Searching an array of XML Nodes

Question

I have an array of System.Xml.XmlNode with data similar to this:

[0] = <Node1 xmlns="---">N1Data</Node1>

[1] = <Node2 xmlns="---">N2Data</Node2>

[2] = <Node3 xmlns="---">N3Data</Node3>

Using LINQ, how could I select the inner data of Node2? This seems trivial with an XDocument, but my data format is nonnegotiable as it's supplied by an external resource.

Thanks in advance.

What form do you have the array in at the moment? Already parsed, or as text? In a document, or not? — Jon Skeet, Apr 05 '12 at 16:28
@JonSkeet The array consists of XML Nodes with parsed data, with the OuterXml of each looking similar to the 3 examples I've presented. As far as I'm aware these do not constitute documents. — Jonathan, Apr 05 '12 at 16:31
-1 This question is not specific enough to formulate a proper answer. Good luck with this. — Chuck Savage, Apr 05 '12 at 17:14
@ChuckSavage I created a new answer like you suggested due to his changing requirements. — Chris Benard, Apr 05 '12 at 17:41

Michael Liu · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-05T16:48:31.717

3

Like this, perhaps?

XmlNode[] nodes = ...;
string value = nodes.Single(n => n.LocalName == "Node2").InnerXml;
// or .InnerText, depending on what you need.

edited Apr 05 '12 at 16:48

answered Apr 05 '12 at 16:43

Michael Liu

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Thank you. This was exactly what I was looking for and whilst I could've achieved the same with XDocument, it seemed a little inefficient to parse all the XML into a new object. – Jonathan Apr 05 '12 at 21:25

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 05 '12 at 17:08

New Answer: Completely changed to not use XDocument at all, per author's request:

string[] elementArray = new[]
{
    "<Node1 xmlns=\"foo\">Bar</Node1>",
    "<Node2 xmlns=\"foo\">Bar</Node2>",
    "<Node3 xmlns=\"foo\">Bar</Node3>"
};

var search = "Node2";
string result = elementArray
    .Where(x => x.Split(' ').First().Substring(1) == search)
    .Select(x =>
    {
        int closeBrace = x.IndexOf(">");
        int openBrace = x.IndexOf("<", closeBrace);
        return x.Substring(closeBrace + 1, openBrace - closeBrace - 1);
    })
    .Single();

Searching an array of XML Nodes

2 Answers2