C# LINQ to XML help

[)roi(] · Aug 4, 2016

Thor187 said:
Can someone explain to me how deserializing works with an example in php?

I also want to learn.

As described here is not translatable, because it uses XML type annotations that are specific to .NET.
For PHP I suggest you look into https://pear.php.net/manual/en/package.xml.xml-serializer.intro.php
Note: you'll find tutorials at the bottom of the introduction page.

[)roi(] · Aug 4, 2016

TirNaNog said:
100% - and I'm glad I learned about deserializing XML. Seems way more logical and simple than just working with LINQ queries alone. Workign with XML just went from daunting to not too bad in one easy step

Linq is .NET's foray into Functional Programming, so it certainly will look more complicated against XmlSerializer type annotation; practically however they fulfil quite different needs.

Linq is the powerhouse, for example:

Effeciently processing large xml streams, whilst keeping memory allocations small.
Writing generic routines to process different data sets (I've cut out a lot of boilerplate with this.)
Lazy evaluation and deferred execution.
Large scale parallel queries across multiple clusters (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/dryadlinq/)

...the cost for this is naturally complexity, but a lot of it can be offset during refactoring i.e. you don't need to have large Linq code blocks; most can be simplified to a line or two by offsetting sections to functions.

FarligOpptreden · Aug 4, 2016

[)roi(];18090890 said:
Linq is .NET's foray into Functional Programming, so it certainly will look more complicated against XmlSerializer type annotation; practically however they fulfil quite different needs.

Linq is the powerhouse, for example:

Effeciently processing large xml streams, whilst keeping memory allocations small.

Writing generic routines to process different data sets (I've cut out a lot of boilerplate with this.)

Lazy evaluation and deferred execution.

Large scale parallel queries across multiple clusters (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/dryadlinq/)

...the cost for this is naturally complexity, but a lot of it can be offset during refactoring i.e. you don't need to have large Linq code blocks; most can be simplified to a line or two by offsetting sections to functions.

I'm not dissing LINQ at all, I'm actually quite a fan of it and use it (and lambdas and Func delegates) extensively in just about everything I do. I just believe in horses for courses and, well, serialization annotations fit the bill quite nicely in this case.

Thor · Aug 4, 2016

[)roi(];18090764 said:
As described here is not translatable, because it uses XML type annotations that are specific to .NET.
For PHP I suggest you look into https://pear.php.net/manual/en/package.xml.xml-serializer.intro.php
Note: you'll find tutorials at the bottom of the introduction page.

Sweet thank you very much. Appreciate it.

[)roi(] · Aug 4, 2016

FarligOpptreden said:
I'm not dissing LINQ at all, I'm actually quite a fan of it and use it (and lambdas and Func delegates) extensively in just about everything I do. I just believe in horses for courses and, well, serialization annotations fit the bill quite nicely in this case.

Sorry, didn't mean for it to come across as a "this vs. that" competition.
I was just trying to cover OP's starting question re "I'm learning LINQ to XML...". i.e. framing that there is a place for Linq. Btw, I used to lean heavily on Xmlserialization, until FP; now most boiler plate irks me; yet in some cases it's more personal choice than absolute.

FarligOpptreden · Aug 4, 2016

[)roi(];18093078 said:
Sorry, didn't mean for it to come across as a "this vs. that" competition.
I was just trying to cover OP's starting question re "I'm learning LINQ to XML...". i.e. framing that there is a place for Linq. Btw, I used to lean heavily on Xmlserialization, until FP; now most boiler plate irks me; yet in some cases it's more personal choice than absolute.

I try to avoid XML like the plague whenever I can though. JSON is just much more elegant, readable and lightweight. XML and schemas still have a place in strongly typed data contracts and *puke* SOAP though...

But I agree, FP is a nice change of programming pace. When and where I can't apply FP I often tend to engineer the solutions in such a way to keep the work interesting for myself, which usually ends in a framework of sorts for my junior/mid-level devs to build against to ensure consistency, clean code and high performance. I become EXTREMELY unproductive when I have to copy-paste code and regurgitate the same work more than once.

[)roi(] · Aug 4, 2016

FarligOpptreden said:
I try to avoid XML like the plague whenever I can though. JSON is just much more elegant, readable and lightweight. XML and schemas still have a place in strongly typed data contracts and *puke* SOAP though...

But I agree, FP is a nice change of programming pace. When and where I can't apply FP I often tend to engineer the solutions in such a way to keep the work interesting for myself, which usually ends in a framework of sorts for my junior/mid-level devs to build against to ensure consistency, clean code and high performance. I become EXTREMELY unproductive when I have to copy-paste code and regurgitate the same work more than once.

Lol... sounds familiar...ME

Willie Trombone · Aug 4, 2016

[)roi(];18087856 said:
Happy to help.

As comparison I have the following includes:

Code:

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Xml; using System.Xml.Linq;

If you still experiencing issue, just check that you have the relevant references loaded.
View attachment 379668

I made a silly error - I had the references loaded but not the includes in the form.cs so that's sorted, thanks!

What i'm trying to fathom now is the quickest way to get the Field names for Table1 and Table2 for a specified Job into a list...
I'm assuming a for each Job loop is the way to go and check the unique Job name, or is there a quicker way?

[)roi(] · Aug 5, 2016

DunDarach said:
I made a silly error - I had the references loaded but not the includes in the form.cs so that's sorted, thanks!

What i'm trying to fathom now is the quickest way to get the Field names for Table1 and Table2 for a specified Job into a list...
I'm assuming a for each Job loop is the way to go and check the unique Job name, or is there a quicker way?

Here's a rough example in Linq. Remember that you can achieve the same result with Xmlserialization; also if you're planning to continue with Linq; I'll suggest you find a good book on it.

Code:

public static class LINQExtension
{
  // Flatten IEnumerables; similar to flatmap in Haskell, Scala, ...
  public static IEnumerable<A> flatMap<A>(this IEnumerable<IEnumerable<A>> a)
  {
    return a.SelectMany(value => value);
  }
}

internal class ExtractFields
{
  // Extract Attributes for the Table(x) elements
  internal static IEnumerable<XAttribute> FilterTables(XElement element)
  {
    return (from elem in element.Descendants()
            where elem.Name.ToString().Contains("Table")
            select elem.Descendants().Attributes()).flatMap();
  }

  // Load XML, extract Job matching provided name, then Filter Table(x) and 
  // return Attributes of their Descendant Elements.
  internal static IEnumerable<XAttribute> LoadXml(String xmlPath, String jobName, String tag)
  {
    XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Load(xmlPath);
    return (from element in xdoc.Descendants(tag)
            where element.Attribute("Name").Value.Equals(jobName)
            select FilterTables(element)).flatMap();
  }

  // foreach loop to LoadXMl and iterate through Fields
  internal static void Print()
  {
    foreach (XAttribute field in LoadXml("myserver.xml", "Job1", "Job"))
    {
      // Note: we can access parental values if required, it helps to differentiate 
      //       between fields for Table1 vs. Table2)
      var table = field.Parent.Parent;
      var tableAttribute = table.Attribute("IDField");

      Console.WriteLine(table.Name + " / (" +
             tableAttribute.Name + " = " + tableAttribute.Value + ") / " +
             field.Parent.Name + " " + field.Name + " = " + field.Value + ")");
    }
  }
}

The output looks like this; naturally you'll adjust to fit your needs.

Code:

Table1 / (IDField = IDFieldName) / Field name = F1_Name)
Table1 / (IDField = IDFieldName) / Field name = F2_Name)
Table1 / (IDField = IDFieldName) / Field name = F3_Name)
Table2 / (IDField = IDFieldName) / Field name = F1_Name)
Table2 / (IDField = IDFieldName) / Field name = F2_Name)
Table2 / (IDField = IDFieldName) / Field name = F3_Name)

Willie Trombone · Aug 5, 2016

I will take your advice and get a book on LINQ, though I suspect serialization would be simpler for what I'm trying to achieve here. Either way, thanks a ton for posting samples - incredibly helpful!

[)roi(] · Aug 5, 2016

DunDarach said:
I will take your advice and get a book on LINQ, though I suspect serialization would be simpler for what I'm trying to achieve here. Either way, thanks a ton for posting samples - incredibly helpful!

Whew I made that way more difficult than it needed to be; guess that what comes from burning the late night oil.

This one should be easier to understand

Code:

XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Load("myfile.xml");
var job1 = from element in xdoc.Descendants("Job")
           where element.Attribute("Name").Value.Equals("Job1")
           select element;

var tables = from element in job1.Descendants() 
             where element.Name.ToString().Contains("Table") 
             select element;

var fields = from element in tables.Descendants().Attributes()
             select new { value = element.Value, 
                          name = element.Parent.Name, 
                          parent = element.Parent.Parent.Name };

foreach (var x in fields)
{
   Console.WriteLine(x.parent + " " + x.name + " " + x.value);
}

Here's the output from this:

Code:

Table1 Field F1_Name
Table1 Field F2_Name
Table1 Field F3_Name
Table2 Field F1_Name
Table2 Field F2_Name
Table2 Field F3_Name

Btw in regards to the book; here's an oldie (but goodie):
Essential Linq

Willie Trombone · Aug 5, 2016

[)roi(];18098572 said:

Whew I made that way more difficult than it needed to be; guess that what comes from burning the late night oil.

This one should be easier to understand

Code:

XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Load("myfile.xml");
var job1 = from element in xdoc.Descendants("Job")
           where element.Attribute("Name").Value.Equals("Job1")
           select element;

var tables = from element in job1.Descendants() 
             where element.Name.ToString().Contains("Table") 
             select element;

var fields = from element in tables.Descendants().Attributes()
             select new { value = element.Value, 
                          name = element.Parent.Name, 
                          parent = element.Parent.Parent.Name };

foreach (var x in fields)
{
   Console.WriteLine(x.parent + " " + x.name + " " + x.value);
}

Here's the output from this:

Code:

Table1 Field F1_Name
Table1 Field F2_Name
Table1 Field F3_Name
Table2 Field F1_Name
Table2 Field F2_Name
Table2 Field F3_Name

Btw in regards to the book; here's an oldie (but goodie):
Essential Linq

Awesome! Thanks - getting back to the VS interface shortly.
What UI do you code in mostly btw?

[)roi(] · Aug 5, 2016

DunDarach said:
Awesome! Thanks - getting back to the VS interface shortly.
What UI do you code in mostly btw?

I'm on a Mac, so Visual Studio isn't natively available (I run it occasionally in a VM; usually only for testing)

As to the rest I tend to jump between a few IDEs:

Apple's Xcode - C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, AppleScript, Python, Perl, Ruby, and Swift.
C# / F# - Microsoft's Xamarin Studio and more recently Visual Studio Code (but it's still quite beta).
Java / Android - Eclipse (I'm still avoiding Google's Android Studio re it's slow)
Linux (Java, C, C++, Swift) : Atom or Eclipse, but Microsoft's Visual Studio Code is starting look viable.

If you're on Windows; then Visual Studio is always going to be one of the better options.

FarligOpptreden · Aug 5, 2016

[)roi(];18100452 said:
I'm on a Mac, so Visual Studio isn't natively available (I run it occasionally in a VM; usually only for testing)

As to the rest I tend to jump between a few IDEs:

Apple's Xcode - C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, AppleScript, Python, Perl, Ruby, and Swift.

C# / F# - Microsoft's Xamarin Studio and more recently Visual Studio Code (but it's still quite beta).

Java / Android - Eclipse (I'm still avoiding Google's Android Studio re it's slow)

Linux (Java, C, C++, Swift) : Atom or Eclipse, but Microsoft's Visual Studio Code is starting look viable.

If you're on Windows; then Visual Studio is always going to be one of the better options.

MonoDevelop isn't all that bad on OSX. Granted, I've only used it for a bit of C# work with Unity... But it felt lightweight and code completion felt robust enough.

Regarding Android Studio, it's based on IntelliJ from JetBrains. For Java development I've always favoured NetBeans. It's incredibly efficient having multiple projects open in a single IDE instance and being able to jump betqeen their codebases... Maven support feels unmatched as well.

I'm also waiting for Visual Studio Code to flesh out a bit. It feels a bit TOO spartan for my liking at the moment.

Solarion · Aug 6, 2016

OP I did find this. Uses xmlserialization.

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/14064/Using-the-XmlSerializer-Attributes

Edit: I think with a little customization you can make it read your create/read your specific xml document and then take it from there.

Willie Trombone · Aug 7, 2016

[)roi(];18100452 said:
I'm on a Mac, so Visual Studio isn't natively available (I run it occasionally in a VM; usually only for testing)

As to the rest I tend to jump between a few IDEs:

Apple's Xcode - C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, AppleScript, Python, Perl, Ruby, and Swift.

C# / F# - Microsoft's Xamarin Studio and more recently Visual Studio Code (but it's still quite beta).

Java / Android - Eclipse (I'm still avoiding Google's Android Studio re it's slow)

Linux (Java, C, C++, Swift) : Atom or Eclipse, but Microsoft's Visual Studio Code is starting look viable.

If you're on Windows; then Visual Studio is always going to be one of the better options.

Yeah, a bit late to the party, but .Net Core is definitely gaining ground. VS Code is not a bad option. I'm using and enjoying Sublime Text as well for ad-hoc stuff.

Willie Trombone · Aug 7, 2016

Solarion said:
OP I did find this. Uses xmlserialization.

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/14064/Using-the-XmlSerializer-Attributes

Edit: I think with a little customization you can make it read your create/read your specific xml document and then take it from there.

Ta! Very good post, thanks!

Solarion · Aug 7, 2016

DunDarach said:
Ta! Very good post, thanks!

You're welcome, thanks to you too.

C# LINQ to XML help

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