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ASP.NET: XML Output

Output XML in an ASPX page (.NET Framework).

Output from Database Example (XmlWriter Class)

This code will connect to the MS SQL Server pubs database, open the authors table, and output the results in the Response.OutputStream and the browser will save the XML file as authors.xml. This uses the XmlWriter class.

Use Linq to XML to query this XML document.

<%@ Page Language="VB" ContentType="text/xml" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Xml" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Data" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Data.OleDb" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Configuration" %>
<%
	Response.Clear()
	'have the browser download the xml output as a file named "authors.xml"
	Response.AppendHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=authors.xml")
	Dim oCon As New OleDbConnection(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("ConnectPubs").ToString())
	oCon.Open()
	'FROM THE pubs DATABASE IN MS SQL SERVER
	Dim oCmd As New OleDbCommand("SELECT au_id,phone,au_lname,au_fname FROM authors", oCon)
	Dim oRdr As OleDbDataReader = oCmd.ExecuteReader() 'open a datareader to read the table data
	Dim xmlSett As New XmlWriterSettings()
	xmlSett.NewLineOnAttributes = True 'make the XML file easy to read
	xmlSett.Indent = True 'make the XML file even easier to read
	Using xmlWrit As XmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(Response.OutputStream, xmlSett)
	xmlWrit.WriteStartDocument()
	'table name - can be any name but this element is important to include
	xmlWrit.WriteStartElement("authors")
	Do While oRdr.Read()
		xmlWrit.WriteStartElement("author") 'begin author
		xmlWrit.WriteStartAttribute("ssn") 'begin ssn attribute
		xmlWrit.WriteValue(oRdr(0))
		xmlWrit.WriteEndAttribute() 'end ssn attribute
		xmlWrit.WriteStartElement("phone") 'begin phone
		xmlWrit.WriteValue(oRdr(1))
		xmlWrit.WriteEndElement() 'end phone
		xmlWrit.WriteStartElement("lastname") 'begin lastname
		xmlWrit.WriteValue(oRdr(2))
		xmlWrit.WriteEndElement() 'end lastname
		xmlWrit.WriteStartElement("firstname") 'begin firstname
		xmlWrit.WriteValue(oRdr(3))
		xmlWrit.WriteEndElement() 'end firstname
		xmlWrit.WriteEndElement() 'end author
	Loop
	xmlWrit.WriteEndElement() 'end authors
	xmlWrit.WriteEndDocument()
	xmlWrit.Close()
	End Using
	oRdr.Close()
	oCon.Close()
	Response.End()
%>

XmlReader Class

This code reads the entire authors.xml file created above. It uses an HtmlTable for formatting.

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Xml" %>

<script runat="server">
	void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
	{
		XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create(Server.MapPath("authors.xml"));
		while(reader.Read())
		{
			switch(reader.NodeType)
			{
			case XmlNodeType.Text:
				{
					HtmlTableRow tr = new HtmlTableRow();
					HtmlTableCell td = new HtmlTableCell();
					td.InnerText = reader.Value;
					tr.Cells.Add(td);
					tbl.Rows.Add(tr);
				}
				break;
			case XmlNodeType.Element:
				{
					HtmlTableRow tr = new HtmlTableRow();
					HtmlTableCell td = new HtmlTableCell();
					td.InnerHtml = "<b>" + reader.Name + "</b>";
					tr.Cells.Add(td);
					tbl.Rows.Add(tr);
				}
				for(int i = 0; i < reader.AttributeCount; i++)
				{
					HtmlTableRow tr = new HtmlTableRow();
					HtmlTableCell td = new HtmlTableCell();
					td.InnerText = reader.GetAttribute(i);
					tr.Cells.Add(td);
					tbl.Rows.Add(tr);
				}
				break;
			}
		}
	}
</script>

<html>
<head>
	<title>XmlReader Example</title>
</head>
<body>
	<table id="tbl" runat="server"></table>
</body>
</html>

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