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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-13T18:59:46+00:00

I have an XML document (in a .net C# web app) that I want

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I have an XML document (in a .net C# web app) that I want to display in its simplistic form (similar to IE). I need it to be browser independent (or as much as possible) and have a consistent display.

I have tried pushing the xml document through as “text/xml” and this is inconsistent and doens’t work in some browsers.

http://sources.redhat.com/ml/xsl-list/2002-02/msg00831.html
A link here provided a good way of transforming the XML to HTML/XHTML using stylesheets.
However the stylesheet provided didnt work.

First: Is this the best way to do it? Are there better solutions?
Second: If not, does anyone know where I can find the XSLT?

EDIT (clarification): The XSLT I refer to will transform the XML into the Internet Explorer style display of XML files.

Thanks in advance! 🙂

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    I decided my best approach (for my situation) was to write 2 simple C# methods to generate HTML from the XML on the server side. This helps reduce any reliance on browser displaying XML (Opera is Crazy!)

    (This example uses pretty simple formatting, which was fine for my situation.
    I loosely modelled it on IE’s display of XML.
    For others’ reference, here are the methods:

            /// <summary>
    /// Does a simple convert to display an Xml document in HTML.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="xmlString"></param>
    private static string ConvertXmlToHtml(string xmlString)
    {
        StringBuilder html = new StringBuilder();

        html.AppendLine("<HTML>");
        html.AppendLine("<HEAD><TITLE>Xml Document</TITLE></HEAD>");

        XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
        doc.LoadXml(xmlString);

        html.AppendLine(ConvertXmlElementToHTML(1, doc.DocumentElement));

        html.AppendLine("</HTML>");


        return html.ToString();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Converts an XML element (and all of its children) to HTML.
    /// This is a recursive method.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="element"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    private static string ConvertXmlElementToHTML(int level, XmlNode element)
    {
        int padding = level; // padding (cm == level).

        StringBuilder returnHTML = new StringBuilder();
        if (element is XmlElement)
        {
            // Formatting for symbols to simplify code below.
            string close_bracket = "<SPAN style=\"color: blue\">&gt;</SPAN>";
            string close_bracket_no_children = "<SPAN style=\"color: blue\"> /&gt;</SPAN>";
            string open_bracket = "<SPAN style=\"color: blue\">&lt;</SPAN>";
            string open_bracket_end_el = "<SPAN style=\"color: blue\">&lt;/</SPAN>";
            string el_name = "<SPAN style=\"color: brown\">" + element.Name + "</SPAN>";
            string quote = "<SPAN style=\"color: blue\">\"</SPAN>";
            string equals_sign = "<SPAN style=\"color: blue\">=</SPAN>";

            // Open Element.
            returnHTML.AppendLine("<DIV style=\"margin-left: " + padding + "cm\">" + open_bracket + el_name);

            // Print element attributes.
            foreach(XmlAttribute att in element.Attributes)
            {
                returnHTML.AppendLine(" <SPAN style=\"color: brown\">" + att.Name + "</SPAN>" + equals_sign + quote + "<SPAN style=\"color: black; text-weight: bold\">" + att.Value + "</SPAN>" + quote);
            }

            // If no children, we end the element here with a '/ >'
            // otherwise, we close the element and start to write children '>'
            if (element.ChildNodes.Count == 0)
            {
                returnHTML.AppendLine(close_bracket_no_children + "</DIV>");
            }
            else
            {
                returnHTML.AppendLine(close_bracket + "</DIV>");
            }

            // Print Children. (Recursive call). Note location is IMPORTANT: we need child elements
            // to print after the element is opened and before the element is closed.
            foreach (XmlNode child in element.ChildNodes)
            {
                returnHTML.AppendLine(ConvertXmlElementToHTML(level + 1, child));
            }

            // If we have printed child elements, we need to print a closing element tag.
            if (element.ChildNodes.Count > 0)
            {
                returnHTML.AppendLine("<DIV style=\"margin-left: " + padding + "cm\">" + open_bracket_end_el + el_name + close_bracket + "</DIV>");
            }
        }

        // Return a string of HTML that will display elements at this level and below (child nodes).
        return returnHTML.ToString();
    }
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