Question

I’d like to know what is the best practice.
I’m exporting some data (tables) from my database to XML files so I can read my data from them.
To export, I’m using DataTable.WriteXml (c#)
Now to read, what is best? to import them into a dataset and use DataTable.Select to get the row I want or create an XPathDocument and use XPath to get the data? which performs best? I’m still learning xpath.

Answer 1

Why not load the exported XML in using DataTable.ReadXml(fileName)? If you exported your table data using DataTable.WriteXml(file, XmlWriteMode.XmlSchema), then you can import it in to a new DataTable using ReadXml(file).

From an example in MSDN:

myOldTable.WriteXml(fileName, XmlWriteMode.WriteSchema);

DataTable newTable = new DataTable();
newTable.ReadXml(fileName);

If that’s the case, I don’t see where you’d need XPath. If I’m misunderstanding your question, please let me know and I’ll update accordingly.

I hope this helps.