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When using MergeField FieldCodes in OpenXml SDK in C# why do field codes disappear or fragment?

I have been working successfully with the C# OpenXml SDK (Unofficial Microsoft Package 2.5 from NuGet) for some time now, but have recently noticed that the following line of code returns different results depending on what mood Microsoft Word appears to be in when the file gets saved:
var fields = document.Descendants<FieldCode>();
From what I can tell, when creating the document in the first place (using Word 2013 on Windows 8.1) if you use the Insert->QuickParts->Field and choose MergeField from the Field names left hand pane, and then provide a Field name in the field properties and click OK then the field code is correctly saved in the document as I would expect.
Then when using the aforementioned line of code I will receive a field code count of 1 field. If I subsequently edit this document (and even leave this field well alone) the subsequent saving could mean that this field code no longer is returned in my query.
Another case of the same curiousness is when I see the FieldCode nodes split across multiple items. So rather than seeing say:
" MERGEFIELD Author \\* MERGEFORMAT "
As the node name, I will see:
" MERGEFIELD Aut"
"hor \\* MERGEFORMAT"
Split as two FieldCode node values. I have no idea why this would be the case, but it certainly makes my ability to match nodes that much more exciting. Is this expected behaviour? A known bug? I don't really want to have to crack open the raw xml and edit this document to work until I understand what is going on. Many thanks all.

I came across this very problem myself, and found a solution that exists within OpenXML: a utility class called MarkupSimplifier which is part of the PowerTools for Open XML project. Using this class solved all the problems I was having that you describe.
The full article is located here.
Here are some pertinent exercepts :
Perhaps the most useful simplification that this performs is to merge adjacent runs with identical formatting.
It goes on to say:
Open XML applications, including Word, can arbitrarily split runs as necessary. If you, for instance, add a comment to a document, runs will be split at the location of the start and end of the comment. After MarkupSimplifier removes comments, it can merge runs, resulting in simpler markup.
An example of the utility class in use is:
SimplifyMarkupSettings settings = new SimplifyMarkupSettings
{
RemoveComments = true,
RemoveContentControls = true,
RemoveEndAndFootNotes = true,
RemoveFieldCodes = false,
RemoveLastRenderedPageBreak = true,
RemovePermissions = true,
RemoveProof = true,
RemoveRsidInfo = true,
RemoveSmartTags = true,
RemoveSoftHyphens = true,
ReplaceTabsWithSpaces = true,
};
MarkupSimplifier.SimplifyMarkup(wordDoc, settings);
I have used this many times with Word 2010 documents using VS2015 .Net Framework 4.5.2 and it has made my life much, much easier.
Update:
I have revisited this code and have found it clears upon runs on MERGEFIELDS but not IF FIELDS that reference mergefields e.g.
{if {MERGEFIELD When39} = "Y???" "Y" "N" }
I have no idea why this might be so, and examination of the underlying XML offers no hints.

Word will often split text runs with into multiple text runs for no reason I've ever understood. When searching, comparing, tidying etc. We preprocess the body with method which combines multiple runs into a single text run.
/// <summary>
/// Combines the identical runs.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="body">The body.</param>
public static void CombineIdenticalRuns(W.Body body)
{
List<W.Run> runsToRemove = new List<W.Run>();
foreach (W.Paragraph para in body.Descendants<W.Paragraph>())
{
List<W.Run> runs = para.Elements<W.Run>().ToList();
for (int i = runs.Count - 2; i >= 0; i--)
{
W.Text text1 = runs[i].GetFirstChild<W.Text>();
W.Text text2 = runs[i + 1].GetFirstChild<W.Text>();
if (text1 != null && text2 != null)
{
string rPr1 = "";
string rPr2 = "";
if (runs[i].RunProperties != null) rPr1 = runs[i].RunProperties.OuterXml;
if (runs[i + 1].RunProperties != null) rPr2 = runs[i + 1].RunProperties.OuterXml;
if (rPr1 == rPr2)
{
text1.Text += text2.Text;
runsToRemove.Add(runs[i + 1]);
}
}
}
}
foreach (W.Run run in runsToRemove)
{
run.Remove();
}
}

I tried to simplify the document with Powertools but the result was a corrupted word file. I make this routine for simplify only fieldcodes that has specifics names, works in all parts on the docs (maindocumentpart, headers and footers):
internal static void SimplifyFieldCodes(WordprocessingDocument document)
{
var masks = new string[] { Constants.VAR_MASK, Constants.INP_MASK, Constants.TBL_MASK, Constants.IMG_MASK, Constants.GRF_MASK };
SimplifyFieldCodesInElement(document.MainDocumentPart.RootElement, masks);
foreach (var headerPart in document.MainDocumentPart.HeaderParts)
{
SimplifyFieldCodesInElement(headerPart.Header, masks);
}
foreach (var footerPart in document.MainDocumentPart.FooterParts)
{
SimplifyFieldCodesInElement(footerPart.Footer, masks);
}
}
internal static void SimplifyFieldCodesInElement(OpenXmlElement element, string[] regexpMasks)
{
foreach (var run in element.Descendants<Run>()
.Select(item => (Run)item)
.ToList())
{
var fieldChar = run.Descendants<FieldChar>().FirstOrDefault();
if (fieldChar != null && fieldChar.FieldCharType == FieldCharValues.Begin)
{
string fieldContent = "";
List<Run> runsInFieldCode = new List<Run>();
var currentRun = run.NextSibling();
while ((currentRun is Run) && currentRun.Descendants<FieldCode>().FirstOrDefault() != null)
{
var currentRunFieldCode = currentRun.Descendants<FieldCode>().FirstOrDefault();
fieldContent += currentRunFieldCode.InnerText;
runsInFieldCode.Add((Run)currentRun);
currentRun = currentRun.NextSibling();
}
// If there is more than one Run for the FieldCode, and is one we must change, set the complete text in the first Run and remove the rest
if (runsInFieldCode.Count > 1)
{
// Check fielcode to know it's one that we must simplify (for not to change TOC, PAGEREF, etc.)
bool applyTransform = false;
foreach (string regexpMask in regexpMasks)
{
Regex regex = new Regex(regexpMask);
Match match = regex.Match(fieldContent);
if (match.Success)
{
applyTransform = true;
break;
}
}
if (applyTransform)
{
var currentRunFieldCode = runsInFieldCode[0].Descendants<FieldCode>().FirstOrDefault();
currentRunFieldCode.Text = fieldContent;
runsInFieldCode.RemoveAt(0);
foreach (Run runToRemove in runsInFieldCode)
{
runToRemove.Remove();
}
}
}
}
}
}
Hope this helps!!!

I am trying to parse an XML file using C# in the .NET environment and it keeps skipping over elements

So this is how a portion of the XML I am trying to parse looks like:
<azsa:Views>
<azsa:Spatial_Array>
<azsa:Spatial>
<azsa:ViewName>Spatial</azsa:ViewName>
<azsa:BBox>
<azsa:PointLo>
<azsa:x>0</azsa:x>
<azsa:y>0</azsa:y>
<azsa:z>0</azsa:z>
</azsa:PointLo>
<azsa:PointHi>
<azsa:x>2925</azsa:x>
<azsa:y>3375</azsa:y>
<azsa:z>2775</azsa:z>
</azsa:PointHi>
</azsa:BBox>
</azsa:Spatial>
</azsa:Spatial_Array>
</azsa:Views>
I have to read the x,y and z coordinates for both PointHi and PointLo
I was using the XMLReader() class to perform the task.
XmlTextReader reader = new XmlTextReader(openFileDialog1.FileName);
while (reader.Read())
{
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:Views");
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:Spatial_Array");
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:Spatial");
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:ViewName");
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:BBox");
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:PointLo");
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:x");
low[0] = (int)(Double.Parse(reader.ReadElementString()));
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:y");
low[1] = (int)(Double.Parse(reader.ReadElementString()));
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:z");
low[2] = (int)(Double.Parse(reader.ReadElementString()));
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:PointHi");
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:x");
high[0] = (int)(Double.Parse(reader.ReadElementString()));
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:y");
high[1] = (int)(Double.Parse(reader.ReadElementString()));
reader.ReadToFollowing("azsa:z");
high[2] = (int)(Double.Parse(reader.ReadElementString()));
}
The reader works perfectly until it gets to the first x in the PointLo and then it just skips to the y in PointHi instead. I have tried using descendants, subtrees and readinnerxml but it still does the same thing.
NOTE: 1. There is more code in the while loop for reading the remaining part of the XML but was not necessary for this problem so I have not included it in the post.
2. Changing the way the XML is organized is not possible because that's how they are required to be stored for the task I am performing.
3. XMLReader is the preferable method as I am dealing with a large number of documents and there is no scope for having this use cache memory.

I had a fairly similar issue a while back when reading subtrees. The solution in that scenario was to dispose the subtree XmlReaders. Granted, the situation here is slightly different, but could you consider an approach such as below (note that I removed the element prefixes for simplicity of testing, as well as read in the XML string rather than a file)?
It is certainly ugly looking, but this was more a proof of concept and could be tidied up a bit. It is also lacking the appropriate error checking, but again this was more for demonstration purposes. It does at least parse out the different point values.
As a side note, I think perhaps a lot of the ugliness could be abstracted away by making classes to represent the different components (or objects) within the XML stream, and making those classes responsible for parsing out their own properties.
Just one way (of many I'm sure) to skin a cat...
private void ParseXml(string xml)
{
double[] low = null;
double[] hi = null;
using (StringReader stringReader = new StringReader(xml))
{
using (XmlReader xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(stringReader))
{
while (xmlReader.Read())
{
if (xmlReader.NodeType != XmlNodeType.Element) continue;
if (xmlReader.Name == "PointLo")
{
low = ParsePoint(xmlReader);
}
else if (xmlReader.Name == "PointHi")
{
hi = ParsePoint(xmlReader);
}
}
}
}
}
private double[] ParsePoint(XmlReader xmlReader)
{
double[] point = new double[3];
using (XmlReader pointReader = xmlReader.ReadSubtree())
{
while (pointReader.Read())
{
if (pointReader.NodeType != XmlNodeType.Element) continue;
if (pointReader.Name == "x")
{
point[0] = GetDimensionValue(pointReader);
}
else if (pointReader.Name == "y")
{
point[1] = GetDimensionValue(pointReader);
}
else if (pointReader.Name == "z")
{
point[2] = GetDimensionValue(pointReader);
}
}
}
return point;
}
private double GetDimensionValue(XmlReader reader)
{
using (XmlReader dimensionReader = reader.ReadSubtree())
{
dimensionReader.Read();
return reader.ReadElementContentAsDouble();
}
}

So as I mentioned in the comments to manderson's solution that for some reason it does not see the y element as an element and instead sees it as a text element, I made the following changes to the while loop in ParsePoint()
while (pointReader.Read())
{
if (pointReader.NodeType == XmlNodeType.Element || pointReader.NodeType== XmlNodeType.Text)
{
if (pointReader.Name == "azsa:x")
{
point[0] = pointReader.ReadElementContentAsDouble();
}
else if (pointReader.Name == "")
{
point[1] = Double.Parse(pointReader.Value);
}
else if (pointReader.Name == "azsa:z")
{
point[2] = pointReader.ReadElementContentAsDouble();
}
}
}
While I am not claiming that this is the ideal way to do this, it works for the XML files I am dealing with. I also removed the GetDimensionValue method and just do the reading of the values/element contents in this method itself.

Analysing C# source with Irony

This is what my team and I chose to do for our school project. Well, actually we haven't decided on how to parse the C# source files yet.
What we are aiming to achieve is, perform a full analysis on a C# source file, and produce up a report.
In which the report is going to contain stuff that happening in the codes.
The report only has to contain:
string literals
method names
variable names
field names
etc
I'm in charge of looking into this Irony library. To be honest, I don't know the best way to sort the data out into a clean readable report. I am using the C# grammar class packed with the zip.
Is there any step where I can properly identify each node children? (eg: using directives, namespace declaration, class declaration etc, method body)
Any help or advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks.
EDIT: Sorry I forgot to say we need to analysis the method calls too.

Your main goal is to master the basics of formal languages. A good start-up might be found here. This article describes the way to use Irony on the sample of a grammar of a simple numeric calculator.
Suppose you want to parse a certain file containing C# code the path to which you know:
private void ParseForLongMethods(string path)
{
_parser = new Parser(new CSharpGrammar());
if (_parser == null || !_parser.Language.CanParse()) return;
_parseTree = null;
GC.Collect(); //to avoid disruption of perf times with occasional collections
_parser.Context.SetOption(ParseOptions.TraceParser, true);
try
{
string contents = File.ReadAllText(path);
_parser.Parse(contents);//, "<source>");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
}
finally
{
_parseTree = _parser.Context.CurrentParseTree;
TraverseParseTree();
}
}
And here is the traversal method itself with counting some info in the nodes. Actually this code counts the number of statements in every method of the class. If you have any question you are always welcome to ask me
private void TraverseParseTree()
{
if (_parseTree == null) return;
ParseNodeRec(_parseTree.Root);
}
private void ParseNodeRec(ParseTreeNode node)
{
if (node == null) return;
string functionName = "";
if (node.ToString().CompareTo("class_declaration") == 0)
{
ParseTreeNode tmpNode = node.ChildNodes[2];
currentClass = tmpNode.AstNode.ToString();
}
if (node.ToString().CompareTo("method_declaration") == 0)
{
foreach (var child in node.ChildNodes)
{
if (child.ToString().CompareTo("qual_name_with_targs") == 0)
{
ParseTreeNode tmpNode = child.ChildNodes[0];
while (tmpNode.ChildNodes.Count != 0)
{ tmpNode = tmpNode.ChildNodes[0]; }
functionName = tmpNode.AstNode.ToString();
}
if (child.ToString().CompareTo("method_body") == 0) //method_declaration
{
int statementsCount = FindStatements(child);
//Register bad smell
if (statementsCount>(((LongMethodsOptions)this.Options).MaxMethodLength))
{
//function.StartPoint.Line
int functionLine = GetLine(functionName);
foundSmells.Add(new BadSmellRegistry(name, functionLine,currentFile,currentProject,currentSolution,false));
}
}
}
}
foreach (var child in node.ChildNodes)
{ ParseNodeRec(child); }
}

I'm not sure this is what you need but you could use the CodeDom and CodeDom.Compiler namespaces to compile the C# code, and than analyze the results using Reflection, something like:
// Create assamblly in Memory
CodeSnippetCompileUnit code = new CodeSnippetCompileUnit(classCode);
CSharpCodeProvider provider = new CSharpCodeProvider();
CompilerResults results = provider.CompileAssemblyFromDom(compileParams, code);
foreach(var type in results.CompiledAssembly)
{
// Your analysis go here
}
Update: In VS2015 you could use the new C# compiler (AKA Roslyn) to do the same, for example:
var root = (CompilationUnitSyntax)tree.GetRoot();
var compilation = CSharpCompilation.Create("HelloTDN")
.AddReferences(references: new[] { MetadataReference.CreateFromAssembly(typeof(object).Assembly) })
.AddSyntaxTrees(tree);
var model = compilation.GetSemanticModel(tree);
var nameInfo = model.GetSymbolInfo(root.Usings[0].Name);
var systemSymbol = (INamespaceSymbol)nameInfo.Symbol;
foreach (var ns in systemSymbol.GetNamespaceMembers())
{
Console.WriteLine(ns.Name);
}

C# .NET XMLWriter/Reader problem

I've been having problems writing XML and reading it in. I have a handwritten XML that gets read in fine, but after I write the XML it acts funny.
The output of the WriteXML: http://www.craigmouser.com/random/test.xml
It works if you hit enter after the (specials) tag. I.E. make (specials)(special) look like
(specials)
(special)
If I step through it, when reading it, it goes to the start node of specials, then the next iteration reads it as an EndElement with name Shots. I have no idea where to go from here. Thanks in advance.
Code: Writing
public void SaveXMLFile(string filename, Bar b, Boolean saveOldData)
{
XmlWriter xml;
if(filename.Contains(".xml"))
{
xml = XmlWriter.Create(filename);
}
else
{
xml = XmlWriter.Create(filename + ".xml");
}
xml.WriteStartElement("AggievilleBar");
xml.WriteElementString("name", b.Name);
xml.WriteStartElement("picture");
xml.WriteAttributeString("version", b.PictureVersion.ToString());
xml.WriteEndElement();
xml.WriteElementString("location", b.Location.Replace(Environment.NewLine, "\n"));
xml.WriteElementString("news", b.News.Replace(Environment.NewLine, "\n"));
xml.WriteElementString("description", b.Description.Replace(Environment.NewLine, "\n"));
xml.WriteStartElement("specials");
xml.WriteString("\n"); //This line fixes the problem... ?!?!
foreach (Special s in b.Specials)
{
if (s.DayOfWeek > 0 || (s.DayOfWeek == -1
&& ((s.Date.CompareTo(DateTime.Today) < 0 && saveOldData )
|| s.Date.CompareTo(DateTime.Today) >= 0)))
{
xml.WriteStartElement("special");
xml.WriteAttributeString("dayofweek", s.DayOfWeek.ToString());
if (s.DayOfWeek == -1)
xml.WriteAttributeString("date", s.Date.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd"));
xml.WriteAttributeString("price", s.Price.ToString());
xml.WriteString(s.Name);
xml.WriteEndElement();
}
}
xml.WriteEndElement();
xml.WriteEndElement();
xml.Close();
}
Code: Reading
public Bar LoadXMLFile(string filename)
{
List<Special> specials = new List<Special>();
XmlReader xml;
try
{
xml = XmlReader.Create(filename);
}
catch (Exception)
{
MessageBox.Show("Unable to open file. If you get this error upon opening the program, we failed to pull down your current data. You will most likely be unable to save, but you are free to try. If this problem persists please contact us at pulsarproductionssupport#gmail.com",
"Error Opening File", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
return null;
}
Bar current = new Bar();
Special s = new Special();
while (xml.Read())
{
if (xml.IsStartElement())
{
switch (xml.Name)
{
case "AggievilleBar":
current = new Bar();
break;
case "name":
if (xml.Read())
current.Name = xml.Value.Trim();
break;
case "picture":
if (xml.HasAttributes)
{
try
{
current.PictureVersion = Int32.Parse(xml.GetAttribute("version"));
}
catch (Exception)
{
MessageBox.Show("Error reading in the Picture Version Number.","Error",MessageBoxButtons.OK,MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}
}
break;
case "location":
if (xml.Read())
current.Location = xml.Value.Trim();
break;
case "news":
if (xml.Read())
current.News = xml.Value.Trim();
break;
case "description":
if (xml.Read())
current.Description = xml.Value.Trim();
break;
case "specials":
if (xml.Read())
specials = new List<Special>();
break;
case "special":
s = new Special();
if (xml.HasAttributes)
{
try
{
s.DayOfWeek = Int32.Parse(xml.GetAttribute(0));
if (s.DayOfWeek == -1)
{
s.Date = DateTime.Parse(xml.GetAttribute(1));
s.Price = Int32.Parse(xml.GetAttribute(2));
}
else
s.Price = Int32.Parse(xml.GetAttribute(1));
}
catch (Exception)
{
MessageBox.Show("Error reading in a special.", "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}
}
if (xml.Read())
s.Name = xml.Value.Trim();
break;
}
}
else
{
switch (xml.Name)
{
case "AggievilleBar":
xml.Close();
break;
case "special":
specials.Add(s);
break;
case "specials":
current.Specials = specials;
break;
}
}
}
return current;
}

Without seeing your code it's hard to really give a straight answer to that question. However, I can suggest using Linq-to-XML instead of XMLReader/XMLWriter -- it's so much easier to work with when you don't have to read each node one at a time and determine what node you're working with, which sounds like the problem you're having.
For example, code like:
using (var reader = new XmlReader(...))
{
while reader.Read()
{
if (reader.Name = "book" && reader.IsStartElement)
{
// endless, confusing nesting!!!
}
}
}
Becomes:
var elem = doc.Descendants("book").Descendants("title")
.Where(c => c.Attribute("name").Value == "C# Basics")
.FirstOrDefault();
For an introduction to LINQ-to-XML, check out http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/shakthee/2868/, or just search for "Linq-to-XML". Plenty of examples out there.
Edit: I tried your code and I was able to reproduce your problem. It seems that without a newline before the special tag, the first special element is read in as IsStartElement() == false. I wasn't sure why this is; even skimmed through the XML Specifications and didn't see any requirements about newlines before elements.
I rewrote your code in Linq-to-XML and it worked fine without any newlines:
var xdoc = XDocument.Load(filename);
var barElement = xdoc.Element("AggievilleBar");
var specialElements = barElement.Descendants("special").ToList();
var specials = new List<Special>();
specialElements.ForEach(s =>
{
var dayOfWeek = Convert.ToInt32(s.Attribute("dayofweek").Value);
var price = Convert.ToInt32(s.Attribute("price").Value);
var date = s.Attribute("date");
specials.Add(new Special
{
Name = s.Value,
DayOfWeek = dayOfWeek,
Price = price,
Date = date != null ? DateTime.Parse(date.Value) : DateTime.MinValue
});
});
var bar = new Bar() {
Name = barElement.Element("name").Value,
PictureVersion = Convert.ToInt32(barElement.Elements("picture").Single()
.Attribute("version").Value),
Location = barElement.Element("location").Value,
Description = barElement.Element("description").Value,
News = barElement.Element("news").Value,
Specials = specials
};
return bar;
Would you consider using Linq-to-XML instead of XMLReader? I've had my share of trouble with XMLReader in the past and once I switched to Linq-to-XML haven't looked back!
EDIT: I know this question is rather old now, but I just came across an article that reminded me of this question and might explain why this is happening: --> http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/pitfalls_xml_4_0.aspx
The author states:
In this light, a nasty difference between XmlReaders/Writers and XDocument is the way whitespace is treated. (See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb387014.aspx.)
From msdn:
In most cases, if the method takes LoadOptions as an argument, you can optionally preserve insignificant white space as text nodes in the XML tree. However, if the method is loading the XML from an XmlReader, then the XmlReader determines whether white space will be preserved or not. Setting PreserveWhitespace will have no effect.
So perhaps, since you're loading using an XmlReader, the XmlReader is making the determination as to whether or not it should preserve white space. Most likely it IS preserving the white space which is why the newline (or lack thereof) makes a difference. And it doesn't seem like you can do anything to change it, so long as you're using an XmlReader! Very peculiar.

I'd recommend you use the XmlDocument class and its Load and Save methods, and then work with the XML tree instead of messing around with XmlReader and XmlWriter. In my experience using XmlDocument has fewer weird formatting problems.

can't get two connecting strings from XML (web.config)

XmlTextReader reader = new XmlTextReader(Window1.cfg.FSAddress);
bool[] startreading = {false , false};
while (reader.Read())
{
switch (reader.NodeType)
{
case XmlNodeType.Element: // Узел является элементом.
if (startreading[0])
{
if (reader.Name == "add")
if (startreading[1])
{
id2.Text = reader.GetAttribute(1);
return;
}
else
{
id1.Text = reader.GetAttribute(1);
startreading[1] = true;
startreading[0] = false;
}
}
else
if (reader.Name == "connectionStrings")
startreading[0] = true;
break;
case XmlNodeType.EndElement:
if (startreading[1])
if (reader.Name == "add")
startreading[0] = true;
break;
}
}
I take first one but ... then happens something strange and I'm missing second
sorry for my english . btw - Im getting it not from web project.

Why would you use SAX-based approach for reading configuration files? These are usually negligibly small, so loading entire document into an XmlDocument and then traversing it using XPath will be a much better solution.

You can use ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings to read the connection strings from the connection string section of your web.config file.
Or you can use ConfigurationManager.GetSection to get a section from the config file. If it is a predefined section you can cast it to this type, or you can implement your own custom section (see System.Configuration.ConfigurationSection for a sample).
Oh yes ... you have to include the System.Configuration into your references to work with these classes.

Why try so hard?
Use this:
ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings
Which is a collection of ConnectionStrings
Use ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings['nameOfTheConnectionString'].ConnectionString() to access the string itself.
ConfigurationManager lives in the System.Configuration namespace

I can't tell what you're trying to do. But maybe XPath will be a lot easier than SAX.