Sorting XML

Adam Turner

I'm trying to sort some XML in C# that looks like this:

http://www.excelsior.com.mx/
http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/
http://www.corriere.it/
www.spanishtest1.com

I'm trying to implement a feature that will allow a user to sort the websites by their language. The order of the websites should reflect the language, and the language should be sorted alphabetically. I'm completely stuck on how to do this.

So in theory it should probably look like this after a sort:

http://www.corriere.it/
http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/
www.spanishtest1.com

8 Replies

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Pradeep Chandraker15y ago
Accepted answer
The issue is, after sorting the assignment is missing. If you see my original response, after sorting I assigned new value from XDocumnet object.

string strNewXML = newDoc.ToString();

This is what your code should be:

string xml2string = File.ReadAllText("websites.xml");

MessageBox.Show(xml2string);

XDocument oXDoc = XDocument.Parse(xml2string);

MessageBox.Show(xml2string);

var newDoc = new XDocument(new XElement("websites",
from p in oXDoc.Element("websites").Elements("site")
orderby p.Attribute("language").Value
select p));

xml2string = newDoc.ToString();

MessageBox.Show(xml2string);

File.WriteAllText("websites.xml",xml2string);
Adam Turner15y ago
Wow, I must have been out of it. Thanks for your help!
Adam Turner15y ago
Thanks for your help, I've been too busy to respond immediately, but I saw your post and it looks helpful, I made a few quick changes and tried to drop it in and get it to work, but I haven't had enough time to see why it's not having an effect yet, I probably haven't done something yet.

Here is what I have so far:

string xml2string = File.ReadAllText("websites.xml");

MessageBox.Show(xml2string);

XDocument oXDoc = XDocument.Parse(xml2string);

MessageBox.Show(xml2string);

var newDoc = new XDocument(new XElement("websites",
from p in oXDoc.Element("websites").Elements("site")
orderby p.Attribute("language").Value
select p));

MessageBox.Show(xml2string);

File.WriteAllText("websites.xml",xml2string);
PopulateBoxes(); //you shouldn't have to worry about this, it just updates based on the order, but I'll post it below

/***************************************************/

public void PopulateBoxes()
{
XmlDocument docWebsites = new XmlDocument();
docWebsites.Load("websites.xml");
XmlElement docWebsitesRoot = docWebsites.DocumentElement;
customCheckedListBox1.Items.Clear();

int counter = 1;
while (counter <= docWebsitesRoot.ChildNodes.Count)
{
foreach (XmlNode node in docWebsitesRoot.ChildNodes)
{
if (node.Name == "site")
{
if (node.Attributes.GetNamedItem("order").Name != null)
{
if (Int32.Parse(node.Attributes.GetNamedItem("order").Value.ToString()) == counter)
{
if (node.Attributes.GetNamedItem("name").Name != null)
{
customCheckedListBox1.Items.Add(node.Attributes.GetNamedItem("name").Value);
counter++;
}
//defaultWebsitePath = node.InnerText;
}
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("Unable to sort " + node.Attributes.GetNamedItem("name").Name + " is missing order attribute.");
}

}
}
}
}
Pradeep Chandraker15y ago
Thanks, Mahesh :)
Mahesh Chand15y ago
Good solutions Pradeep!
Pradeep Chandraker15y ago
Try this, it should solve your problem.

string strXML = ""
+ ""
+ "http://www.excelsior.com.mx/"
+ "http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/"
+ "http://www.corriere.it/"
+ "www.spanishtest1.com"
+ "";

XDocument oXDoc = XDocument.Parse(strXML);

var newDoc = new XDocument(new XElement("websites",
from p in oXDoc.Element("websites").Elements("site")
orderby p.Attribute("language").Value
select p));

string strNewXML = newDoc.ToString();

The strNewXML string variable will have the sorted xml string.
Mahesh Chand15y ago
I don't think you should sort the XML itself. You need to read XML into an object (XmlNodeList, DataTable, List etc) and sort data in that object.
Vulpes15y ago
Well, if the file could be relied upon to be laid out exactly like that i.e. each .. element on its own line, equally indented, language always begins with a capital letter etc, then this is surprisingly easy:

using System;
using System.IO;

class Program
{
static void Main()
{
string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines("adam.xml");
string[] sites = new string[lines.Length - 3];
for(int i = 2; i < lines.Length - 1; i++) sites[i - 2] = lines[i];
Array.Sort(sites);
for(int i = 2; i < lines.Length - 1; i++) lines[i] = sites[i - 2];
File.WriteAllLines("adam2.xml",lines);
}
}

Otherwise it's not so easy and you'd need to know in advance what variations might arise to be able to come up with a sensible approach.