Question

I am trying to load a xml file to my app and show it on a ListBox. The problem is that the xml file is about 5 MB, and it takes about 40 seconds on the phone to load. and when the phone locks the screen and returns back it takes another 40 seconds. I tried to use the isolatedstorage to store the data on it but it didn’t improve performance. This is my code to load the data:

XDocument loadedData = XDocument.Load("BigFile.xml");
            var data = from query in loadedData.Descendants("w")
                       orderby (string)query.Element("e")
                       select new myClass
                       {
                           First = (string)query.Element("a"),
                           Second = (string)query.Element("e")
                       };
        ListBox.ItemsSource = data.ToList<myClass>();

Is there anyway to speed up the loading?

Answer 1

To improve performance you can do the following:

• Make sure the loading is moved off the ui thread
• Break the file into multiple smaller ones and load them one at a time and updating the list as you add each one.
• If possible, reformat the data (before adding to the app) so it only includes the absolute minimum data used by the app.
• Convert the file to a different format (try JSON) which can be parsed faster.
• (If using 7.1) put the data in a database and deploy that in the XAP.
• Reconsider the need to have so much data. Large/long lists are hard to browse on a device with a small screen.