Convert xml to class using Linq

Question

I am using LINQ to convert from XML file to a class that I have created. no matter what I am trying I am getting 0 in the count of the list.

List<UpdateMember> updateMembers = new List<ExeTeam.UpdateMember>();
updateMembers = GetMember(doc);
try
{
  IEnumerable<UpdateMember> member = from r in doc.Descendants("UpdateMember").Descendants("member")
  select new UpdateMember()
  {
    Birthdate = (string)(r.Element("Birthdate")) == string.Empty ? DateTimeParser((DateTime)(r.Element("Birthdate"))) : DateTime.Now,
    Email = (string)r.Element("Email") != null ? (string)r.Element("Email") : "",
    FamilyStatus = (string)r.Element("Familystatus") != null ? (string)r.Element("Familystatus") : "",
    ID = (int)r.Element("IdNumber") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("IdNumber") : 0,
    Phone1 = (int)r.Element("Telephone1") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("Telephone1") : 0,
    Phone2 = (int)r.Element("Telephone2") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("Telephone2") : 0,
    phone3 = (int)r.Element("Telephone3") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("Telephone3") : 0
  };
  return member.ToList();
}

The xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
  <UpdateMember xmlns="http://tempuri.org/">
    <member>
      <Birthdate>25122012</Birthdate>
      <Email>[email protected]</Email>
      <Familystatus>single</Familystatus>
      <IdNumber>12345678</IdNumber>
      <Telephone1>123-4567890</Telephone1>
      <Telephone2></Telephone2>
      <Telephone3></Telephone3>
    </member>
  </UpdateMember>

In the line from r in doc.Decendants("")... I have tried all kind of variations. Thank to all

@Danny: Checking for 0 and using 0 instead won't do anything. — SLaks
– SLaks, Commented Dec 6, 2012 at 14:28

Jon Skeet · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-06 15:03:39Z

4

The problem is namespaces:

<UpdateMember xmlns="http://tempuri.org/">

That means all your elements are in that namespace, by default. Your queries all try to look for elements which aren't in a namespace, e.g.

Element("Familystatus")

This is very easy to fix in LINQ to XML:

XNamespace ns = "http://tempuri.org/";
IEnumerable<UpdateMember> member = from r in doc.Descendants(ns + "UpdateMember")
                                                .Descendants(ns + "member")
// etc

Additionally, your attempt to handle missing data won't work and is overly complicated. For example, this:

Phone1 = (int)r.Element("Telephone1") != 0 ? (int)r.Element("Telephone1") : 0

should be:

Phone1 = (int?) r.Element(ns + "Telephone1") ?? 0

If you cast to int, it won't give a value of 0 if the value is missing - it will throw an exception. Casting to int? will give a null value instead.

I would change your whole code to:

return doc.Descendants(ns + "UpdateMember").Descendants(ns + "member")
          .Select (r => new UpdateMember
          {
              // Really? This is an odd default.
              Birthdate = (DateTime?) r.Element(ns + "Birthdate") ?? DateTime.Now,
              Email = (string) r.Element(ns + "Email") ?? "",
              FamilyStatus = (string) r.Element(ns + "Familystatus) ?? "",
              ID = (int?) r.Element(ns + "IDNumber") ?? 0,
              Phone1 = (int?) r.Element(ns + "Telephone1") ?? 0,
              Phone2 = (int?) r.Element(ns + "Telephone2") ?? 0,
              Phone3 = (int?) r.Element(ns + "Telephone3") ?? 0)
          })
          .ToList();

EDIT: As noted in comments, storing phone numbers as int values is a really bad idea. You'd lose any formatting, you'd lose leading zeroes, and I'd expect many full phone numbers to be outside the range of an int anyway. I'd keep them as strings.

edited Dec 6, 2012 at 15:03

answered Dec 6, 2012 at 14:25

Jon Skeet

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5 Comments

Cᴏʀʏ Over a year ago

Wouldn't the "-" in the phone number cause a cast exception?

Danny Over a year ago

Having problems with the datetime input but i will fix it.Thank you very much

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

@Cory: If the phone numbers actually include the dashes, yes. Storing phone numbers in an int is definitely not a good idea, but that's somewhat aside from the main issue here. Will note it in an edit though.

Danny Over a year ago

Jon Skeet: I have new xml that also has to be in a class. i am having a bit of trouble , can i send the xml?

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

@Danny: No - ask a new question, if you must, following tinyurl.com/so-list

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