XmlDocument.CloneNode(Boolean) Method

Definition

Creates a duplicate of this node.

C#
public override System.Xml.XmlNode CloneNode(bool deep);

Parameters

deep
Boolean

true to recursively clone the subtree under the specified node; false to clone only the node itself.

Returns

The cloned XmlDocument node.

Examples

The following example shows the difference between a deep and shallow clone.

C#
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;

public class Sample
{
  public static void Main()
  {
    //Create the XmlDocument.
    XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
    doc.LoadXml("<book genre='novel' ISBN='1-861001-57-5'>" +
                "<title>Pride And Prejudice</title>" +
                "</book>");

    //Create a deep clone.  The cloned node
    //includes the child node.
    XmlDocument deep = (XmlDocument) doc.CloneNode(true);
    Console.WriteLine(deep.ChildNodes.Count);

    //Create a shallow clone.  The cloned node does not
    //include the child node.
    XmlDocument shallow = (XmlDocument) doc.CloneNode(false);
    Console.WriteLine(shallow.Name + shallow.OuterXml);
    Console.WriteLine(shallow.ChildNodes.Count);
  }
}

Remarks

This method serves as a copy constructor for nodes. The cloned node has no parent (ParentNode returns null).

If deep is true, the cloned node includes all the child nodes, otherwise only the XmlDocument node is cloned. See the XmlNode.CloneNode method to see how this method behaves on other node types.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0