How to convert XML Elements to Attributes using c#

Question

I have an XML as below. In this XML all the attributes are available as elements.

<Dress>
    <ID>001</ID>
    <shirts>
        <product>
            <ID>345</ID>
            <Name>tee</Name>
            <Serial>5678</Serial>
        </product>
        <product>
            <ID>456</ID>
            <Name>crew</Name>
            <Serial>4566</Serial>
        </product>       
    </shirts>
    <pants>
        <product>
            <ID>123</ID>
            <Name>jeans</Name>
            <Serial>1234</Serial>
            <Color>blue</Color>
        </product>
        <product>
            <ID>137</ID>
            <Name>skirt</Name>
            <Serial>3455</Serial>
            <Color>black</Color>
        </product>
    </pants>
</Dress>

I need convert this XML as:

<Dress ID="001">
    <shirts>
        <product ID="345" Name="tee" Serial="5678"/>
        <product ID="456" Name="crew" Serial="4566"/>
    </shirts>
    <pants>
        <product ID="123" Name="jeans" Serial="1243" Color="blue"/>
        <product ID="123" Name="skirt" Serial="3455" Color="black"/>
    </pants>
</Dress>

Basically I need to convert the elements to attributes. How do I do this using c#?

are u sure you are going to modify the source file ? then why c# tag? — Chandan Kumar
– Chandan Kumar, Commented May 25, 2017 at 9:30
Yes. The source file has to be modified. I need to do this using c#. — Vidhya
– Vidhya, Commented May 25, 2017 at 9:59
Did you got your solution? See my answer. It generates output as you expected — Chandan Kumar
– Chandan Kumar, Commented May 25, 2017 at 11:46

Chandan Kumar · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-25 11:14:20Z

Try withe below one. it generates output as you expected.

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Xml.Linq;

namespace CangeOneXmlToAnotherXmlConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var sourceXml = @"<Dress>
                                <ID>001</ID>
                                <shirts>
                                    <product>
                                        <ID>345</ID>
                                        <Name>tee</Name>
                                        <Serial>5678</Serial>
                                    </product>
                                    <product>
                                        <ID>456</ID>
                                        <Name>crew</Name>
                                        <Serial>4566</Serial>
                                    </product>       
                                </shirts>
                                <pants>
                                    <product>
                                        <ID>123</ID>
                                        <Name>jeans</Name>
                                        <Serial>1234</Serial>
                                        <Color>blue</Color>
                                    </product>
                                    <product>
                                        <ID>137</ID>
                                        <Name>skirt</Name>
                                        <Serial>3455</Serial>
                                        <Color>black</Color>
                                    </product>
                                </pants>
                            </Dress>";
            var xmlDoc = XDocument.Parse(sourceXml);
            //Remove the ID element
            var firstChildNodeVal = ((XElement)((XContainer)xmlDoc.FirstNode).FirstNode).Value;
            xmlDoc.Descendants("ID").Remove();
            //Add an attribute(ID) with value to the root element
            xmlDoc.Root.SetAttributeValue("ID", firstChildNodeVal);
            //Define the new elements to be available inside the root element
            var elemetsToBeFormatted = new string[] { "shirts", "pants" };
            //Loop it and add the elements inside root element
            foreach (var item in elemetsToBeFormatted)
            {
                var aitem = xmlDoc.Root.Elements(item).Elements("product").ToList();
                aitem.ForEach(p => p.Elements().ToList().ForEach(e => { p.SetAttributeValue(e.Name, e.Value); e.Remove(); }));
            }
            var expectedXml = xmlDoc.ToString();
            Console.WriteLine(expectedXml);
            Console.Read();
        }
    }
}

OUTPUT

Terry Lennox · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-25 10:01:28Z

0

private static void ReplaceElementsWithAttributes()
{
    string xmlData = @"<Dress>
                            <ID>001</ID>
                            <shirts>
                                <product>
                                    <ID>345</ID>
                                    <Name>tee</Name>
                                    <Serial>5678</Serial>
                                </product>
                                <product>
                                    <ID>456</ID>
                                    <Name>crew</Name>
                                    <Serial>4566</Serial>
                                </product>       
                            </shirts>
                            <pants>
                                <product>
                                    <ID>123</ID>
                                    <Name>jeans</Name>
                                    <Serial>1234</Serial>
                                    <Color>blue</Color>
                                </product>
                                <product>
                                    <ID>137</ID>
                                    <Name>skirt</Name>
                                    <Serial>3455</Serial>
                                    <Color>black</Color>
                                </product>
                            </pants>
                        </Dress>";

    var doc = XDocument.Parse(xmlData);
    var replaceElementTargets = new string[] { "shirts", "pants" };

    foreach (var target in replaceElementTargets)
    {
        var product = doc.Root.Elements(target).Elements("product").ToList();
        product.ForEach(p => p.Elements().ToList().ForEach(e => { p.SetAttributeValue(e.Name, e.Value); e.Remove(); }));
    }

    var outputXML = doc.ToString();

}

answered May 25, 2017 at 10:01

Terry Lennox

30.9k5 gold badges36 silver badges45 bronze badges

2 Comments

Chandan Kumar Over a year ago

you have missed ID="001" attribute for the <Dress> root element

Terry Lennox Over a year ago

@uɐpuɐɥƆ good spot! I don't think this would need a huge change to fix though.

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