Reading XML nested node values

Question

Having an issue grabbing values in an XML file The structure is as followed

<configuration>
    <settings>
       <add key="folder" value = "c:\...." />
    </settings>
</configuration>

i want to be able to read the value from folder.

string val = string.Empty;

        foreach (XElement element in XElement.Load(file).Elements("configuration"))
        {
            foreach (XElement element2 in element.Elements("settings"))
            {
                if (element2.Name.Equals("folder"))
                {
                    val = element2.Attribute(key).Value;
                    break;
                }
            }
        }

        return val;

that's not the app.config file for your application is it?

Jonesopolis
– Jonesopolis

2013-09-24 19:54:51 +00:00
Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 19:54 — Jonesopolis
– Jonesopolis, Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 19:54
it's from another application I need to read for values.

Tsukasa
– Tsukasa

2013-09-24 19:58:16 +00:00
Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 19:58 — Tsukasa
– Tsukasa, Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 19:58

Jon Skeet · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-24 19:57:06Z

2

The name of the element isn't folder... that's the value of the key attribute. Also note that as you've used XElement.Load, the element is the configuration element - asking for Elements("configuration") will give you an empty collection. You could either load an XDocument instead, or just assume you're on a configuration element and look beneath it for settings.

I think you want:

return XElement.Load(file)
               .Elements("settings")
               .Elements("add")
               .Where(x => (string) x.Attribute("key") == "folder")
               .Select(x => (string) x.Attribute("value"))
               .FirstOrDefault();

answered Sep 24, 2013 at 19:57

Jon Skeet

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Comments

Sergey Berezovskiy · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-24 20:00:07Z

1

You can use XPath:

var folder = XElement.Load(file)
                     .XPathSelectElements("/settings/add[@key='folder']")
                     .Select(a => (string)a.Attribute("value"))
                     .FirstOrDefault();

answered Sep 24, 2013 at 20:00

Sergey Berezovskiy

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1 Comment

David Aranovsky Over a year ago

much better than the chosen answer!

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