Sorting XML With LINQ

Question

I have the following XML:

<TRUCK Counter="0">
  <CARRIER>A PLUS EXPEDITING &amp; LOGISTICS INC.</CARRIER>
  <CARRIERPHONE>(000)000-0220</CARRIERPHONE>
  <UNITNO>100673V</UNITNO>
  <UNITTYPE>CARGO VAN                     </UNITTYPE>
  <DISTANCE>13</DISTANCE>
  <AVAILABLE>06/14/2012 09:00</AVAILABLE>
  <STATUS>In Service</STATUS>
  <LOCATION>REDFORD, MI</LOCATION>
  <NOTE> check 1st</NOTE>
  <PAYLOAD>3000</PAYLOAD>
  <DIMS>
    <BOXLENGTH>108</BOXLENGTH>
    <BOXWIDTH>53</BOXWIDTH>
    <BOXHEIGHT>48</BOXHEIGHT>
  </DIMS>
  <DOMICILE>US</DOMICILE>
  <SATELLITE>N</SATELLITE>
</TRUCK>

I'm selecting the elements I want and sorting them in a method that gets passed the column to sort on:

public static XDocument GetSortedTrucksXml(string xmlBuffer, string sortColumn)
{
    XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Parse(xmlBuffer);

    int Counter = 0;

    var trucks = from s in xdoc.Element( "TRUCKS" ).Elements( "TRUCK" )
                 orderby ( string )s.Element( sortColumn )
                 select new XElement( "TRUCK",
                        s.Element( "CARRIER" ),
                        s.Element( "CARRIERPHONE" ),
                        s.Element( "UNITNO" ),
                        s.Element( "UNITTYPE" ),
                        s.Element( "DISTANCE" ),
                        s.Element( "AVAILABLE" ),
                        s.Element( "STATUS" ),
                        s.Element( "LOCATION" ),
                        s.Element( "NOTE" ),
                        s.Element( "PAYLOAD" ),
                        s.Element( "DIMS" ),
                        s.Element( "DOMICILE" ),
                        s.Element( "SATELLITE" ) );

    XDocument newDoc = new XDocument( new XElement( "TRUCKS" ) );

Note that I'm getting the children of by just specifying the parent element.

My question is how would I sort on BOXLENGTH, BOXWIDTH or BOXHEIGHT? If I send in "DIMS/BOXLENGTH" as the sort column, I get an error.

{"The '/' character, hexadecimal value 0x2F, cannot be included in a name."} — Brian
– Brian, Commented Jun 14, 2012 at 14:13

Botz3000 · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-14 14:17:14Z

1

You can use the XPath Extension methods:

// You need this namespace
using System.Xml.XPath;

// use this in your query
orderby (string)s.XPathSelectElement(sortColumn)

edited Jun 14, 2012 at 14:17

answered Jun 14, 2012 at 14:05

Botz3000

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4 Comments

Brian Over a year ago

Are you suggesting to somehow change the orderby statement when the sortcolumn is BOXLENGTH, BOXWIDTH, or BOXHEIGHT? Is that possible?

Botz3000 Over a year ago

@Brian I think i have found a better solution. Just use the XPath extensions, then you can even use the sortColumn parameter without changing it. Edited my post to include an example.

Brian Over a year ago

It is complaining about not having a definition for XPathSelectElement - I'm new to LINQ so, I'll have to figure out what I'm missing

Botz3000 Over a year ago

@Brian You have to include the using statement at the top of your file: using System.Xml.XPath;

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