nodes)
{
date = node["date"].InnerText;
name = node["name"].InnerText;
}
and the XML file is ::
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<root>
<child>
<name>Aravind</name>
<date>12/03/2000</date>
</child>
</root>
the above code errors out, as <name> and <date> are not immediate child Elements of root.
is it possible to assume that parent/root nodes are unknown and just with the name of the nodes, copy the values ??

Depending on the exception you are getting, this may or may not be the exact solution. However, I would definitely check that date and name exist before doing a .InnerText on them.
foreach (XmlNode node in nodes)
{
dateNode = node["date"];
if(dateNode != null)
date = dateNode.InnerText;
// etc.
}

I would read up on XPATH and XPATH for C# to do this more efficiently
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308333
http://www.w3schools.com/XPath/xpath_syntax.asp
Here's a little method that should allow you to get the innerText easily.
function string GetElementText(string xml, string node)
{
XPathDocument doc = new XPathDocument(xml);
XPathNavigator nav = doc.CreateNavigator();
XPathExpression expr = nav.Compile("//" + node);
XPathNodeIterator iterator = nav.Select(expr);
while (iterator.MoveNext())
{
// return 1st but there could be more
return iterator.Current.Value;
}
}

Try to use LINQ:
string xml = #"<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<root>
<date>12/03/2001</date>
<child>
<name>Aravind</name>
<date>12/03/2000</date>
</child>
<name>AS-CII</name>
</root>";
XDocument doc = XDocument.Parse(xml);
foreach (var date in doc.Descendants("date"))
{
Console.WriteLine(date.Value);
}
foreach (var date in doc.Descendants("name"))
{
Console.WriteLine(date.Value);
}
Console.ReadLine();
The Descendants method allows you to get all the elements that have a specified name.