Importing an xml file into a datagridview not all data displayed

[gadjet]

Hi,
It's been a couple of years since I've done anything with VB but I have an xml file that I would like to view and navigate in a windows form application.

The xml file is a fixed file I have no control over.

I've limited experience with xml files but using google I was able to setup a form with a couple of datagridviews and load different section of the file into them using a dataset and ReadXml.

The issue I'm having is that the DGV only shows the first level of information and not any of the child sections.

So my question is can anyone help out or point towards some tutorials that might help me to get to view the child information.

Here is an example of the xml file structure, the data highlighted in Blue is displayed in the grid but the data under <LEVEL10> is not displayed at all, how can I view Levels below level 10


Thanks,
Phil

[kpmc]

How many tables are in the table collection of the dataset after reading the xml?

[gadjet]

Sorry, I don't know, I use this code to load an xml file into the dataset and populate the DGV

        AuthorsDataSet.ReadXml(filePath)

        DataGridView1.DataSource = AuthorsDataSet
        DataGridView1.DataMember = "LEVEL1"

[kpmc]

Put a button and insert this code. What is the output?

    Private Sub Button_GetTables_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button_GetTables.Click
        Dim TblInfo As String = String.Empty
        For Each Tbl As DataTable In Dset.Tables
            TblInfo &= Tbl.TableName & Environment.NewLine
        Next
        MsgBox(TblInfo)
    End Sub

[techgnome]

That's because the DGV doesn't display hierarchical information. It's designed to display tabular data.
If you want it displayed, you'll either need to change your display control to something that does display data in a hierarchical way... OR you'll have to manipulate the XML first before loading it to get it into the format you want prior to displaying it.

-tg

[gadjet]

Put a button and insert this code. What is the output?

    Private Sub Button_GetTables_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button_GetTables.Click
        Dim TblInfo As String = String.Empty
        For Each Tbl As DataTable In Dset.Tables
            TblInfo &= Tbl.TableName & Environment.NewLine
        Next
        MsgBox(TblInfo)
    End Sub

Thanks, that gives me a list of tables that seem to match the different sections within the xml file, so I suppose that means I can work with tables to display the different sections and link the data between the tables so they are in sync.

[gadjet]

That's because the DGV doesn't display hierarchical information. It's designed to display tabular data.
If you want it displayed, you'll either need to change your display control to something that does display data in a hierarchical way... OR you'll have to manipulate the XML first before loading it to get it into the format you want prior to displaying it.

-tg

Yes, my plan is to have secondary DGVs and link the data but I need to identify the keys that I can use in the xml file and they are in the attributes (I think that's what they are called), I will need to figure out how to reference an attribute within the section for a filter to work.

[kpmc]

You need to create relations. Here is an example out of my snippets

        Dim dataRelation As DataRelation
        Dim dataColumn1 As DataColumn, dataColumn2 As DataColumn
        dataColumn1 = ds.Tables("Masters").Columns("CustomerID")
        dataColumn2 = ds.Tables("Detailed").Columns("_CustomerID")
        dataRelation = New DataRelation("CustomersToOrders", dataColumn1, dataColumn2)


        ds.Relations.Add(dataRelation)
        masterBindingSource.DataSource = ds
        masterBindingSource.DataMember = "Masters"

        detailsBindingSource.DataSource = masterBindingSource
        detailsBindingSource.DataMember = "CustomersToOrders"


        DataGridView1.DataSource = masterBindingSource
        DataGridView2.DataSource = detailsBindingSource

You may also be interested in the "GetChildRows" method

[gadjet]

You need to create relations. Here is an example out of my snippets

        Dim dataRelation As DataRelation
        Dim dataColumn1 As DataColumn, dataColumn2 As DataColumn
        dataColumn1 = ds.Tables("Masters").Columns("CustomerID")
        dataColumn2 = ds.Tables("Detailed").Columns("_CustomerID")
        dataRelation = New DataRelation("CustomersToOrders", dataColumn1, dataColumn2)


        ds.Relations.Add(dataRelation)
        masterBindingSource.DataSource = ds
        masterBindingSource.DataMember = "Masters"

        detailsBindingSource.DataSource = masterBindingSource
        detailsBindingSource.DataMember = "CustomersToOrders"


        DataGridView1.DataSource = masterBindingSource
        DataGridView2.DataSource = detailsBindingSource

You may also be interested in the "GetChildRows" method

Thanks, I will try this and see if I can get it to work

[gadjet]

Having now created a listbox that populates with all the tables and linked that to a GDV I can now see each table and view the data, this has led me to confirm that there are no master/child keys in the tables ??

The relationship between the data tables must be based on position within the file, should I maybe look at parsing the file and organise the data somehow.

in the screen grab in the first post, there are separate tables for LEVEL1, LEVEL11, LEVEL14 and LEVEL1 is repeated but in reality LEVEL11 and LEVEL14 are nested within LEVEL1 without any master/child keys.

Unfortunately I can't post the actual xml file due to its content being confidential.

Thanks for the help so far.

[kpmc]

I am far from an XML expert. I despise it actually. In some places it is convenient, but those are all cases where you dont have to look at its ugliness, where the datatable creates and reads it. Getting XML from outside source is comparable to doing a word search puzzle that doesnt actually have any words.

Anyway, if what you're saying is there is no "ID" column you can use to relate the tables by, then I cant help you. If you have access to the system that creates the xml I would recommend creating such a column. GUIDs work well if you cant create an ID by any other means.

[kpmc]

Getting XML from outside source is comparable to doing a word search puzzle that doesnt actually have any words.

And the puzzle is on fire, and you are on fire, and you are in hell.

[gadjet]

And the puzzle is on fire, and you are on fire, and you are in hell.

I'm definitely getting that feeling.

[techgnome]

I find that to be true in cases where the XML isn't designed well, which it sounds like is the case here, or where it is being used in a manner which it wasn't intended or incompatible, which it seems like the case here... which is like 80% of the time.

-tg

[gadjet]

I find that to be true in cases where the XML isn't designed well, which it sounds like is the case here, or where it is being used in a manner which it wasn't intended or incompatible, which it seems like the case here... which is like 80% of the time.

-tg

Yes, unfortunately the xml is generated automatically from an application from our parent company, they have some tools but they are a bit difficult to use and I wanted to just have a quick and easy way to view and navigate the xml data.

[kpmc]

TG-
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https://www.andrerieu.com/en/tour

-PS, sorry about the off topicness