Question

I have a complicated xml file and in different levels the following part may exist:

<ChrNote>
  <note>The appropriate character is:</note>
</ChrNote>
<ChrDef>
  <extension char="A">initial</extension>
  <extension char="D">subsequent</extension>
  <extension char="G">subsequent delayed</extension>
  <extension char="S">sequel </extension>
</ChrDef>
...

and here is the code snippet that I use to build a text file:

var lv1s = from lv1 in XMLDoc.Descendants("chapter").DescendantsAndSelf()
           select new
           {
               SChar = (string)lv1.Element("ChrNote") ?? "",
               SCharDef = (string)lv1.Element("ChrDef") ?? "",
               //Returns only first attribute ..?
               CharLetter = (lv1.Element("ChrDef") == null ? "" : 
                            (string)(lv1.Element("ChrDef")
                                        .Element("extension")
                                        .Attribute("char")) ?? "")
           };

The problem is that the above query returns only the first attribute (“A”) from element “extension”. I have no experience in linq and any help will be appreciated.

Answer 1

Is this what you are looking for?

var result = from x in XMLDoc.Descendants("chapter")
             let Definitions = x.XPathSelectElements("ChrDef/extension")
             select new
             {
                 Note = x.XPathSelectElement("ChrNote/note") == null ? "" : x.XPathSelectElement("ChrNote/note").Value,
                 Definitions = Definitions.Select(y=> new { Extension = y.Value, Char = y.Attribute("char").Value })
             };

Console.WriteLine ("{0}", result.First().Note);
foreach (var definition in result.First().Definitions)
{
    Console.WriteLine ("{0}, {1}", definition.Extension, definition.Char);
}

This will give you the following output:

The appropriate character is:
initial, A
subsequent, D
subsequent delayed, G
sequel , S