Question

Dim names() As String = {"one", "two", "three"}
Dim xml As XElement = Nothing
For Each name In names
  If xml Is Nothing Then
    xml = New XElement(name)
  Else
    xml.Add(New XElement(name)
  End If
Next

The above code will create something like this:

  <One>
    <Two />
    <Three />
  </One>

What I need is something like this:

  <One>
    <Two>
      <Three />
    </Two>
  </One>

I tried using xml.Elements.Last.Add(New XElement(name)), but the Last method isn’t necessarily returning the last element for some reason.

Thanks!

Answer 1

A small change to your current code will do what you want:

Dim names() As String = {"one", "two", "three"}
Dim xml As XElement = Nothing
For Each name In names
  Dim new_elem As New XElement(name)
  If xml IsNot Nothing Then
      xml.Add(new_elem)
  End If
  xml = new_elem
Next

EDIT:

You can introduce another variable to store the root element:

Function BuildTree() As XElement
    Dim tree As XElement = Nothing

    Dim names() As String = {"one", "two", "three"}
    Dim xml As XElement = Nothing
    For Each name In names
        Dim new_elem As New XElement(name)
        If tree Is Nothing Then
            tree = new_elem
        Else
            xml.Add(new_elem)
        End If
        xml = new_elem
    Next

    Return tree
End Function