XML format not filling data table correct

Question

Reading xml format is not a strong point of mine, and although i am reading and display an xml file my code seems to stop and jump to the first line of the xml?

the format i'm trying to read is as below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
- <result id="xxxxx" generated="xxxx" mode="live" account_id="000">
<vrm>AXXXXX</vrm>
<make>FORD</make>
<model>FIESTA FREESTYLE</model>
- <valuation db="201202" mileage="110000">
- <match id="92">
<make>FORD</make>
<model>FIESTA (1999-02)</model>
<variation>5DR HATCHBACK 1.25 FREESTYLE</variation>

I'm using the following code to read and display into a datagrid using http WebRequest.

DataSet

dsLookup.ReadXml(response.GetResponseStream());

dsLookup = new DataSet()

dataGridView1.DataSource = dsLookup.Tables[0];

The problem is, it reads down to this line then stops:

- <valuation db="201202" mileage="110000">

even if i try to go past and display into a text field like below it still doesn't read past that problem line? is there a way to bypass the line above?

value_retailTextBox.Text = dsLookup.Tables[0].Rows[0][5].ToString();

Vulpes · Answer

What I think you need to do here is to convert the stream to text remove the offending hyphens and parse the cleaned-up text into an XDocument. So I'd try this: Stream s = response.GetResponseStream(); System.IO.StreamReader sr = new System.IO.StreamReader(s); string xml = sr.ReadToEnd(); sr.Close(); xml = xml.Replace(-   ); // get rid of leading hyphens XDocument xmlDoc = XDocument.Parse(xml); You should then be able to use xmlDoc to read the elements you need using the LINQ to XML code you already have.

mike Delvotti · Answer

Perfect - Thanks Vulpes.

Vulpes · Answer

Yeah the F2 format only works if you have something which is already a number. I'd try the following instead which also deals with the possibility that the element could be blank or contain an invalid number (it then uses zero instead): var valuation = from match in xmlDoc.Descendants(match) select new { retail = match.Element(retail).Value trade = match.Element(trade).Value average = match.Element(average).Value firstnew = match.Element(new).Value }; foreach (var match in valuation) { decimal temp; decimal.TryParse(match.retail out temp); value_retailTextBox.Text = temp.ToString(F2); value_tradeTextBox.Text = match.trade; value_averageTextBox.Text = match.average; value_newTextBox.Text = match.firstnew; }

mike Delvotti · Answer

Jay - thanks for the link I'll keep that in mind. Vulpes - once again that is a bang on solution and works a treat I have one last question on this subject that you will no doubt see a simple way the returns that display in my textbox I would really like to format as F2 what would be the best way for me to achieve that in code I tried it like below but it doesn't like my method ;( var valuation = from match in xmlDoc.Descendants(match) select new { retail = match.Element(retail).Value.ToString(F2)// my sample here that doesn't work for F2 format? trade = match.Element(trade).Value average = match.Element(average).Value firstnew = match.Element(new).Value }; foreach (var match in valuation) { value_retailTextBox.Text = match.retail; value_tradeTextBox.Text = match.trade; value_averageTextBox.Text = match.average; value_newTextBox.Text = match.firstnew; }

Poppa Wallace · Answer

Have a look at filehelpers http://www.filehelpers.com/

mike Delvotti · Answer

Guys i have worked out part of the issue but just wondered if anyone has a work around for my code below? I'm reading the xml that is collected from the web (via another source) now after some experimenting it's the hyphen in front of the attribute causing the code to stop reading the xml as the first and second offending line below: - - 16366 5000 3225 2600 3450 1700 if i remove the hyphen (-) from the front of the attribute my code below works just fine: var valuation = from match in xmlDoc.Descendants(match) select new { retail = match.Element(trade).Value }; foreach (var match in valuation) { value_retailTextBox.Text = match.retail; } I guess I'm asking if the is a way i can modify my code to remove the hyphen from in front of the attributes?

mike Delvotti · Answer

Hi thanks for the reply the full format of the xml is: - AXXXXX FORD FIESTA FREESTYLE - - FORD FIESTA (1999-02) 5DR HATCHBACK 1.25 FREESTYLE 16366 5000 I've just noticed that the line it stops at is an element. so what i really would like to do is display the element new + retail in textbox1 & textbox2 those are within valuation/match elements. I assume i have to load the xml without using a dataset then?

Senthilkumar · Answer

Please verify the XML tags formed correctly. Because when you convert the dataset table into XML then it will be in the XML standard. Here am not seeing some of the tags are not closed properly. That means the XML parsing will be failed in the DataSet ReadXML function.