Connection String to an XML file (Resolved)

[BukHix]

I am working on an Art Flash Card program and need to use XML as my datasource. I'm pretty sure that I can use SQL statements to work with the data once I make the connection but I am not sure how to make the connection in the first place.

This is my XML File. It is named C:\FlashCards\FlashCardData.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ArtWork>
	<Art>
		<ID>1</ID>
		<title>Blue World</title>
		<Artist>Steve Jackson</Artist>
		<Path>c:\artwork\blu01.jpg</Path>
		<Style>Abstract</Style>
	</Art>
	<Art>
		<ID>2</ID>
		<title>The Body</title>
		<Artist>George Willard</Artist>
		<Path>c:\artworkbo01.jpg</Path>
		<Style>Modern</Style>
	</Art>
	<Art>
		<ID>3</ID>
		<title>Flashlight</title>
		<Artist>Bob Miller</Artist>
		<Path>c:\artqorkfl01.jpg</Path>
		<Style>Modern</Style>
	</Art>
</ArtWork>

I have never worked with XML as a datasource before but I think that is the correct format for doing what I need.

[Aaron Young]

You don't have to make a connection as such, you can just load the XML directly into a DataSet, i.e.

Dim ds As New DataSet
      Dim xml As String
 
      xml = "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' ?><ArtWork><Art><ID>1</ID><title>Blue World</title><Artist>Steve Jackson</Artist><Path>c:\artwork\blu01.jpg</Path><Style>Abstract</Style></Art><Art><ID>2</ID><title>The Body</title><Artist>George Willard</Artist><Path>c:\artworkbo01.jpg</Path><Style>Modern</Style></Art><Art><ID>3</ID><title>Flashlight</title><Artist>Bob Miller</Artist><Path>c:\artqorkfl01.jpg</Path><Style>Modern</Style></Art></ArtWork>"
      ds.ReadXml(New IO.MemoryStream(System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(xml)))
 
      DataGrid1.DataSource = ds
      DataGrid1.DataMember = "Art"

And if you have the XML in a file, just pass the file name to the ReadXML method instead, i.e.

Dim ds As New DataSet
 
      ds.ReadXml("c:\data.xml")
 
      DataGrid1.DataSource = ds
      DataGrid1.DataMember = "Art"

[BukHix]

Thanks. Is it possible to do something like this now.

        cmd.CommandText = "Select ID, Title, Artist, " & _
            "Path, Style From TableName"

Is it possible to do that with an XML File?

[Aaron Young]

You can't use the Server Connectivity classes, i.e. DataAdapter, Connection, Command, etc..

But you don't need to, you have the data loaded into a DataSet, which lays it out into Tables and Fields.

You can access "SELECT" functionality via the DataTable instance, i.e.

' Return all entries by Artist "Steve Jackson"
Dim table As DataTable = ds.Tables("Art")
Dim rows() As DataRow = table.Select("Artist = 'Steve Jackson'")
Dim row As DataRow
 
For Each row In rows
   Console.WriteLine(row("Title").ToString())
Next

[BukHix]

Thanks Aaron. That worked perfectly. I have one more question though. How can I make the selection random? Say for instance I have 50 records in my XML file and I want to generate a random record every time the button is pressed.

This is what I have so far but it randomizes from 0 to 10. How do I make it pick numbers between 1 - 50?

        Dim intR As Integer
        intR = (Rnd() * 10)
        MsgBox(intR)
        Dim ds As New DataSet
        ds.ReadXml _
            ("C:\Visual Studio Projects\FlashCards\FlashCardData.xml")
        Dim table As DataTable = ds.Tables("Art")
        Dim rows() As DataRow = table.Select("ID = '" & intR & "'")
        Dim row As DataRow
        For Each row In rows
            MsgBox(row("Artist"))
        Next

[BukHix]

I got it now.

        Dim oRnd As New Random(CInt(Now.Ticks And Integer.MaxValue))
        Dim iValue As Int32 = oRnd.Next(1, 51)
        Dim intR As Integer = iValue.ToString

        Dim ds As New DataSet
        ds.ReadXml _
            ("C:\Visual Studio Projects\FlashCards\FlashCardData.xml")
        Dim table As DataTable = ds.Tables("Art")
        Dim rows() As DataRow = table.Select("ID = '" & intR & "'")
        Dim row As DataRow
        For Each row In rows
            pbArtImage.Image = Image.FromFile(row("Path"))
            lblArtist.Text = (row("Artist"))
            lblTitle.Text = (row("Title"))
        Next

Thanks again!