XML parser help needed

Question

I am trying to parse this XML file with this type of layout:

<POX>
  <LIST>
    <COMPANY>
      <A_COMPANY>The company here</A_COMPANY>
      <A_ID>786</A_ID>
      <A_BASE>USD</A_BASE>
      <A_YES>Yes</A_YES>
      <A_NO>No</A_NO>
      <A_CATEGORY_D>1210043021</A_CATEGORY_D>
      <A_PRECISION>2</A_PRECISION>
      <LIST_BREAK>
        <G_BREAK>
          <CURRENCY>2</CURRENCY>
          <SORT_COLUMN>100</SORT_COLUMN>
           etc....
        </G_BREAK>
        <G_BREAK>
          <CURRENCY>25</CURRENCY>
          <SORT_COLUMN>130</SORT_COLUMN>
           etc....
        </G_BREAK>
        <G_BREAK>
          <CURRENCY>77</CURRENCY>
          <SORT_COLUMN>1350</SORT_COLUMN>
           etc....
        </G_BREAK>
      </LIST_BREAK>
  ETC........

And i cant seem to get this code working for it:

    Dim m_xmlr As XmlTextReader
    m_xmlr = New XmlTextReader("c:\temp\46659024.xml")
    m_xmlr.WhitespaceHandling = WhitespaceHandling.None
    m_xmlr.Read()
    m_xmlr.Read()

    While Not m_xmlr.EOF
        m_xmlr.Read()

        If Not m_xmlr.IsStartElement() Then
            Exit While
        End If

        Dim strTest1 = m_xmlr.GetAttribute("/POX/LIST/COMPANY/LIST_BREAK/G_BREAK")

        m_xmlr.Read()

        Dim strTest2 = m_xmlr.ReadElementString("CURRENCY")
        Dim strTest3 = m_xmlr.ReadElementString("SORT_COLUMN")

        Console.WriteLine("test1: " & strTest1 _
          & " test2: " & strTest2 & " test3: " _
          & strTest3)
        Console.Write(vbCrLf)
        Console.Read()
    End While

I get an error on

 Dim **strTest2 = m_xmlr.ReadElementString("CURRENCY")**

Saying:

 Element 'CURRENCY' was not found. Line 4, position 4.

Also, strTest1 returns as nothing

What could i be doing incorrectly?

Thanks!

update This is working but it doesn't seem to get all the items..

    m_xmld = New XmlDocument()
    m_xmld.Load("c:\temp\o1293688.xml")
    m_nodelist = m_xmld.SelectNodes("/POXPOVPS/LIST_G_COMPANY/G_COMPANY/LIST_G_VENDORS_BREAK/G_VENDORS_BREAK")

    Dim ListItem1 As ListViewItem

    'Loop through the nodes
    For Each m_node In m_nodelist
        vendorName(x) = m_node.ChildNodes.Item(3).InnerText 'Name of Vendor
        ListItem1 = ListView1.Items.Add(vendorName(x), 1)
        x = x + 1
    Next

    x = 0

    m_nodelist = m_xmld.SelectNodes("/POXPOVPS/LIST_G_COMPANY/G_COMPANY/LIST_G_VENDORS_BREAK/G_VENDORS_BREAK/LIST_G_SITE_1/G_SITE_1")

    For Each m_node In m_nodelist
        vendorAddress(x) = m_node.ChildNodes.Item(0).InnerText 'Address of Vendor
        vendorTotal(x) = m_node.ChildNodes.Item(5).InnerText 'Total for vendor
        ListView1.Items(0).SubItems.Add(vendorAddress(x))
        ListView1.Items(0).SubItems.Add(vendorTotal(x))
        x = x + 1
    Next

The vendorName gets a total of x = 1435 The vendorAddress and vendorTotal gets a total of x = 1481..... Thats not going to be good when putting the values all together....

David

Is there any reason you're using XmlReader rather than the rather simpler-to-use LINQ to XML? — Jon Skeet
– Jon Skeet, Commented Feb 11, 2011 at 13:49
Nope no reason. Just saw this one as an example so i used it. — StealthRT
– StealthRT, Commented Feb 11, 2011 at 13:59
You saw an old example, I hope. Don't use new XmlTextReader, Use XmlReader,Create. — John Saunders
– John Saunders, Commented Feb 11, 2011 at 14:28

Justin Largey · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-11 14:32:45Z

1

You can use this for starters..

    ' Load XML from somewhere...
    Dim xml As XElement = XElement.Parse(GetXML())

    ' Traverse.
    For Each company In xml.Element("LIST").Elements("COMPANY")

        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Company: {0}", company.Element("A_COMPANY").Value))
        For Each gBreak In company.Element("LIST_BREAK").Elements("G_BREAK")

            Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Currency: {0}", gBreak.Element("CURRENCY").Value))
            Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Sort Column: {0}", gBreak.Element("SORT_COLUMN").Value))
        Next

    Next

' The GetXML() function just returns a string, it can come from a file, db, XML literal etc.

Code was tested and yielded the following...

Company: The company here
Currency: 2
Sort Column: 100
Currency: 25
Sort Column: 130
Currency: 77
Sort Column: 1350

Private Function GetXML() As String
    Return <POX>
               <LIST>
                   <COMPANY>
                       <A_COMPANY>The company here</A_COMPANY>
                       <A_ID>786</A_ID>
                       <A_BASE>USD</A_BASE>
                       <A_YES>Yes</A_YES>
                       <A_NO>No</A_NO>
                       <A_CATEGORY_D>1210043021</A_CATEGORY_D>
                       <A_PRECISION>2</A_PRECISION>
                       <LIST_BREAK>
                           <G_BREAK>
                               <CURRENCY>2</CURRENCY>
                               <SORT_COLUMN>100</SORT_COLUMN>

                           </G_BREAK>
                           <G_BREAK>
                               <CURRENCY>25</CURRENCY>
                               <SORT_COLUMN>130</SORT_COLUMN>

                           </G_BREAK>
                           <G_BREAK>
                               <CURRENCY>77</CURRENCY>
                               <SORT_COLUMN>1350</SORT_COLUMN>
                           </G_BREAK>
                       </LIST_BREAK>
                   </COMPANY>
               </LIST>
           </POX>.ToString()
End Function

edited Feb 11, 2011 at 14:32

answered Feb 11, 2011 at 14:25

Justin Largey

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3 Comments

Justin Largey Over a year ago

Here is the definition for GetXML, I'm just using XML Literals for this example..

StealthRT Over a year ago

Data at the root level is invalid. Line 1, position 1.? on the XElement.Parse("c:\temp\46659024.xml)

Justin Largey Over a year ago

Instead of passing the file name to XElemement.Parse, do something like this XElement.Parse(My.Computer.FileSystem.ReadAllText("c:\temp\46659024.xml"))

btlog · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-11 14:44:33Z

0

Ignoring not using LINQ to XML as suggested an error that leaps out is

Dim strTest1 = m_xmlr.GetAttribute("/POX/LIST/COMPANY/LIST_BREAK/G_BREAK")

GetAttribute is to get an xml attribute so with the node GetAttribute("attr") would return "1". With an XmlTextReader there are no way to xpath to a node, you have to code the xml traversal yourself.

answered Feb 11, 2011 at 14:44

btlog

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