Question

I have the following in an XML file:

<entry>
...
    <link href="http://www.example.com/somelink" />
...
</entry>

I want to extract the “href” attribute. I’ve been getting my list of elements like so:

Dim productsDoc = XDocument.Parse(productXML.ToString())
Dim feed = From entry In productsDoc...<entry> Select entry

For Each entry In feed
    Dim product As New CartItem
    ...
    product._productid = entry.<id>.Value
    product._permalink = entry.<link>.Value 'HOW DO I GET THE ATTRIBUTE?

    allItems.Add(product)
Next

How do I extract the <link> href attribute?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi to get the link you should use the “XML Attribute Axis Property“. This allows you to easily access attributes.

You can use it like this:

'this is how you get the href string
product._permalink = entry.<link>.@href

Here’s a full working example of usage:

Module Module1

    ' some products xml to use for this example
    Dim productsXml As XElement = <Xml>
                                      <Product>
                                          <Name>Mountain Bike</Name>
                                          <Price>59.99</Price>
                                          <Link href="http://example.com/bike">Click here for a Mountain Bike</Link>
                                      </Product>
                                      <Product>
                                          <Name>Arsenal Football</Name>
                                          <Price>9.99</Price>
                                          <Link href="http://example.com/arsenalfootball">Click here for a Arsenal Football</Link>
                                      </Product>
                                      <Product>
                                          <Name>Formula One Cap</Name>
                                          <Price>14.99</Price>
                                          <Link href="http://example.com/f1cap">Click here for a Formula One Cap</Link>
                                      </Product>
                                      <Product>
                                          <Name>Robin Hood Bow</Name>
                                          <Price>8.99</Price>
                                          <Link href="http://example.com/robinhoodbow">Click here for a Robin Hood Bow</Link>
                                      </Product>
                                  </Xml>

    Sub Main()

        ' get all <Product> elements from the XDocument
        Dim products = From product In productsXml...<Product> _
                       Select product

        ' go through each product
        For Each product In products
            ' output the value of the <Name> element within product
            Console.WriteLine("Product name is {0}", product.<Name>.Value)
            ' output the value of the <Price> element within product
            Console.WriteLine("Product price is {0}", product.<Price>.Value)
            ' output the value of the <Link> element within product
            Console.WriteLine("Product link text is {0}", product.<Link>.Value)
            ' output the value of the <Link> href attribute within product
            Console.WriteLine("Product href is {0}", product.<Link>.@href)
        Next

    End Sub

End Module