How to update an XML string

Question

I am wondering how do you go about updating an XML string using XML document...

I will be changing the values of attributes in an xmlDocument (this will be a large string)... Looking online I was a little confused about the proper way to do this... Here is a sample of what I am trying to do...

    //get the value at the key from the form collection
    var value = formCollection[key.ToString()];
    //lookup the specifc <node> in the xml file and match it to the key... should be equal to the path's array found in _EditTemplate values above...
    XmlNode xElm = xmlTemplate.SelectSingleNode(string.Format("//dataTemplateSpecification/templates/template/elements/element[@name=\"{0}\"]", key.ToString()));
                //get the value attribute va                    
    XmlAttribute tempAtt = xElm.Attributes["value"];// = formCollection[key.ToString()];
                //Attempt to set the attribute value to the correct value
    tempAtt.Value = value;// formCollection[key.ToString()];

Does that seem like a rational way to update an xml String? Remember, I don't want to save this to a file. I want to update the string and go from there I need to do more processing...

Just looked at a quick tutorial... Would doing this work... xmlTemplate.SelectSingleNode(string.Format("//dataTemplateSpecification/templates/template/elements/element[@name=\"{0}\"]", key.ToString())).Attributes["value"].Value = value; xmlTemplate.Save(Tmplts); Only one way to find out... — SoftwareSavant
– SoftwareSavant, Commented Jul 13, 2011 at 13:26

Jon Skeet · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-13 13:23:07Z

3

If I just wanted to set an attribute value (without looking at the previous value), I'd use XmlElement.SetAttribute.

(As an aside, if you're using .NET 3.5 or higher, I would definitely look at LINQ to XML instead of the original DOM API.)

answered Jul 13, 2011 at 13:23

Jon Skeet

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9 Comments

saj Over a year ago

Why is Linq to XMl preferred over DOM?

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

@saj: It's simply a much nicer API to work with, both for producing XML and querying it.

KevDog Over a year ago

@saj, it's much easier to use and integrates seamlessly with the rest of your objects. And when you're done the code is much easier to read.

SoftwareSavant Over a year ago

How would I navigate to the appropriate XmlAttribute though? I know about LINQ to xml and I agree it would be simpler to use. However, it's a long story why I am not using it.

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

@DmainEvent: You'd navigate to the appropriate element rather than the attribute. It looks like you're already doing that.

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