[2005] Reading XML File

[ooOOJaVaOOoo]

Hello again.. I am starting to work with XML files and haven't ever really done this. I started searching on how to read through xml files but I can't quite grasp what I need to do. My goal is to write a new aspx page at runtime based on the values in the xml file

Here is the XML file minus some of the tests to save space

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<HealthReport>
  
  <Test>
    <NumberOfResponses>5</NumberOfResponses>
    <TestSection>ServiceOverview</TestSection>
    <TestTitle></TestTitle>
    <TableData>
      <LeftColumnName>Service</LeftColumnName>
      <RightColumnName>Result</RightColumnName>
    </TableData>
    <Option>
      <TestText>ASP</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Games</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>MSS</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Music</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>MAPS</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
  </Test>

  <Test>
    <NumberOfResponses>5</NumberOfResponses>
    <TestSection>Games</TestSection>
    <TestTitle>RealArcade Information</TestTitle>
    <URLText>source: http://www.realarcade.com/gameguide </URLText>
    <URL>http://www.realarcade.com/gameguide</URL>
    <URLText>source: http://www.realarcade.com/game pass Trial 1 </URLText>
    <URL>http://www.realarcade.com/gamepass?fg=true&amp;tps=cj_&amp;src=cj,2fg_,mcode_%zp%7C%za_</URL>
    <URLText>source: http://www.realarcade.c om/gamepass Trial 2 </URLText>
    <URL>http://www.realarcade.com/gamepass?gptype=trial&amp;tps=cj_&amp;src=cj,trial_,mcode_%zp%7C%za_</URL>
    <URLText>source: http://www.realarcade.com Mysteryville Promotion </URLText>
    <URL>http://www.realarcade.com/promoGamePass?gameid=mysteryville&amp;tps=cj_&amp;ptype=2t&amp;src=cj,trial_,d2g_,mcode_%zp%7C%za_</URL>
    <URLText>source: http://www.realarcade.com Burger Rush Promotion </URLText>
    <URL>http://www.realarcade.com/promoGamePass?gameid=burgerrush&amp;tps=cj_&amp;ptype=2t&amp;src=cj,trial_,d2g_,mcode_%zp%7C%za_</URL>
    <TableData>
      <LeftColumnName>Action</LeftColumnName>
      <RightColumnName>Result</RightColumnName>
    </TableData>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Open Client</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Sign In / Sign Out</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Download Game</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Launch Game</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Check Reference Links</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
  </Test>

   <Test>
    <NumberOfResponses>5</NumberOfResponses>
    <TestSection></TestSection>
    <TestTitle>Superpass</TestTitle>
    <URLText>source: http://superpass.real.com </URLText>
    <URL>http://superpass.real.com</URL>
    <TableData>
      <LeftColumnName>Action</LeftColumnName>
      <RightColumnName>Result</RightColumnName>
    </TableData>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Download RealPlayer Client</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Open SP home</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Sign In / Sign Out</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Verify Slideshow</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
    <Option>
      <TestText>Validate a 24/7 Stream</TestText>
      <ResponeType>Radio</ResponeType>
      <CodeFileRef></CodeFileRef>
    </Option>
  </Test>

  <!-- Next section to add is Rhapsody Direct - Sonos -->

</HealthReport>

then after it reads it, i want the data displayed on an aspx page in tables w/ the associated controls

<table class="vertical listing" border="1" style="width: 219px"><tbody><tr><td><p align="center" 

style="text-align: center;"><b>Service</b></p></td><td style="width: 157px"><p align="center" style="text-align: 

center;"><b>Result</b></p></td></tr><tr><td><p align="center">ASP</p></td><td style="width: 157px">
        <asp:RadioButtonList ID="rbSOAsp" runat="server" Height="1px" RepeatDirection="Horizontal" Width="140px">
            <asp:ListItem>Pass</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>Fail</asp:ListItem>
        </asp:RadioButtonList>
</td></tr><tr><td><p align="center">Games</p></td><td style="width: 157px">
        <asp:RadioButtonList ID="rbSOGames" runat="server" Height="1px" RepeatDirection="Horizontal" Width="140px">
            <asp:ListItem>Pass</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>Fail</asp:ListItem>
        </asp:RadioButtonList>
</td></tr><tr><td><p align="center">MS&amp;S</p></td><td style="width: 157px">
        <asp:RadioButtonList ID="rbSOMSS" runat="server" Height="1px" RepeatDirection="Horizontal" Width="140px">
            <asp:ListItem>Pass</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>Fail</asp:ListItem>
        </asp:RadioButtonList>
</td></tr><tr><td><p align="center">Music</p></td><td style="width: 157px">        
        <asp:RadioButtonList ID="rbSOMusic" runat="server" Height="1px" RepeatDirection="Horizontal" Width="140px">
            <asp:ListItem>Pass</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>Fail</asp:ListItem>
        </asp:RadioButtonList></td></tr><tr><td>
        <p align="center">MAPS</p></td><td style="width: 157px">
        <asp:RadioButtonList ID="rbSOMaps" runat="server" Height="1px" RepeatDirection="Horizontal" Width="140px">
            <asp:ListItem>Pass</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>Fail</asp:ListItem>
        </asp:RadioButtonList>
</td></tr></tbody></table>

[gep13]

Hey,

There are multiple ways of reading in the XML Document and parsing through it, but my preferred way of doing it is using XPath.

Assuming you have an xml file that you can get access to, then the following would load all the Test nodes into a list that you can loop through and do something with the data.

XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.Load("test.xml");

XmlNodeList nodes = xmlDoc.SelectNodes("/HealthReport/Test");

foreach(XmlNode node in nodes)
{
       //Do something with the value here
}

This is a very simple example, but XPath Queries can be made as complicated as you want for plucking out the exact information you want.

In terms of loading the information onto an aspx page, you can either load the controls at design time, and then assign their properties based on what you take out the XML, or you could create the controls at run time.

Maybe work on getting the information out the XML file, then you can worry about displaying all the information in the exact way you want it.

Hope this helps!!

Gary

[ooOOJaVaOOoo]

I am still confused about identifying the parts of the xml - i am also using VB, but I think i did a similar conversion of the code -- here is a sample of what i am looking for - i load the xmldoc, read the first test, find it has 5 answers so a 5 row table is created and then the table data is completed based on the rest of the test info.. here is what i did to try and get the info out of the xmldoc but only get a value of System.Xml.XPathNodeList

    Public Sub SetupReport()
        Dim nodeArray As String()

        Try
            Dim doc As XmlDocument
            Dim nodes As XmlNodeList

            doc = New XmlDocument

            doc.Load("C:\ReportTests.xml")
            nodes = doc.SelectNodes("/HealthReport/Test")

            Dim x As Integer

            For x = 0 To (nodes.Count - 1)
                ReDim Preserve nodeArray(x)
                nodeArray(x) = nodes.ToString
            Next

        Catch ex As Exception

        End Try
    End Sub

[gep13]

Hello,

The ToString method, performed on an XmlNodeList will only return the Type of that object, hence the System.Xml.XPathNodeList.

Based on the sample you have posted, nodes contains all of the Test Xml Nodes that is found in XML File. i.e NumberOfResponses etc.

In order to make use of the information that is within the nodes, you have to tell it what information you actually want. This could be done by doing additional XPath querys on each node, for instance, in order to extract the fact that the first Test has 5 responses:

            For Each node As XmlNode In nodes
                Dim responses As Integer = CInt(node.SelectSingleNode("/NumberOfResponses").InnerText)
            Next

Gary

[ooOOJaVaOOoo]

sorry for being needy, but how would i get the options and their corresponding fields out?

[gep13]

Expanding on what was given in the previous posts, what you are wanting to get are a list of all the Option nodes, so we are going to need an XmlNodeList, and we want all the Option Nodes under the current Test Node, therefore you could use something like:

Dim optionNodes As XmlNodeList
optionNodes = node.SelectNodes("/Option")

For Each optionNode As XmlNode In optionNodes
    Dim TestText As String = optionNode.SelectSingleNode("/TestText").InnerText
    Dim ResponeType As String  = optionNode.SelectSingleNode("/ResponeType ").InnerText
    Dim CodeFileRef As String  = optionNode.SelectSingleNode("/CodeFileRef ").InnerText
Next

Make sense?

Gary

[ooOOJaVaOOoo]

alright so i am able to extract the data and for the most part redisplay it.. there is still one little problem still.. it seems i will have to set all the style properties in the response otherwise it sets an absolute postion and everything stacks up in the top left corner

        Try
            Dim doc As XmlDocument
            Dim tnodes As XmlNodeList
            Dim oNodes As XmlNodeList
            Dim section As String, title As String
            Dim header1 As String, header2 As String

            doc = New XmlDocument
            'Load the tests xml
            doc.Load("C:\ReportTests.xml")
            tnodes = doc.SelectNodes("/HealthReport/Test")

            Response.Write("<table border='1' style='width: 219px'><tbody><tr><td><p align='center'")
            Response.Write("style='text-align: center;'><b>Service</b></p></td><td style='width: 157px'><p align='center' style='text-align: center;'>")
            Response.Write("<b>Result</b></p></td></tr><tr><td><p align='center'>ASP</p></td><td style='width: 157px'>")
            Response.Write("<asp:RadioButtonList ID='rbSOAsp' runat='server' Height='1px' RepeatDirection='Horizontal' Width='140px'>")
            Response.Write("<asp:ListItem>Pass</asp:ListItem>")
            Response.Write("<asp:ListItem>Fail</asp:ListItem>")
            Response.Write("</asp:RadioButtonList>")
            Response.Write("</td></tr></tbody></table>")
            Dim node As XmlNode

            For Each node In tnodes

                Dim responses As Integer = CInt(node.SelectSingleNode("/NumberOfResponses").InnerText)

                If Not responses <= 0 Then
                    'Access the section for the test
                    section = node.SelectSingleNode("/TestSection").InnerText
                    'Access the test title
                    title = node.SelectSingleNode("/TestTitle").InnerText
                    'Access the Left table header
                    header1 = node.SelectSingleNode("/TableData/LeftColumnName").InnerText
                    'Access the Right table header
                    header2 = node.SelectSingleNode("/TableData/RightColumnName").InnerText

                    'Write the initial table
                    Response.Write("<P style='text-align: left'>" & title & "</P>")
                    Response.Write("<BR /><BR />")
                    Response.Write("<P style='text-align: left'>" & title & "</P>")

                    'Gather the options
                    oNodes = node.SelectNodes("/Option")

                    'Write each option to the table
                    For Each node2 As XmlNode In oNodes
                        Dim TestText As String = node2.SelectSingleNode("/TestText").InnerText
                        Dim ResponseType As String = node2.SelectSingleNode("/ResponseType").InnerText
                    Next

                End If
            Next

        Catch ex As Exception

        End Try

[gep13]

Hey,

Although using Response.Write will work, from what I understand, using it is frowned upon, and should be avoided where possible.

You might want to into dynamically adding controls during the initialization of the page.

A quick google through up lots of examples of how this can be done.

Gary

[mendhak]

Generate your string with the HTML in it and give it to a Literal's TEXT property.

Also, you can't write out a "<asp:RadioButtonList>". You're writing out HTML and can only write out HTML in either case.

I'd suggest placing a repeater on the page, binding the nodelist to the repeater and then handling the repeater's DataBound event, in which you take items from the nodelist and assign values to various items in your Repeater's ItemTemplate.