Ignore Empty XML Data

Question

Ignore Empty XML Data

Yusuf 791

Hi
I have an XML API service and this is an example. It displays four XML forms, one of the forms does not contain data in Note node and Item node.
[Open link][1] and refresh the page to notice the difference

How can I ignore the empty XML data so the only XML that contain data will be display?

Code

using System;
using System.Xml;
namespace ConsoleApp1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
            doc.Load("https://test.test.com/");
            XmlNode noteNode = doc.DocumentElement.SelectSingleNode("/ROOT/Note");
            XmlNode itemsNode = doc.DocumentElement.SelectSingleNode("/ROOT/Items");
            Console.WriteLine(noteNode.Attributes["Title"].InnerText);
            foreach (XmlNode node in itemsNode.ChildNodes)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("\t" + node.InnerText);
            }
        }
    }
}
Thank you in advance

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

0 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Viorel 127K

Try something like this:

var items = doc.SelectNodes( "/ROOT/Items/Item[text()|*|@*]" );

foreach( XmlNode item in items )
{
   . . .
}

It returns <Item> nodes that have text, child nodes or attributes. You can adjust the condition for your needs.

Yusuf 791 Reputation points

2021-03-28T10:10:42.177+00:00

Thank you for the reply.
I tested the code.
https://dotnetfiddle.net/Vs8XRr
I'm looking for a way to ignore data when both Note and Item are empty

Viorel 127K

Then include the title into your tests, for example:

string title = doc.SelectSingleNode( "/ROOT/Note/@Title" ).Value;
var items = doc.SelectNodes( "/ROOT/Items/Item[text()|*|@*]" );

if( string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace( title ) && items.Count == 0 )
{
    Console.WriteLine( "The document is empty" );
}
else
{
    Console.WriteLine( "Title: {0}", title );
    Console.WriteLine( "Items:" );
    foreach( XmlNode item in items )
    {
        Console.WriteLine( "\t" + item.InnerText );
    }
}

Yusuf 791 Reputation points

2021-03-28T11:00:13.427+00:00

Thank you for the answer.
That's a great way.
But how can I ignore empty data to go to next result? e.g. using while loop?

Viorel 127K

You can use a loop like this:

XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument( );

for(; ; )
{
    doc.Load( "https://<server url>/" );

    string title = doc.SelectSingleNode( "/ROOT/Note/@Title" ).Value;
    var items = doc.SelectNodes( "/ROOT/Items/Item[text()|*|@*]" );

    if( string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace( title ) && items.Count == 0 )
    {
        Console.WriteLine( "The document is empty" );
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine( "Title: {0}", title );
        Console.WriteLine( "Items:" );
        foreach( XmlNode item in items )
        {
            Console.WriteLine( "\t" + item.InnerText );
        }
    }
}

However, it is not clear when to stop it. If you want to find the first non-empty result, then add break at the end of else block.

cheong00 3,491 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2021-03-31T06:07:06.083+00:00

@Yusuf : Unless the reply contains your personal data or other things that is decided to be inappropriate in this forum, request to delete posts made by other members will not be entertained.

I'll just help you edit away the URL in code.

Share via

Ignore Empty XML Data

0 additional answers

Your answer