Webservice returns only System.Xml.XmlDocument string

Question

When I call my webservice, it only returns the string "System.Xml.XmlDocument" rather than the actual XML. What do I need to change to get it to return an actual XML document?

 public XmlDocument GetCommoditiesXmlDocument() {
            XmlDocument xdoc = new XmlDocument();
            StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
            XmlTextWriter xtw = new XmlTextWriter(sw);

            //gets XML as XmlElement

            quotes.WriteTo(xtw);
            xdoc.LoadXml(sw.ToString());
            return xdoc;
        }

I'm using .NET 4.0 (and MVC3 if it matters)

SLaks · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-05 17:34:13Z

2

ASP.Net MVC does not know how to serialize an XmlDocument into an HTTP response.

Instead, you should return the XML source directly:

return Content(sw.ToString(), "text/xml");

answered Feb 5, 2013 at 17:34

SLaks

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3 Comments

user1720624 Over a year ago

I'm not sure I understand. I actually get the XML passed to my service as an XmlElement. If there a way to serialize that into an HTTP response?

user1720624 Over a year ago

+1 It looks like the Content class is intended to be used with master pages in Web Forms (though I may be wrong), but you did set me on the right track. I ended up using 'Response.ContentType = "text/xml";' Thanks a bunch :)

SLaks Over a year ago

@Llepwryd: Use the Content() method in the controller.

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