Question

As part of my installation process, I update some values in my app.config files,
The file is built and indented in a way that helps the user read the values.
It’s built in sections, each section is an XElement and each value is an XAttribute.

This is a sample for the sections:

<DataAccessSection
  DataMappingFile = "Data\Mapping.xml"
  SchemaKeyWord = "[generated]"
/>
<ServiceManagementSection
  ServerName = "dummy"
  ServerIP = "1.0.0.0"
  Port = "1"
/>

I edit the file using an XDocument, accessing the XElement of the section and changing the XAttribute’s value, and then saving the changes using xDocument.Save(fullpath);

After the file is saved, the structure of the config file is this:

<DataAccessSection DataMappingFile="Data\Mapping.xml" SchemaKeyWord="[generated]" />
<ServiceManagementSection ServerName="dummy" ServerIP="1.0.0.0" Port="1" />

This structure is not so clear to the users, how do I keep the file in the initial structure and change only the values and not the indentation?

I could open and edit it as a simple text file, but it seems silly to access it like a text file when I have the power of a structured XML file.

EDIT:
Thanks for your answers.

I tried the solutions in the answers, but it keeps removing my white spaces and the indentation.
I also tried to load using:

XDocument.Load(fullPath, LoadOptions.PreserveWhiteSpaces);

But it doesn’t fix my problem.
The only thing that keeps all the whitespaces is loading it as a text file, and editing using String manipulation, but I don’t want to to that.

Does anyone has a different approach that will fix this problem?

Maybe using a different package for XML editing?

Answer 1

Use LoadOptions.PreserveWhitespace when you calling to xDocument.Load and SaveOptions.DisableFormatting when you Saving