How to find the root element (LINQ to XML)

This article provides an example that shows how to use XPath and LINQ to XML, in C# and Visual Basic, to find the root element of an XML document.

Example: Find the root element

This example uses LINQ to XML query and XPath to find the root element in XML document Sample XML file: Multiple purchase orders. The XPath expression is /PurchaseOrders.

XDocument po = XDocument.Load("PurchaseOrders.xml");

// LINQ to XML query
XElement el1 = po.Root;

// XPath expression
XElement el2 = po.XPathSelectElement("/PurchaseOrders");

if (el1 == el2)
    Console.WriteLine("Results are identical");
else
    Console.WriteLine("Results differ");
Console.WriteLine(el1.Name);

Dim po As XDocument = XDocument.Load("PurchaseOrders.xml")

' LINQ to XML query
Dim el1 As XElement = po.Root

' XPath expression
Dim el2 As XElement = po.XPathSelectElement("/PurchaseOrders")

If el1 Is el2 Then
    Console.WriteLine("Results are identical")
Else
    Console.WriteLine("Results differ")
End If
Console.WriteLine(el1.Name)

This example produces the following output:

Results are identical
PurchaseOrders

See also

• Comparison of XPath and LINQ to XML