Writing XML Using DataSet in C#

Mahesh Chand
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I am currently upgrading my XML book that I wrote a decade ago to .NET 4.5 and you will be seeing many more articles on XML and .NET. A few days ago, I wrote How to Load XML File into a DataGridView Control and now here is the reverse method.

This article shows how to write DataSet contents to an XML file. The DataSet class contains methods to write a XML file from a DataSet object and fill the data to the file.

The WriteXml Method

The WriteXml method writes the current data (the schema and data) of a DataSet object to an XML file. This is an overloaded method. By using this method, you can write data to a file, stream, TextWriter, or XmlWriter.

The following code snippet writes a DataSet contents to a XML file using the WriteXml method:

DataSet ds = CreateDynamicDataSet();
ds.WriteXml(@"C:\Books\Students.xml");

Sample

Create a Windows Forms or WPF application and add a Button control to the Form/Window. Write the following code snippet for the button control click event handler.

The CreateDynamicDataSet method creates a DataSet object in-memory. If you already have data coming from a database, getting filled in a DataSet, you won't need this method. All you need to do is call the WriteXml method of your DataSet and pass the full path of the XML file.

This example creates a DataSet, fills the data for the DataSet, and writes the data to an XML file.

private void WriteXmlButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
DataSet ds = CreateDynamicDataSet();
ds.WriteXml(@"C:\Books\Students.xml");
}

private DataSet CreateDynamicDataSet()
{

    DataSet ds = new DataSet("DS");
ds.Namespace = "StdNamespace";
  DataTable stdTable = new DataTable("Student");
  DataColumn col1 = new DataColumn("Name");
  DataColumn col2 = new DataColumn("Address");
stdTable.Columns.Add(col1);
stdTable.Columns.Add(col2);
ds.Tables.Add(stdTable);

//Add student Data to the table
DataRow newRow; newRow = stdTable.NewRow();
newRow["Name"] = "Mahesh Chand";
newRow["Address"] = "Meadowlake Dr, Dtown";
stdTable.Rows.Add(newRow);
newRow = stdTable.NewRow();

newRow["Name"] = "Mike Gold";
newRow["Address"] = "NewYork";
stdTable.Rows.Add(newRow);
newRow = stdTable.NewRow();
newRow["Name"] = "Mike Gold";
newRow["Address"] = "New York";

stdTable.Rows.Add(newRow);

ds.AcceptChanges();

return ds;

}

You wouldn't believe how much the WriteXml method can do for you. If you see the output Students.xml file, it generates a standard XML file that looks like the following.

-<DS xmlns="StdNamespace">

- <Student>

<Name>Mahesh Chand</Name>

<Address>Meadowlake Dr, Dtown</Address>

</Student>

- <Student>