How would I parse this XML String?

Question

I have an XML string like this:

<Summary>Foo</Summary><Description>Bar</Description>

I want to read this into a class object:

class Foobar()
{
    string Summary {get;set;}
    string Description {get;set;}
}

I tried using XmlTextReader, but it throws an exception that no root element was found. This is what I tried:

using (XmlTextReader reader = new XmlTextReader(new StringReader(comment)))
{
     while (reader.Read())
     //do something here
}

I also tried deserializing it directly into an object like this:

[XmlTypeAttribute]    
    public class Foobar
    {

        [XmlElementAttribute("Summary")]
        public string Summary { get; set; }

        [XmlElementAttribute("Description")]
        public string Description { get; set; }        

    }

This fails as well because I cannot define a [XmlRootElement] for the class Foobar, since there is no root element.

Pankaj Upadhyay · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-25 08:07:28Z

3

Define a root element

<root>
    <Summary>Foo</Summary>
    <Description>Bar</Desciption>
</root>

answered Nov 25, 2011 at 8:07

Pankaj Upadhyay

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5 Comments

Ayush Over a year ago

What if that isn't an option? If absolutely required, I could do it, but I would prefer not requiring a root element

Pankaj Upadhyay Over a year ago

You will always need to have a root element or else how can you parse and run query. Also, how will your code understand where to start and where to end.

Ayush Over a year ago

Alright, nevermind. I buckled under and added a root element. Thanks for the heads up. Will accept in 5min

TomTom Over a year ago

If that is not an option you DO NOTH AVE VALID XML. Ups. Looks QUITE similar to XML, but is not.

Jon Hanna Over a year ago

Well, it should always be an option, since you can feed in the root element's tags. Still, while you don't have a valid XML document, you do have a well-formed XML fragment, and XmlTextReader can be constructed such that it accepts XML fragments, so root elements most certainly aren't required.

Pranay Rana · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-25 08:06:09Z

3

You need to set root element for that your xaml would be

<root>
<Summary>Foo</Summary><Description>Bar</Description> 
</root>

For Rootelement in XMLSeralizatoion : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.xml.serialization.xmlrootattribute.aspx

answered Nov 25, 2011 at 8:06

Pranay Rana

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Comments

Kevin Gosse · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-25 08:08:42Z

1

The easiest way is probably to manually add a root element.

string xml = "<root>" + comment + "</root>";

Then you can parse it with whichever method you want.

answered Nov 25, 2011 at 8:08

Kevin Gosse

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Comments

Jon Hanna · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-25 09:17:45Z

0

Use a constructor form that allows for XMLFragments (chunks of XML that could be valid if put into a single element, but which are not so-rooted):

using (XmlTextReader reader = new XmlTextReader(comment, XmlNodeType.Element, null))
{
     while (reader.Read())
     //do something here
}

Better yet, use Create(), which gives more flexibility still.

answered Nov 25, 2011 at 9:17

Jon Hanna

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