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Editing xml on live in C#. Deleting nodes that contain specific value

I have an xml document of type like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<Recordset>
<Table>Recordset</Table>
<Rows>
<Row>
<Fields>
...
<Field>
<Alias>StatusName</Alias>
<Value>Scheduled</Value>
</Field>
<Field>
<Alias>U_Revision</Alias>
<Value>code00</Value>
</Field>
<Field>
<Alias>U_Quantity</Alias>
<Value>10.000000</Value>
</Field>
<Field>
<Alias>U_ActualQty</Alias>
<Value>0.000000</Value>
</Field>
...
</Fields>
</Row>
...
<Row>
<Fields>
...
<Field>
<Alias>StatusName</Alias>
<Value>Scheduled</Value>
</Field>
<Field>
<Alias>U_Revision</Alias>
<Value>code00</Value>
</Field>
<Field>
<Alias>U_Quantity</Alias>
<Value>150.000000</Value>
</Field>
<Field>
<Alias>U_ActualQty</Alias>
<Value>0.000000</Value>
</Field>
...
</Fields>
</Row>
</Rows>
</Recordset>
I have different values in field with alias of StatusName. There are some Scheduled, notScheduled, Realeased, Finished etc values. What I would like to do is to delete each node that contain node with alias StatusName and value lets say Scheduled or Finished.
I was thinking to do this more or less in that way however I am doing something wrong. May anybody let me on right way ?
XmlDocument xmlDocument = new XmlDocument();
xmlDocument.LoadXml(xml);
XmlNodeList nodes = xmlDocument.SelectNodes("//Rows[#StatusName='Finished']");
for (int i = nodes.Count - 1; i >= 0; i--)
{
nodes[i].ParentNode.RemoveChild(nodes[i]);
}
var newXml = nodes.ToString();
I would like to delete the whole node if contains with alias StatusName and specific value lets say Finished.
I would expect the result in new string variable.

I like to work with DataTable with xml, I found it very easy.
I used a DataTable to work with your nodes.
So, I took your xml file and wrote some code for you that might help you:
//READ THE XML FILE
XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
//My path
xmlDoc.LoadXml(Properties.Resources.test);
//Read the xml file into a dataSet
DataSet ds = new DataSet();
XmlNodeReader xnr = new XmlNodeReader(xmlDoc);
ds.ReadXml(xnr);
//Your data will be store in the 4's dataTable of the dataSet ( the <field> )
for(int i=0;i<ds.Tables[4].Rows.Count;i++)
{
//Check the value as you wish
//Here i want to suppress all the <Field> nodes with <Value> = "Scheduled"
if ( ds.Tables[4].Rows[i]["Value"].ToString().Equals("Scheduled"))
{
//RemoteAt will remove all the node, so the node <Field> in your example data
ds.Tables[4].Rows.RemoveAt(i);
//If you want to only remove the node <Value> (and not all the <Field> node ) just do ds.Tables[4].Rows["Value"]=null;
}
}
//Write your new content in a new xml file
//As you wanted here you just read the new xml file created as a string
using (var stringWriter = new StringWriter())
using (var xmlTextWriter = XmlWriter.Create(stringWriter))
{
ds.WriteXml(xmlTextWriter);
xmlTextWriter.Flush();
stringWriter.GetStringBuilder().ToString();
//Here the result is in stringWriter, and there is 6 <Field> nodes, and not 8 like before the suppress
}
//If you want to create a new xml file with the new content just do
ds.WriteXml(yourPathOfXmlFile);
//( like rewriting the previous xml file )

I assume, you are going to delete entire <Row> which matches your condition
i.e.,
<Row>
<Fields>
...
<Field>
<Alias>StatusName</Alias>
<Value>Finished</Value>
</Field>
</Fields>
</Row>
The required XPath:
//Row[Fields[Field[Alias[text()='StatusName'] and Value[text() = 'Finished']]]]
C#
string xPath = #"//Row[Fields[Field[Alias[text()='StatusName'] and Value[text() = 'Finished']]]]";
var nodes = xmlDocument.SelectNodes(xPath);
for (int i = nodes.Count - 1; i >= 0; i--)
{
nodes[i].ParentNode.RemoveChild(nodes[i]);
}
var newXml = xmlDocument.OuterXml;

XDocument does not return the expected node

I try to work with the XDocument in C# but have some problems to receive the desired elements. Here is my sample xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xfdf xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/xfdf/" xml:space="preserve">
<f href="#{pdffile}"/>
<ids modified="BF43C70442ECB74FA49833BBA44D4679" original="B4870CC046121A41B7D8F0838C87256D"/>
<fields>
<field name="FormInstanceID"><value>#{instanceid}</value></field>
<field name="meta_7"><value>#{meta_7}</value></field>
<field name="meta_6"><value>#{meta_6}</value></field>
<field name="meta_8"><value>#{meta_8}</value></field>
<field name="meta_3"><value>#{meta_3}</value></field>
<field name="meta_2"><value>#{meta_2}</value></field>
<field name="meta_5"><value>#{meta_5}</value></field>
<field name="meta_4"><value>#{meta_4}</value></field>
<field name="meta_1"><value>#{meta_1}</value></field>
<field name="tag_5"><value>#{tag_5}</value></field>
<field name="tag_1"><value>#{tag_1}</value></field>
<field name="tag_2"><value>#{tag_2}</value></field>
<field name="tag_3"><value>#{tag_3}</value></field>
<field name="TAGS"><value>#{TAGS}</value></field>
<field name="tag_4"><value>#{tag_4}</value></field>
<field name="qr"><value>#{qr}</value></field>
<field name="metadata"><value>#{metadata}</value></field>
<field name="pdx.dynform.email"><value>#{pdx.dynform.email}</value></field>
</fields>
</xfdf>
Assuming the given XML I want to extract with XDocument the field values. Currently I do no receive any entry by using this approach
XDocument xfdfData = XDocument.Load(xfdf);
var result = xfdfData.Descendants("fields");
The file is sucessfully loaded in the xfdfData object but the Descendants("fields") does find any nodes.

You don't have a fields element which isn't in a namespace, which is what you're asking for. Due to this in the root element:
xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/xfdf/"
... the default namespace URI for the descendant nodes is http://ns.adobe.com/xfdf/. So you want:
XNamespace ns = "http://ns.adobe.com/xfdf/";
XDocument doc= XDocument.Load(xfdf);
var result = doc.Descendants(ns + "fields");
Or to find the field elements themselves:
XNamespace ns = "http://ns.adobe.com/xfdf/";
XDocument doc= XDocument.Load(xfdf);
var fields = doc.Descendants(ns + "field");

Xml reader skipping values

I have the following XML snippet-
-<Row>
<RowType Id="1"Label="Scotland">1985</RowType>
<Year Id="11"Label="1994"/>
<Value Id="123">18</Value>
<Field Id="123"Label="Country">16</Field>
<Field Id="123"Label="Soccer">Yes</Field>
</Row>
-<Row>
<RowType Id="1"Label="England">1986</RowType>
<Year Id="11"Label="1994"/>
<Value Id="123">19</Value>
<Field Id="123"Label="Country">16</Field>
<Field Id="123"Label="Soccer">Yes</Field>
</Row>
-<Row>
<RowType Id="1"Label="Wales">1987</RowType>
<Year Id="11"Label="1994"/>
<Value Id="123">20</Value>
<Field Id="123"Label="Country">16</Field>
<Field Id="123"Label="Soccer">Yes</Field>
</Row>
I am using XmlReader to retrieve specific data from it like so -
using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(xml)))
{
string country = "";
string Year = "";
string count = "";
string tss= "";
string tss2 = "";
reader.MoveToContent();
while (reader.Read())
{
reader.ReadToFollowing("RowType");
country = reader.GetAttribute("Label");
country = country.Replace("'", "");
reader.ReadToFollowing("Year");
Year = reader.GetAttribute("Label");
reader.ReadToFollowing("Value");
count = reader.ReadElementContentAsString();
reader.ReadToFollowing("Field");
tss = reader.GetAttribute("Label");
reader.ReadToFollowing("Field");
tss2 = reader.GetAttribute("Label");
}
}
This is working fine for the first iteration, however on the second, it retrieves the values from the third row in the XML, and continues to skip to the next row after the one it should be parsing.
How can I resolve this?

Actually, your code is right; what is not right is the structure of the document. Or better, your code does not account for the specific structure of the document.
You can change that by adding the following bit:
XmlReaderSettings settings = new XmlReaderSettings();
settings.ConformanceLevel = ConformanceLevel.Fragment;
using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(xml), settings))
By default the XMLReader expects ConformanceLevel.Document and thus the file should have a structure like the following one:
<main>
<Row id="5">
<RowType Id="1" Label="Scotland">1985</RowType>
<Year Id="11" Label="1994"/>
<Value Id="123">18</Value>
<Field Id="123" Label="Country">16</Field>
<Field Id="123" Label="Soccer">Yes</Field>
</Row>
<Row id="1">
<RowType Id="1" Label="England">1986</RowType>
<Year Id="11" Label="1994"/>
<Value Id="123">19</Value>
<Field Id="123" Label="Country">16</Field>
<Field Id="123" Label="Soccer">Yes</Field>
</Row>
<Row id="4">
<RowType Id="1" Label="Wales">1987</RowType>
<Year Id="11" Label="1994"/>
<Value Id="123">20</Value>
<Field Id="123" Label="Country">16</Field>
<Field Id="123" Label="Soccer">Yes</Field>
</Row>
</main>
I understand that the lack of separation between elements (e.g., Id="1"Label="Scotland" instead of Id="1" Label="Scotland") is a typo because separations have to exist in any case.
------------------- UPDATE
You report that your code does not deliver the expected result even after changing the conformance level. I have done a new test of your code and it works fine; at least, it iterates correctly. Thus, what I understand is that you want to retrieve different values than what you code does (it mixes app names, attributes and content).
Below you can see my own code (although I insist that yours iterates through the given information OK, too), which is more adaptable than yours; I am also including some comments in the parts where I think that you want to retrieve different information than what your code does. The basic idea is just retrieving information from the content (content), but your code takes it from anywhere.
string path = #"XML file";
XmlReaderSettings settings = new XmlReaderSettings();
settings.ConformanceLevel = ConformanceLevel.Fragment;
using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create(path, settings))
{
string country = "";
string Year = "";
string count = "";
string tss = "";
string tss2 = "";
while (reader.ReadToFollowing("Row"))
{
XmlReader reader2 = reader.ReadSubtree();
while (reader2.Read())
{
if (reader2.NodeType == XmlNodeType.Element)
{
if (reader2.Name == "RowType")
{
country = reader2.GetAttribute("Label");
country = country.Replace("'", ""); //country_year = reader.ReadElementContentAsString(); -> "Scotland" -> 1985
}
else if (reader2.Name == "Year")
{
//IF XML IS -> <Year Id="11">1994<Year/>
//Then -> Year = reader2.GetAttribute("Label")
Year = reader2.GetAttribute("Label"); //-> 1994
}
else if (reader2.Name == "Value")
{
count = reader2.ReadElementContentAsString();
}
else if (reader2.Name == "Field")
{
if (reader2.GetAttribute("Label") == "Country")
{
tss = reader2.ReadElementContentAsString(); //I understand that this is what you want to read, instead the Label name
}
else if (reader2.GetAttribute("Label") == "Soccer")
{
tss2 = reader2.ReadElementContentAsString();//I understand that this is what you want to read, instead the Label name
}
}
}
}
}
}
This should deliver what you are looking for; or, in the worst scenario, a much clear idea about how to deal with the XML reading. Also it might be a good thing to include a try...catch just in case; note that any error while reading/dealing with the variables would provoke the reading process to be immediately stopped.

We can use LINQ to get this done if you want.
If you really want to read all the values from Xml into some variable....you can try something in similar lines...
XElement po = XElement.Load(#"SoccerCup.xml");
IEnumerable<XElement> childElements =
from el in po.Elements()
select el;
foreach (XElement el in childElements)
{
var Year=el.Element("Year").Value;
var country = el.Element("country").Value;
var count =el.Elemet("Value").Value;
Console.WriteLine("Year: " + Year);
Console.WriteLine("Country: " + country);
Console.WriteLine("Count: " + count);
}
Hope this helps...

Parsing XML using LINQ in c#

In this xml file (http://www.studiovincent.net/list.xml):
<list version="1.0">
<meta>
<type>resource-list</type>
</meta>
<resources start="0" count="4">
<resource classname="Quote">
<field name="name">Vincent</field>
<field name="username">Hill</field>
<field name="age">31</field>
<field name="hair">black</field>
</resource>
<resource classname="Quote">
<field name="name">John</field>
<field name="username">Tedelon</field>
<field name="age">27</field>
<field name="hair">brown</field>
</resource>
<resource classname="Quote">
<field name="name">Michael</field>
<field name="username">Lopez</field>
<field name="age">20</field>
<field name="hair">red</field>
</resource>
<resource classname="Quote">
<field name="name">Frank</field>
<field name="username">Lopez</field>
<field name="age">25</field>
<field name="hair">black</field>
</resource>
</resources>
</list>
using this code:
using System.Xml;
using.System.Xml.Linq;
XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create("http://www.studiovincent.net/list.xml");
XElement el = XElement.Load(reader);
reader.Close();
var items = el.Elements("resources").Elements("resource").Descendants().DescendantNodes();
var items = from item in el.Elements("resources").Elements("resource").Descendants()
where item.Attribute("name").Value == "name" select item.FirstNode;
foreach (XNode node in items)
{
Console.WriteLine(node.ToString());
}
I have this OUTPUT:
Vincent
John
Michael
Frank
Code working very good, but I need get value 31 which corresponds field name="age" where field name="name" is Vincent. How Can I get this result?

I recommend you do as you would when reading XML naturally.
In your code, try to find all the fields with the name attribute set to "name".
This process cannot be used to associate a name with an age. It is more natural to read the XML and check all resource elements. Then add to this element some information described in the field elements.
// Using LINQ to SQL
XDocument document = XDocument.Load("http://www.studiovincent.net/list.xml"); // Loads the XML document.
XElement resourcesElement = document.Root.Element("resources"); // Gets the "resources" element that is in the root "list" of the document.
XElement resourceElementVincent = (from resourceElement in resourcesElement.Elements("resource")// Gets all the "resource" elements in the "resources" element
let fieldNameElement = resourceElement.Elements("field").Single(fieldElement => fieldElement.Attribute("name").Value == "name") // Gets the field that contains the name (there one and only one "name" field in the "resource" element -> use of Single())
where fieldNameElement.Value == "Vincent" // To get only resources called "Vincent"
select resourceElement).Single(); // We suppose there is one and only 1 resource called "Vincent" -> Use of Single()
XElement fieldAgeElement = resourceElementVincent.Elements("field").Single(fieldElement => fieldElement.Attribute("name").Value == "age"); // Gets the corresponding "age" field
int age = int.Parse(fieldAgeElement.Value, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture); // Gets the age by Parse it as an integer
Console.WriteLine(age);
Does it do what you want?

Consider this below XML is there as one of the SQL table's column.
<Root>
<Name>Dinesh</Name>
<Id>2</Id>
</Root>
The objective of the query is to fetch the Name from the XML. In this example we will fetch the 'Dinesh' as the value.
var Query = (from t in dbContext.Employee.AsEnumerable()
where t.active == true
select new Employee
{
Id = t.AtpEventId,
Name = XDocument.Parse(t.Content).Descendants("Root").Descendants("Name").ToList().
Select(node => node.Value.ToString()).FirstOrDefault()
});
Note the following:
t.active == true is just an example to make some condition if needed.
Please note, in the above LINQ query, always use the AsEnumerable, as I did in the first line.
Descendants("Root").Descendants("Name") - here "Root" should be the element matching with the XML, and under Root we have Name element.

Update value in xml file

I have a xml-file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<root>
<level>
<node1 />
<node2 />
<node3 />
</level>
</root>
What is the simplest way to insert values in node1, node2, node3 ?
C#, Visual Studio 2005

Here you go:
XmlDocument xmldoc = new XmlDocument();
xmldoc.LoadXml(#"
<root>
<level>
<node1 />
<node2 />
<node3 />
</level>
</root>");
XmlElement node1 = xmldoc.SelectSingleNode("/root/level/node1") as XmlElement;
if (node1 != null)
{
node1.InnerText = "something"; // if you want a text
node1.SetAttribute("attr", "value"); // if you want an attribute
node1.AppendChild(xmldoc.CreateElement("subnode1")); // if you want a subnode
}

//Here is the variable with which you assign a new value to the attribute
string newValue = string.Empty
XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.Load(xmlFile);
XmlNode node = xmlDoc.SelectSingleNode("Root/Node/Element");
node.Attributes[0].Value = newValue;
xmlDoc.Save(xmlFile);
Credit goes to Padrino.
How to change XML Attribute

XElement t = XElement.Load("filePath");
t.Element("level").Element("node1").Value = "";
t.Element("level").Element("node2").Value = "";
t.Element("level").Element("node3").Value = "";
t.Save("filePath");

Use AppendChild method to inser a child inside a node.
yournode.AppendChild(ChildNode);
link text