9/21/2015

XMLFileParsinginVB.NETCodeProject

XMLFile Parsing in VB.NET

Pratik Desai,21 Aug 2003

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4.6272votes

Exploring various methods to parse anXMLfile in a .NET environment

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Introduction
ParsingXMLfiles has always been time consuming and sometimes tricky. .NET framework provides powerful
new ways of parsingXML. The various techniques know to parsexmlfiles with .NET framework are
usingXmlTextReader,XmlDocument,XmlSerializer,DataSetandXpathDocument. I will explore
theXmlTextReaderandXmlDocumentapproach here.

TheXmlFile
Figure 1 outlines thexmlfile that will be parsed.
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<?xmlversion="1.0"encoding="UTF8"?>
<family>
<namegender="Male">
<firstname>Tom</firstname>
<lastname>Smith</lastname>
</name>
<namegender="Female">
<firstname>Dale</firstname>
<lastname>Smith</lastname>
</name>
</family>
Figure1:Xmlfile

ParsingXMLwithXMLTextReader
UsingXmlTextReaderis appropriate when the structure of theXMLfile is relatively simple. Parsing
withXmlTextReadergives you a pre .net feel as you sequentially walk through the file usingRead()and
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get data usingGetAttribute()andReadElementString()methods. Thus while

usingXmlTextReaderit is up to the developer to keep track where he is in theXmlfile
andRead()correctly. Figure 2 below outlines parsing ofxmlfile withXmlTextReader
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ImportsSystem.IO
ImportsSystem.Xml
ModuleParsingUsingXmlTextReader
SubMain()
Dimm_xmlrAsXmlTextReader
'CreatetheXMLReader
m_xmlr=NewXmlTextReader("C:\Personal\family.xml")
'Disablewhitespacesothatyoudon'thavetoreadoverwhitespaces
m_xmlr.WhiteSpaceHandling=WhiteSpaceHandling.NONE
'readthexmldeclarationandadvancetofamilytag
m_xmlr.Read()
'readthefamilytag
m_xmlr.Read()
'LoadtheLoop
WhileNotm_xmlr.EOF
'Gotothenametag
m_xmlr.Read()
'ifnotstartelementexitwhileloop
IfNotm_xmlr.IsStartElement()Then
ExitWhile
EndIf
'GettheGenderAttributeValue
DimgenderAttribute=m_xmlr.GetAttribute("gender")
'Readelementsfirstnameandlastname
m_xmlr.Read()
'GetthefirstNameElementValue
DimfirstNameValue=m_xmlr.ReadElementString("firstname")
'GetthelastNameElementValue
DimlastNameValue=m_xmlr.ReadElementString("lastname")
'WriteResulttotheConsole
Console.WriteLine("Gender:"&genderAttribute_
&"FirstName:"&firstNameValue&"LastName:"_
&lastNameValue)
Console.Write(vbCrLf)
EndWhile
'closethereader
m_xmlr.Close()
EndSub
EndModule
Figure 2:XmlParsing withXmlTextReader

ParsingXMLwithXmlDocument
TheXmlDocumentclass is modeled based on Document Object Model.XmlDocumentclass is appropriate if
you need to extract data in a nonsequential manner. Figure 3 below outlines parsing ofxmlfile
withXmlDocument
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ImportsSystem.IO
ImportsSystem.Xml
ModuleParsingUsingXmlDocument
SubMain()
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Try
Dimm_xmldAsXmlDocument
Dimm_nodelistAsXmlNodeList
Dimm_nodeAsXmlNode
'CreatetheXMLDocument
m_xmld=NewXmlDocument()
'LoadtheXmlfile
m_xmld.Load("C:\CMS\Personal\family.xml")
'Getthelistofnamenodes
m_nodelist=m_xmld.SelectNodes("/family/name")
'Loopthroughthenodes
ForEachm_nodeInm_nodelist
'GettheGenderAttributeValue
DimgenderAttribute=m_node.Attributes.GetNamedItem("gender").Value
'GetthefirstNameElementValue
DimfirstNameValue=m_node.ChildNodes.Item(0).InnerText
'GetthelastNameElementValue
DimlastNameValue=m_node.ChildNodes.Item(1).InnerText
'WriteResulttotheConsole
Console.Write("Gender:"&genderAttribute_
&"FirstName:"&firstNameValue&"LastName:"_
&lastNameValue)
Console.Write(vbCrLf)
Next
CatcherrorVariableAsException
'Errortrapping
Console.Write(errorVariable.ToString())
EndTry
EndSub
EndModule
Figure 3:XmlParsing withXmlDocument

Compilation and Result

Make sure you havevbc.exein your path. From the command prompt go
toC:\Personal>.CompileParsingUsingXmlTextReader.vbandParsingUsingXmlDocument.vb.
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C:\Personal>vbc/out:ParsingUsingXmlTextReadervb.exeParsingUsingXmlTextReader.vb
C:\Personal>vbc/out:ParsingUsingXmlDocumentvb.exeParsingUsingXmlDocument.vb

When you run the individual program

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C:\Personal>ParsingUsingXmlTextReadervb.exe

OR
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C:\Personal>ParsingUsingXmlDocumentvb.exe

You will see the following result for both

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Gender:MaleFirstName:TomLastName:Smith
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Gender:FemaleFirstName:DaleLastName:Smith

Conclusion
There are different ways to parseXMLfiles and the best method depends on your situation and the
programming style preferred.

License
This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the
download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.
A list of licenses authors might use can be foundhe

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