Question

I’d like to convert an external XML document without any XSD schema associated with it into a fluent .NET object.

I have a simple XML file like:

<application>     <parameters>         <param></param>         <param></param>     </parameters>     <generation />     <entities>         <entity ID='1'>             <PropTest>Test</PropTest>         </entity>         <entity ID='2'>             <PropTest>Another Test</PropTest>         </entity>      </entities> </application> 

I’d like to navigate the document like:

var xConfig = new XmlConfig('file.xml');  // testValue should be assigned 'Test' string testValue = xConfig.Generation.Entities.Entity(1).PropTest; 

What is the best way to achieve this in .NET 3.5?

Answer 1

Arguably, the best way to do this these days is with Linq to XML. It is a whole lot easier than messing with XSDs and convoluted class definitions.

XDocument doc = XDocument.Load('file.xml'); var val = doc     .Descendants('entity')     .Where(p => p.Attribute('ID').Value == '1')     .Descendants('PropTest')     .FirstOrDefault(); if (val != null)     Console.WriteLine(val.Value); 

The sample file.xml that I used was:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' ?> <application>     <parameters>         <param></param>         <param></param>     </parameters>     <generation>         <entities>             <entity ID='1'>                 <PropTest>Test</PropTest>             </entity>             <entity ID='2'>Another Test</entity>         </entities>     </generation> </application>