Sort Items in an XML file using LINQToXML and Load it in a Dictionary
Posted by: Suprotim Agarwal ,
on 3/16/2010,
in
Category LINQ
Abstract: I was recently working on a requirement where I had to read a XML file and then identify a key, value pair and load it into a Dictionary object. I used LINQToXML to solve this requirement.
Sort Items in an XML file using LINQToXML and Load it in a Dictionary
I was recently working on a requirement where I had to read a XML file and then identify a key, value pair and load it into a Dictionary object. I used LINQToXML to solve this requirement. I assume that you are familiar with LINQ to XML. If that is not the case, I would recommend you to get some hands-on on LINQ to XML. These three articles will help you out:
We will use a sample file called ‘Employees.xml’ for demonstration purpose.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Employees>
<Employee EmpId="1'" Name="Sam" />
<Employee EmpId="2" Name="Lucy"/>
<Employee EmpId="3" Name="Kate"/>
<Employee EmpId="4" Name="Chris"/>
<Employee EmpId="5" Name="David"/>
<Employee EmpId="6" Name="Zolar"/>
<Employee EmpId="7" Name="Shannon"/>
</Employees>
In this example, we will read the Employee data from the XML file, sort it by name and then load it into a Dictionary. The ‘EmployeeID’ will act as a Key and ‘Name’ as the Value for the Dictionary. I assume that each EmpId is unique here.
Here’s the code to perform this task.
C#
static void Main(string[] args)
{
XElement xelement = XElement.Load("..\\..\\Employees.xml");
var empDict = (from element in xelement.Descendants("Employee")
let name = (string)element.Attribute("Name")
orderby name
select new
{
EmployeeID = element.Attribute("EmpId").Value,
EmployeeName = name
})
.ToDictionary(a => a.EmployeeID, a => a.EmployeeName);
Console.ReadLine();
}
VB.NET (Converted using tool)
Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
Dim xelement As XElement = XElement.Load("..\..\Employees.xml")
Dim empDict = ( _
From element In xelement.Descendants("Employee") _
Let name = CStr(element.Attribute("Name")) _
Order By name _
Select New With {Key .EmployeeID = element.Attribute("EmpId").Value, Key .EmployeeName = name}).ToDictionary(Function(a) a.EmployeeID, Function(a) a.EmployeeName)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
In the code shown above, we sort the list by Name and then use the .toDictionary() to create a Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>).
Here’s a screenshot of the code in debug mode with the sorted Dictionary
The entire source code of this article can be downloaded over here. I hope you liked the article and I thank you for viewing it.
This article has been editorially reviewed by Suprotim Agarwal.
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Suprotim Agarwal, MCSD, MCAD, MCDBA, MCSE, is the founder of
DotNetCurry,
DNC Magazine for Developers,
SQLServerCurry and
DevCurry. He has also authored a couple of books
51 Recipes using jQuery with ASP.NET Controls and
The Absolutely Awesome jQuery CookBook.
Suprotim has received the prestigious Microsoft MVP award for Sixteen consecutive years. In a professional capacity, he is the CEO of A2Z Knowledge Visuals Pvt Ltd, a digital group that offers Digital Marketing and Branding services to businesses, both in a start-up and enterprise environment.
Get in touch with him on Twitter @suprotimagarwal or at LinkedIn