I need to convert an XML string into an XmlElement

Question

I'm looking for the simplest way to convert a string containing valid XML into an XmlElement object in C#.

How can you turn this into an XmlElement?

<item><name>wrench</name></item>

The way this is handled in .NET today is still frustratingly dumb. When the WSDL you dont control wants `XmlElement[]` after the svcutil generates your proxy, you are kind of forced weirdness. — StingyJack, Sep 08 '17 at 02:49
Found another thread with some more solutions: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3936056/how-to-create-xelement-from-a-string — Druthipriya KL, Oct 19 '20 at 13:32

score 108 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 08 '13 at 12:51

108

Use this:

private static XmlElement GetElement(string xml)
{
    XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
    doc.LoadXml(xml);
    return doc.DocumentElement;
}

Beware!! If you need to add this element to another document first you need to Import it using ImportNode.

edited Jul 08 '13 at 12:51

Helgi

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answered Sep 13 '10 at 18:11

Aliostad

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Wont this fail if there's no tag at the beginning? If he just has an xml fragment I don't think this will work.. – Jimmy Hoffa Sep 13 '10 at 18:14
2

@Jimmy Hoffa: IIRC LoadXml takes any well-formed XML fragment that contains exactly one XML element at the top level. ` – dtb Sep 13 '10 at 18:17
To be clear, this works _only_ if the XML fragment does not contain more than a single element, so it can be treated as a root element. Otherwise, it throws an XmlException stating, "There are multiple root elements." For example, loading "" this way would fail. – Suncat2000 Jul 27 '20 at 15:36

score 27 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 14 '13 at 03:34

Suppose you already had a XmlDocument with children nodes, And you need add more child element from string.

XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
// Add some child nodes manipulation in earlier
// ..

// Add more child nodes to existing XmlDocument from xml string
string strXml = 
  @"<item><name>wrench</name></item>
    <item><name>screwdriver</name></item>";
XmlDocumentFragment xmlDocFragment = xmlDoc.CreateDocumentFragment();
xmlDocFragment.InnerXml = strXml;
xmlDoc.SelectSingleNode("root").AppendChild(xmlDocFragment);

The Result:

<root>
  <item><name>this is earlier manipulation</name>
  <item><name>wrench</name></item>
  <item><name>screwdriver</name>
</root>

This seems to be the canonically correct way according to Ms docs. I dont know why it isnt the preferred solution — user430788, Dec 24 '19 at 19:28

dtb · Answer 3 · 2010-09-13T18:18:33.183

15

Use XmlDocument.LoadXml:

XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.LoadXml("<item><name>wrench</name></item>");
XmlElement root = doc.DocumentElement;

(Or in case you're talking about XElement, use XDocument.Parse:)

XDocument doc = XDocument.Parse("<item><name>wrench</name></item>");
XElement root = doc.Root;

edited Sep 13 '10 at 18:18

answered Sep 13 '10 at 18:10

dtb

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He wanted the element, and for XElement he can just do XElement.Parse(xmlString), but you're giving him a document not element. – Jimmy Hoffa Sep 13 '10 at 18:13
@Jimmy Hoffa: If you have a document, it's straightforward to get the root element, no? – dtb Sep 13 '10 at 18:14
Sure, was just saying your answer could be tailored to the posters question a little more in case it's not as easy for him as it is for us.. – Jimmy Hoffa Sep 13 '10 at 18:18

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 13 '10 at 18:14

2

You can use XmlDocument.LoadXml() to do this.

Here is a simple examle:

XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument(); 
xmlDoc.LoadXml("YOUR XML STRING");

answered Sep 13 '10 at 18:14

Florian

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Nandagopal T · Answer 5 · 2012-05-12T05:47:25.583

I tried with this snippet, Got the solution.

// Sample string in the XML format
String s = "<Result> No Records found !<Result/>";
// Create the instance of XmlDocument
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
// Loads the XML from the string
doc.LoadXml(s);
// Returns the XMLElement of the loaded XML String
XmlElement xe = doc.DocumentElement;
// Print the xe
Console.out.println("Result :" + xe);

If any other better/ efficient way to implement the same, please let us know.

Thanks & Cheers

I need to convert an XML string into an XmlElement

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