Question

I have xml file, and I would like to find node with oldest date.

Is it possible to do it without XLST?

Code:

var xml = @"<books>
                      <book>
                        <id>1</id>
                        <date>2011-01-02</date>
                      </book>
                      <book>
                        <id>2</id>
                        <date>2011-02-02</date>
                      </book>
                      <book>
                        <id>3</id>
                        <date>2011-03-01</date>
                      </book>
                    </books>
                    ";

XDocument document = XDocument.Parse(xml);    
var result = document.XPathSelectElements("//books/book[max(????)]").ToList();

Thanks,

Answer 1

You can use LINQ to XML, e.g.:

var result = document.Element("books")
            .Elements("book")
            .OrderByDescending(b => (DateTime)b.Element("date"))
            .First();