XElement in C#: A Practical Example

The XElement class is a fundamental part of the LINQ to XML API in C#, which allows developers to work with XML data effortlessly. This article provides a practical example of using XElement to create, manipulate, and query XML data in C#.

Introduction to XElement

XElement is part of the System.Xml.Linq namespace and provides a powerful way to create, load, query, and save XML data. It represents an XML element with possible child elements, attributes, and text.

Creating an XElement

Here’s how you can create a simple XML document using XElement:

XElement contacts = new XElement("Contacts",
    new XElement("Contact",
        new XElement("Name", "John Doe"),
        new XElement("Phone", "123-456-7890"),
        new XElement("Email", "john.doe@example.com")
    ),
    new XElement("Contact",
        new XElement("Name", "Jane Smith"),
        new XElement("Phone", "098-765-4321"),
        new XElement("Email", "jane.smith@example.com")
    )
);

Console.WriteLine(contacts);

Modifying an XElement

You can add, remove, or modify elements and attributes in an XElement. Here’s how you can add another contact to the contacts element:

contacts.Add(new XElement("Contact",
    new XElement("Name", "Sam Brown"),
    new XElement("Phone", "555-678-1234"),
    new XElement("Email", "sam.brown@sample.com")
));

Console.WriteLine(contacts);

Querying with XElement

LINQ to XML makes querying XML data straightforward. Here’s an example of querying the contacts element for contacts whose name starts with "J":

IEnumerable<XElement> query = from contact in contacts.Elements("Contact")
                              where (string)contact.Element("Name").StartsWith("J")
                              select contact;

foreach (XElement contact in query)
{
    Console.WriteLine(contact);
}

Conclusion

XElement makes XML data manipulation in C# intuitive and flexible. Whether creating new XML documents from scratch, modifying existing XML, or querying XML data, XElement provides a rich set of features to handle XML efficiently.

This class is essential for any C# developer working with XML, offering a modern approach to XML manipulation that integrates seamlessly with the language’s powerful LINQ capabilities.