[2008] Parsing XML

[philcr]

Currently developing monitoring program for Servers, now I have a vb script which runs periodically, and exports its findings to an XML file, I'm struggling to figure out a way to parse the XML file. The XML file is Laid out as follows.

xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Site>
<SiteID>SID0001</SiteID>
<SiteName>SITENAME</SiteName>
<CheckDate>13/01/2009</CheckDate>
<Server>
<ServerName>SERVERNAME</ServerName>
<SerialNumber>7M0W24J</SerialNumber>
<LastBootTime>19/12/2008 12:42:31</LastBootTime>
<Drives>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>C:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>25603MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>10.97%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>D:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>212663MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>84.19%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
</Drives>
<OperatingSystem>
<OSName>Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003 for Small Business Server</OSName>
<ServicePack>2</ServicePack>
</OperatingSystem>
<Antivirus>
<Provider>Symantec End Point</Provider>
<VirusDefs>20090112.041</VirusDefs>
</Antivirus>
<UPS>
</UPS>
</Server>
<Exchange>
<ExchangeServer>EXCHSERVER</ExchangeServer>
<MailBoxes>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>Name1</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1659690MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>Name2</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1105938MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
</MailBoxes>
</Exchange>
</Site>

I'm unsure how to parse this.

Help Appreciated

Many Thanks

[chris128]

You can use the XML.XMLDocument class to load in your file, then loop through the nodes you want.

There will be tons of articles on this on google
EDIT: See http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...parse+xml+file

[mendhak]

You want the SelectNodes() and SelectSingleNode() methods, these will help you extract the values out. You'll need to learn a bit of XPath as well to specify which node you want.

[chris128]

They are methods of the XMLDocument class though yeah?

[mendhak]

Yeah. The XmlDocument class would be called XmlUseless without them.

[chris128]

haha ok I was just checking as I've never tried XML parsing before and I figure it would be quite a useful thing to know how to do so I'll get practicing!

[philcr]

Cool guys will look further into it.

[mendhak]

haha ok I was just checking as I've never tried XML parsing before and I figure it would be quite a useful thing to know how to do so I'll get practicing!

Really? I'm pretty sure I've seen you post about those methods and XPath as well. If you don't know about it, you'll love it. SelectNodes() returns an XmlNodeList and SelectSingleNode returns an XmlNode.

[chris128]

Nope, wasnt me I saw this thread and thought "hmm I've never touched XML through VB... I'll see if I can learn something by helping this guy out"

I've got my test server spec file parsing nicely now using this:

Dim xmldoc As New xmldocument
xmldoc.Load("C:\test.xml")
 
Dim Nodes As XmlNodeList
Nodes = xmldoc.SelectNodes("/Server/Specs")
 
For Each node As XmlNode In Nodes
     MessageBox.Show(node("HardDrives").InnerText)
Next

Oh and I found out the hard way that you cant have spaces in xml node names

[mendhak]

It's also good that you chose to use the single slash notation rather then double slash. The double slash notation is expensive and can also give incorrect results if there are nested nodes of the same name (which is common).

[chris128]

I see, thanks for the tip

[philcr]

Cheers guys sort of getting there, the code chris provided is ace, however I'm struggling when it comes to multiple sites in one XML file as

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Site>
<SiteID>FUS0003</SiteID>
<SiteName>ANIND</SiteName>
<CheckDate>18/01/2009</CheckDate>
<Server>
<ServerName>SERVER1</ServerName>
<SerialNumber>93VDK3J</SerialNumber>
<LastBootTime>11/11/2008 19:02:58</LastBootTime>
<Drives>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>C:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>25007MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>39.09%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>D:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>253768MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>69.40%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
</Drives>
<OperatingSystem>
<OSName>Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003, Standard Edition</OSName>
<ServicePack>2</ServicePack>
</OperatingSystem>
<Antivirus>
<Provider>McAffee</Provider>
<VirusDefs>2009/01/07</VirusDefs>
</Antivirus>
<UPS>
<Type>Internal Battery</Type>
<Status>OK</Status>
</UPS>
</Server>
<Server>
<ServerName>SERVER2</ServerName>
<SerialNumber>7RPXL1J</SerialNumber>
<LastBootTime>15/12/2008 03:07:12</LastBootTime>
<Drives>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>C:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>31996MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>50.77%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>D:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>107748MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>7.68%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
</Drives>
<OperatingSystem>
<OSName>Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003, Standard Edition</OSName>
<ServicePack>2</ServicePack>
</OperatingSystem>
<Antivirus>
<Provider>McAffee</Provider>
<VirusDefs>2009/01/04</VirusDefs>
</Antivirus>
<UPS>
</UPS>
</Server>
<Server>
<ServerName>SERVER3</ServerName>
<SerialNumber>FBWF42J</SerialNumber>
<LastBootTime>15/01/2009 03:04:04</LastBootTime>
<Drives>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>C:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>12291MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>11.16%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>D:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>40962MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>94.70%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>E:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>139751MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>53.58%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
</Drives>
<OperatingSystem>
<OSName>Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003, Standard Edition</OSName>
<ServicePack>2</ServicePack>
</OperatingSystem>
<Antivirus>
<Provider>McAffee</Provider>
<VirusDefs>2008/12/28</VirusDefs>
</Antivirus>
<UPS>
</UPS>
</Server>
<Server>
<ServerName>SERVER4</ServerName>
<SerialNumber>HZQ1D3J</SerialNumber>
<LastBootTime>01/08/2009 11:34:07</LastBootTime>
<Drives>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>M:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>12291MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>28.92%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
<Drive>
<DriveLetter>N:</DriveLetter>
<DriveCapacity>126872MB</DriveCapacity>
<DriveRemaining>95.74%</DriveRemaining>
</Drive>
</Drives>
<OperatingSystem>
<OSName>Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003, Standard Edition</OSName>
<ServicePack>2</ServicePack>
</OperatingSystem>
<Antivirus>
<Provider>McAffee</Provider>
<VirusDefs>2009/01/17</VirusDefs>
</Antivirus>
<UPS>
</UPS>
</Server>
<Exchange>
<ExchangeServer>SERVER2</ExchangeServer>
<MailBoxes>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>869866MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1413454MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1244255MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>6111165MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1528535MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>2469953MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1580620MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>2812670MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>2799369MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>846647MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>4528085MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1477715MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1872257MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1898325MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1948138MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>1612821MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>3201482MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>856363MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>2347491MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>2315056MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
<MailBoxDetails>
<DisplayName>USER</DisplayName>
<MailBoxSize>885268MB</MailBoxSize>
</MailBoxDetails>
</MailBoxes>
</Exchange>
</Site>

My Code looks like this

    Public Sub ImportXMLFile()
        Dim doc As New Xml.XmlDocument
        Dim out As String = ""
        doc.Load(str_Filename)
        Dim Nodes As Xml.XmlNodeList
        Dim Child As Xml.XmlNodeList

        'Import Site Data
        Nodes = doc.SelectNodes("/Site")
        For Each node As Xml.XmlNode In Nodes
            out = out + "Site ID         : " + node("SiteID").InnerText & vbCrLf
            out = out + "Site Name       : " + node("SiteName").InnerText & vbCrLf
            out = out + "Check Date      : " + node("CheckDate").InnerText & vbCrLf
            MessageBox.Show(out)
        Next
        'Server Data
        out = ""
        Nodes = doc.SelectNodes("/Site/Server")
        For Each node As Xml.XmlNode In Nodes
            out = out + "Server Name:     " + node("ServerName").InnerText & vbCrLf
            out = out + "Serial Number:    " + node("SerialNumber").InnerText & vbCrLf
            out = out + "Last Boot Time:   " + node("LastBootTime").InnerText & vbCrLf
            MessageBox.Show(out)
            'Drive Information
            Child = doc.SelectNodes("/Site/Server/Drives/Drive")
            For Each noded As Xml.XmlNode In Child
                out = ""
                out = out + "Drive Letter:     " + noded("DriveLetter").InnerText & vbCrLf
                out = out + "Drive Capacity :  " + noded("DriveCapacity").InnerText & vbCrLf
                out = out + "Drive Remaining : " + noded("DriveRemaining").InnerText & vbCrLf
                MessageBox.Show(out)
            Next

            'OS Information
            Child = doc.SelectNodes("/Site/Server/OperatingSystem")
            For Each noded As Xml.XmlNode In Child
                out = ""
                out = out + "OSName :        " + noded("OSName").InnerText & vbCrLf
                out = out + "Service Pack :  " + noded("ServicePack").InnerText & vbCrLf
                MessageBox.Show(out)
            Next

            'Antivirus Information
            Child = doc.SelectNodes("/Site/Server/Antivirus")
            For Each noded As Xml.XmlNode In Child
                out = ""
                out = out + "Provider     :  " + noded("Provider").InnerText & vbCrLf
                out = out + "Virus Defs   :  " + noded("VirusDefs").InnerText & vbCrLf
                MessageBox.Show(out)
            Next


        Next
        'Mailboxes
        Child = doc.SelectNodes("/Site/Exchange/MailBoxes/MailBoxDetails")
        For Each noded As Xml.XmlNode In Child
            out = ""
            out = out + "Mail Box Name :  " + noded("DisplayName").InnerText & vbCrLf
            out = out + "Size          :  " + noded("MailBoxSize").InnerText & vbCrLf
            MessageBox.Show(out)
        Next

    End Sub

But this loops through every drive in the file for each server, any pointers?

Thanks in advance again.

Phil