Generic List to XML using LINQ

Let us see  how to generate list of XML using LINQ.

 

Scenario
I have one generic List of Employee and want to convert it in to XML format.

 

Solution:

I can do this using XmlDocument class which is .NET 2.0 but it can take more than 30-40 lines..and i want to achieve[achieved also!!]
it in 4-5 Lines…sounds cool idea..so lets see how can we achieve it using LINQ–Language integrated Query new poweful tool of Micro.

 

First i have this Simple Class for storing Employee value:

 

Employee.CS
——————-

using System;
namespace LinqtoXMLDemo
{
 public class Employee
 {
  public int EmployeeID
  {
   get;
   set;
  }

  public string EmployeeName
  {
   get;
   set;
  }

  public string EmployeeAddress
  {
   get;
   set;
  }
 }
}

 

Ok Lets start

 

1. Add some sample values in list

List<Employee> employeeList = new List<Employee>();
      
   employeeList.Add(new Employee()
   {
    EmployeeAddress=”BARODA”,
    EmployeeID=1,
    EmployeeName=”XYZ”    
   });

   employeeList.Add(new Employee()
   {
    EmployeeAddress = “Bangalore”,
    EmployeeID = 2,
    EmployeeName = “ABC”
   });

 

2. Now i want to convert it into XML format..which should look like this..

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″ standalone=”yes”?>
<Employees>
 <Employee>
  <EmployeeID>1</EmployeeID>
  <EmployeeName>XYZ</EmployeeName>
  <EmployeeAddress>BARODA</EmployeeAddress>
 </Employee>
 <Employee>
  <EmployeeID>2</EmployeeID>
  <EmployeeName>ABC</EmployeeName>
  <EmployeeAddress>Bangalore</EmployeeAddress>
 </Employee>
</Employees>

 

3. Method to achieve our desire..[Which is self explanatory)
/// <summary>
  /// This Method will generate list TO XML using LINQ
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name=”employeeList”>Collection of Employe</param>
  /// <returns>XmlDocument</returns>
  private static XDocument GenerateListToXML(List<Employee> employeeList)
  {
   XDocument xmlDocument = new XDocument(new XDeclaration(“1.0”, “UTF-8”, “yes”),
              new XElement(“Employees”,
              from employee in employeeList
              select new XElement(“Employee”,
              new XElement(“EmployeeID”, employee.EmployeeID),
                  new XElement(“EmployeeName”, employee.EmployeeName),
                   new XElement(“EmployeeAddress”, employee.EmployeeAddress))));
   return xmlDocument;
  }

 

4. From main call it like this:

 

XDocument employeeXML = GenerateListToXML(employeeList);

That’s it we are ready!!!!

Okay XML Looks cool..But now i want it with namespace so it should look like this..

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″ standalone=”yes”?>
<Employees xmlns=”http://www.abc.org/employees/0.9“>
 <Employee>
  <EmployeeID>1</EmployeeID>
  <EmployeeName>XYZ</EmployeeName>
  <EmployeeAddress>BARODA</EmployeeAddress>
 </Employee>
 <Employee>
  <EmployeeID>2</EmployeeID>
  <EmployeeName>ABC</EmployeeName>
  <EmployeeAddress>Bangalore</EmployeeAddress>
 </Employee>
</Employees>

Method to generate XML with Namespace

/// <summary>
  /// This Method will generate list TO XML with namespace using LINQ
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name=”employeeList”>Collection of Employe</param>
  /// <returns>XmlDocument</returns>
  private static XDocument GenerateListToXMLWithNameSpace(List<Employee> employeeList)
  {
   XNamespace employeeNameSpace = “http://www.abc.org/employees/0.9“;
   XDocument xmlDocument = new XDocument(new XDeclaration(“1.0”, “UTF-8”, “yes”),
              new XElement(employeeNameSpace + “Employees”,
              from employee in employeeList
              select new XElement(employeeNameSpace + “Employee”,
              new XElement(employeeNameSpace + “EmployeeID”, employee.EmployeeID),
                  new XElement(employeeNameSpace + “EmployeeName”, employee.EmployeeName),
                   new XElement(employeeNameSpace + “EmployeeAddress”, employee.EmployeeAddress))));
   return xmlDocument;
  }

 

That’s it…Happy LINQ!!

 

 

Sample project has been attached for your reference get it from Here

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