how fill datatable from xml file in c# windows forms?

Question

Hi friends

I want to fill the datatable from xml file.

this is my code, but it is not working. when i bind the datatable into gridview there is no rows.

DataSet ds = new DataSet(); 

ds.ReadXml("XMLEmployee.xml");

dataGridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables[0].DefaultView;

please help me to do this.

thanks in advance

by

faisal

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faisal

Answer 1

Hi faisal;

If the XML document contains a schema in it then you code should have worked.

DataSet ds = new DataSet();
ds.ReadXml("XMLEmployee.xml");
dataGridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables[0].DefaultView;

So I am assuming that the XML file does not contain a schema in the document. In that case the next best thing is to create a DataTable object with all the correct column names and data type that are contain in the XML file. For example lest say I have this XML Document:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<DocumentElement>
  <Northwind>
    <ProductID>1</ProductID>
    <ProductName>Chai</ProductName>
    <UnitPrice>18.0000</UnitPrice>
    <UnitsInStock>39</UnitsInStock>
    <UnitsOnOrder>0</UnitsOnOrder>
  </Northwind>
  <Northwind>
    <ProductID>2</ProductID>
    <ProductName>Chang</ProductName>
    <UnitPrice>19.0000</UnitPrice>
    <UnitsInStock>17</UnitsInStock>
    <UnitsOnOrder>40</UnitsOnOrder>
  </Northwind>
  <Northwind>
    <ProductID>3</ProductID>
    <ProductName>Aniseed Syrup</ProductName>
    <UnitPrice>10.0000</UnitPrice>
    <UnitsInStock>13</UnitsInStock>
    <UnitsOnOrder>70</UnitsOnOrder>
  </Northwind>
<DocumentElement>

then I would need to create the table as follows:

DataTable dt = new DataTable("Northwind");
DataColumn dc = new DataColumn("ProductID", typeof(int));
dt.Columns.Add(dc);
dc = new DataColumn("ProductName", typeof(string));
dt.Columns.Add(dc);
dc = new DataColumn("UnitPrice", typeof(decimal));
dt.Columns.Add(dc);           
dc = new DataColumn("UnitsInStock", typeof(short));
dt.Columns.Add(dc);           
dc = new DataColumn("UnitsOnOrder", typeof(short));
dt.Columns.Add(dc);

then I can do this :

dt.ReadXml("C:/Working Directory/XMLFileName.xml");

  

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Fernando (MCSD)

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Answer 2

Hi fernanto

thanks for your reply....

i have changed the path. now my code is working

thank you.

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faisal

Answer 3

Fernando, how would I do this if I wanted to use a node's attribute as one of the DT column values, and if the XML was a string, not a file?  For example my XML is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><blahs><blah id="9">foo</blah><blah id="24">bar</blah></blahs>

And i want to populate my DT with 2 columns such that it contains

Col1 Col2

9 foo

24 bar

Answer 4

Hello double e;

The following code should do what you need. Also please new questions need to be ask in a new thread, Thank you.

// Create a data table with the correct columns and data type for the columns
// as shown here or use an existing table if one exist.
DataTable dt = new DataTable("MyBlahsDataTable");
DataColumn dc = new DataColumn("Col1", typeof(int));
dt.Columns.Add(dc);
dc = new DataColumn("Col2", typeof(string));
dt.Columns.Add(dc);

// This is the XML in a string format.
string xmlStr = "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\"?><blahs>	<blah id=\"9\">foo</blah>	<blah id=\"24\">bar</blah></blahs>";

// This loads the XML string into an XML document
XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Parse(xmlStr);

// Get all the blah nodes and extract there values
var fields = from f in xdoc.Root.Descendants("blah")
             select new {
                col1 = (int) f.Attribute("id"),
                col2 = (string) f.Value
             };

// Load the data table with the values             
foreach (var column in fields)
{
    DataRow dr = dt.NewRow();
    dr["Col1"] = column.col1;
    dr["Col2"] = column.col2;
    dt.Rows.Add(dr);
} 

  

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Fernando (MCSD)

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