Search xml, change value in certain node, add new node in C#

Question

I'm creating an application where I want to search certain node, and change value in that root node. This is how my xml looks like:

<Employees>
  <Employee> 
    <name>Name1</name>
    <Enter>0</Enter>
    <log>
      <data Time="02.04.2014 13:00:00" Enter="1" />
      <data Time="02.04.2014 15:00:00" Enter="0" />
    </log>
  </Employee>
  <Employee> 
    <name>Name2</name>
    <Enter>1</Enter>
    <log>
      <data Time="02.04.2014 11:00:00" Enter="1" />
      <data Time="02.04.2014 12:00:00" Enter="0" />
      <data Time="02.04.2014 13:00:00" Enter="1" />
    </log>
  </Employee>
</Employees>

So, I have a textbox, where I enter the name of the employee, for instance Name1. After clicking the button, the value of the tag is changing, from 0 to 1, and vice versa, and in the same tame it adds the time and date of logging in a new node, including the data from the enter field. The idea is a entry system, where you write the name, if a user is in or out, and in the same time it keeps a data as a personal log.

How can I search in the xml, according to the text in the textbox, and after finding a certain node, change the value from the enter node, and add new node with the current time and date into the node?

So far, this is my code:

XElement root = XElement.Load("data.xml");
XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.Load("data.xml");
string xPathString = String.Format("/Employees/Employees/name[.=\"{0}\"]", textBox1.Text);

XmlNodeList nodeList = xmlDoc.SelectNodes(xPathString);
foreach (XmlNode node in nodeList)
{
    DateTime time = DateTime.Parse("02.04.2014 13:00:00");
    XElement data = root.Descendants("data")
        .FirstOrDefault(d => (DateTime)d.Attribute("Time") == time &&
            (int)d.Attribute("Enter") == 1);
    data.Attribute("Time").Value = time.ToString();
    data.Attribute("Enter").Value = 0.ToString();
    root.Save("data.xml");
}
xmlDoc.Save("data.xml");

Do I have to use XElement and XmlDocument ? Because SelectNodes goes with XmlDocument, don't know any other way. The question is, how can i get into the node where node equals textbox.text? and then change value into and add new child in ?

If you can't choose where to place button, I suggest to place it at the right side of textbox — Sergey Berezovskiy
– Sergey Berezovskiy, Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 16:53
What I want is to search in the xml, according to the text in the textbox, and after finding a certain node <name> in the <employee>, change the value from the enter node, and add new node with the current time and date into the node. I write for instance Name1, and the value of Enter is changed from 0 to 1, and in the same time it adds a new <data> node in the <log> node — user2962759
– user2962759, Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 16:58
@user2962759 what exactly gives you problem? Reading value from UI? Parsing xml? Updating value in xml? Show your code — Sergey Berezovskiy
– Sergey Berezovskiy, Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 17:06
I am new into the xml, and I really don't know how to start, it's ok reading and saving the xml, getting the inner text should be something like string xPathString = String.Format("/Employees/Employee/Name[.=\"{0}\"]]", texbox1.Text); So I appreciate any help — user2962759
– user2962759, Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 17:11
After that, how can I find the Enter node, and change it's innerText, then saving it into a new <data> node in <log> — user2962759
– user2962759, Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 17:13

Chuck Savage · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-04 19:20:03Z

1

It will make it easier to search the data if you make the node easier to use. I suggest something like:

<data Time="02.04.2014 13:00:00" Enter="1" />

Then you can search for that time and enter value properly, using Linq-to-XML

XElement root = XElement.Load(file); // .Parse(string)
DateTime time = DateTime.Parse("02.04.2014 13:00:00");
XElement data = root.Descendants("data")
      .FirstOrDefault(d => (DateTime)d.Attribute("Time") == time &&
                            (int)d.Attribute("Enter") == 1);

To change the values, you then do:

data.Attribute("Time").Value = time.ToString();
data.Attribute("Enter").Value = 0.ToString();

Then save the changes with:

root.Save(file);

There are whole works on how to create XElements with XAttributes for the attributes, be sure to look them up with any search engine.

answered Feb 4, 2014 at 19:20

Chuck Savage

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4 Comments

user2962759 Over a year ago

this is fine, now, how can i search get into the node whose name is entered in a textbox? and then change the values in the <enter> and add new <data> node?

user2962759 Over a year ago

XElement root = XElement.Load("data.xml"); XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument(); xmlDoc.Load("data.xml"); string xPathString = String.Format("/Employees/Employee/Name[.=\"{0}\"]", textBox1.Text); XmlNodeList nodeList = xmlDoc.SelectNodes(xPathString); foreach (XmlNode node in nodeList) { } Do I have to use XElement and XmlDocument, because SelectNodes is used in XmlDocument? Is this right?

user2962759 Over a year ago

The question is, how can i get into the node where <name> node equals textbox.text? and then change value into <enter> and add new <data> child in <log> ?

Chuck Savage Over a year ago

@user2962759 You need to research more on using Linq-to-xml. The XPath expression you have is ok, but there are generally better ways using Linq-to-xml. You can use XPath with Linq-to-xml if you must by including System.Xml.XPath

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