Show XML in WebBrowser control

Question

Hi

I have an xml file as string which need to show inside a web browser control

Minimum requirement is to show it as is, don't know how to set it to web browser.

And Since it's almost same as IE, possible to have it rendered as html like what we see in IE (colorful - no node grips)

Thanks for help :)

Found that should use XSL Transform, but could not find a sample to load xml from string and get the formatted as string too?

Answer

If there is an XML file, you can display it using this code:

 webBrowser1.Navigate( "file:///C:\MyFiles\file1.xml" );

If you have a string:

string example = @"Some text";
webBrowser1.DocumentText = example;

To show a raw XML string:

string example = @"Some text";
webBrowser1.DocumentText = WebUtility.HtmlEncode( example );

What transformation or format do you need?

Answer

webBrowser1.DocumentText works for me (Windows 10 22H2), otherwise the method with XSL from

http://web.archive.org/web/20130722003336/http://www.bobkaine.com/index.php/2012/01/view-xml-in-net-webbrowser-control/

also works :

WebBrowser_XML

            {
                CustomWebBrowser webBrowser1 = new CustomWebBrowser();
                webBrowser1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(10, 100);
                webBrowser1.MinimumSize = new System.Drawing.Size(20, 20);
                webBrowser1.Name = "webBrowser1";
                webBrowser1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(800, 500);
                webBrowser1.TabIndex = 0;

                XmlDocument xDoc = new XmlDocument();
                string sXML = @"
                
                   
                 
                ";
                xDoc.LoadXml(sXML);
                webBrowser1.DocumentXml = xDoc;
                this.Controls.Add(webBrowser1);

                return;
            }

With :

    public class CustomWebBrowser : WebBrowser
    {
        public static Stream GenerateStreamFromString(string s)
        {
            var stream = new MemoryStream();
            var writer = new StreamWriter(stream);
            writer.Write(s);
            writer.Flush();
            stream.Position = 0;
            return stream;
        }
        public XmlDocument DocumentXml
        {
            set
            {  
                Stream s  = GenerateStreamFromString(@"
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
			
		
	
	
		
			
				
					nbsp
				
			
			
				<?
			
			
				
				
			
			
				?>
			
		
	
	
		
			
				
					nbsp
				
			
			
				<?
			
			
				xml 
				
					
					=""
					
					"" 
				
			
			
				?>
			
		
	
	
		
			xt
			
		
		=""
		
			
		
		""
	
	
		
			 
			
				
			
		
	
	
		
			
				-
				
					<!--
				
			
			
									
				
			
			
				
					nbsp
				
			
			
				-->
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
				
					
						nbsp
					
				
				<
				
					xt
					
					
						 
					
				
				
				
					/>
				
			
		
	
	
		
			
				-
				<
				
					xt
					
					
						 
					
				
				
				
					>
				
			
			
				
				
					
						
							nbsp
						
					
					
						</
					
					
						xt
						
					
					
						>
					
				
			
		
	
	
		
			
				
					
						nbsp
					
				
				
					<
				
				
					xt
					
					
						 
					
				
				
				
					>
				
				
					
				
				</
				
					xt
					
				
				
					>
				
			
		
	
	
		
			
				-
				<
				
					xt
					
					
						 
					
				
				
				
					>
				
			
			
				
				
					
						
							nbsp
						
					
					
						</
					
					
						xt
						
					
					
						>
					
				
			
		
	
	
		
		&
		
		;
	
");

                // load the stream into a forward only XmlReader
                XmlReader xr = XmlReader.Create(s);

                // used to transform the XML based on the Stylesheet
                XslCompiledTransform xct = new XslCompiledTransform();

                // load the StyleSheet into the transformer
                xct.Load(xr);

                // instantiate a Stringbuilder object
                StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

                // XmlWriter that will populate the newly
                // created stringbuilder object with the
                // result of the transform
                XmlWriter xw = XmlWriter.Create(sb);

                // transform the XML that was passed to .DocumentXml
                // and output the result to the XmlWriter which will
                // then Create the Stringbuilder ".Create(sb)" created earlier
                xct.Transform(value, xw);

                // Cast the stringbuilder to a string and pass it to .DocumentText
                // Default WebBrowser functionality handles it from here
                this.DocumentText = sb.ToString();
            }
        }
    }

Show XML in WebBrowser control

2 answers