Read Local XML File in Windows Phone 7

Introduction

In this article we are going to explore reading an XML file from our Windows Phone application. Further in this article we have to add an XML file to the Windows Phone application and whatever is inside the XML file we will read it programmatically from Windows Phone. In my previous article we have already read an XML file which is through isolated storage, which has been stored inside the isolated storage and will be retrieved from there later but in this XML file it's totally different from the isolated retrieval in this we will take a new XML file and give it a name and we will mention some details which we will read that information later from Windows Phone 7.

We all know that how to make an XML file it doesn't need to explain all about that. In this article we will also learn how to retrieve data from an XML file which is stored locally. In this procedure you have to much care about the path of the XML file which is much sensitive you have to care about it. Further we will see that how it is possible to accomplish such task that we have an XML file inside an Windows Phone application want to read that file. For such kind of implementation you have to follow the steps which is given below.

Step 1 : In this step first of all we have to open a Windows Phone application; let us see how you will open it.

Go to Visual Studio 2010
File->New->Project
Select the template named as Silverlight for Windows Phone
Select the Windows Phone application
Give it a name as you want

Step 2 : Further in this step you have to add an XML file; let us see from where you have to add it which is given below.

Go to Solution Explorer.

Select Project and right-click on it.

Select add new item.

Select an XML file and give it a name, whatever you want to give.

Step 3 : In this step you have to add some namespace to the .cs file which is given below and also see from where you will add a reference of System.Xml.linq.dll.

Go to Solution Explorer.

Select the Reference folder and right click on it.

There is a window open and from where you have to select the System.xml.linq component and add it.

Now it will show inside your reference folder.

Step 4 : Let us see what namespaces you have to add which is seen in the figure given below.

Step 5 : In this step we will see the code for the XML file which will be retrieved later given below.

Code :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<title>Computer Organization</title>

<first-name>Amit</first-name>

<last-name>Maheshwari</last-name>

</author>

</identity>

<title>Beggining of Dreamviewer</title>

<first-name>Alok</first-name>

<last-name>Pandey</last-name>

</author>

</identity>

<title>Client and Server</title>

<first-name>Rajesh</first-name>

<last-name>Tripathi</last-name>

</author>

</identity>

<title>Web Technology</title>

<first-name>Manish</first-name>

<last-name>Singh</last-name>

</author>

</identity>

</Mybookhistory>

Step 6 : In this step we will see the code for the MainPage.xaml.cs file which is given below.

Code :

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Linq;

using System.Net;

using System.Windows;

using System.Windows.Controls;

using System.Windows.Documents;

using System.Windows.Input;

using System.Windows.Media;

using System.Windows.Media.Animation;

using System.Windows.Shapes;

using Microsoft.Phone.Controls;

using System.Windows.Resources;

using System.Xml.Linq;

using System.Text;
namespace localxml

{

public partial class MainPage : PhoneApplicationPage

{

XElement mb_data;

public MainPage()

{

InitializeComponent();

StreamResourceInfo SRI = Application.GetResourceStream(new Uri("/localxml;component/mybookhistory.xml", System.UriKind.Relative));

mb_data = XElement.Load(SRI.Stream);

this.ManipulationStarted += new EventHandler<ManipulationStartedEventArgs>(MainPage_ManipulationStarted);

}

void MainPage_ManipulationStarted(object sender, ManipulationStartedEventArgs e)

{

StringBuilder SB = new StringBuilder();

SB.Append("###################################" + Environment.NewLine);

SB.Append("Here Are Some Book History which is given below-->" + Environment.NewLine);

SB.Append("Books-->" + Environment.NewLine);

var mb = from item

in mb_data.Elements("mybookhistory")

select item;

foreach (XElement eachmb in mb)

{
SB.Append("************************************************" + Environment.NewLine);

SB.Append("Title--> " + eachmb.Element("title").Value + Environment.NewLine);

SB.Append("Author--> " + eachmb.Element("author").Value);

SB.Append(eachmb.Element("author").Element("first-name").Value + " " +

eachbook.Element("author").Element("last-name").Value + Environment.NewLine);

SB.Append("Rating--> " + eachmb.Element("rating").Value + Environment.NewLine);

SB.Append("Price--> " + eachmb.Element("price").Value + Environment.NewLine);

SB.Append("************************************************" + Environment.NewLine);

}

textBlock1.Text = SB.ToString();

}

Step 7 : In this step we will see the code for the MainPage.xaml file which is given below.

Code :

<phone:PhoneApplicationPage

x:Class="localxml.MainPage"

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

xmlns:phone="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Controls;assembly=Microsoft.Phone"

xmlns:shell="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Shell;assembly=Microsoft.Phone"

xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"

xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"

mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignWidth="480" d:DesignHeight="768"

FontFamily="{StaticResource PhoneFontFamilyNormal}"

FontSize="{StaticResource PhoneFontSizeNormal}"

Foreground="{StaticResource PhoneForegroundBrush}"

SupportedOrientations="Portrait" Orientation="Portrait"

shell:SystemTray.IsVisible="True">

<Grid.RowDefinitions>

</Grid.RowDefinitions>

<TextBlock.Foreground>

</LinearGradientBrush>

</TextBlock.Foreground>

</TextBlock>

</StackPanel>

<TextBlock Height="555" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="12,25,0,0" Name="textBlock1" Text="Click to see xml file information"

VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="438" FontFamily="Comic Sans MS" FontSize="26">

<TextBlock.Foreground>

</LinearGradientBrush>

</TextBlock.Foreground>

</TextBlock>

<Grid.Background>

</LinearGradientBrush>

</Grid.Background>

</Grid>

</Grid>
</phone:PhoneApplicationPage>

Step 8 : In this step you will see that if you are changing your class name as MyfirstXml rather than MainPage you can use it as another class name but you have to do some changes by going inside the WMAppManifest.xml; here is the figure (below) where you will write the class name inside that file.

Step 9 : In this step we will see the design of the MainPage.xaml file which is given below:

Step 10 : Now it's time to run the application by pressing F5 and the related output is given below.

Output 1 : It's the default output whenever we run the Windows Phone application.

Output 2 : Whenever we will click on the TextBlock then it will show you the content of the XML file which you have inside your XML file.

Here are some related resources which is given below.

Reading an Xml file using C#.Net Reading and manipulating an Xml file using C#.Net (including images) How to use XML in Windows Phon e
Save And Read Data From Isolated Storage in Windows Phone 7

5 Comments

Join the conversation! Your thoughts help the community grow.

satheeshkumar danebalan13y ago
satheeshkumar danebalan Good Morning Sir, I am SatheeshKumar from Mumbai. I am new developer of Windows Phone. I want to read my XML File and show it in the ListBox. Now I created new XML File but i did not read . It gives the System.NullReferenceException. Here is My Code. XElement CategoryData; StreamResourceInfo SRI = Application.GetResourceStream(new Uri("/Category.xml", System.UriKind.Relative)); CategoryData = XElement.Load(SRI.Stream); How Can I solve my Problem...Anybody known the solution Please help me.. Thanks in Advance
Krishna Garad14y ago
good work Amit keep it up
- Amit Maheshwari14y ago
  Thanks for appreciation..........
Mahesh Chand14y ago
Do you have anything on how to capture video and upload it on a Windows Phone? That will be nice addition to the articles. Keep up the good work!
- Amit Maheshwari14y ago
  Thanks for encourage me but i will try to do such task that you want...