Article
11/18/2011

XmlReader.ReadOuterXml Method

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

When overridden in a derived class, reads the content, including markup, representing this node and all its children.

Namespace: System.Xml
Assembly: System.Xml (in System.Xml.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Overridable Function ReadOuterXml As String

public virtual string ReadOuterXml()

Return Value

Type: System.String
If the reader is positioned on an element or an attribute node, this method returns all the XML content, including markup, of the current node and all its children; otherwise, it returns an empty string.

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
XmlException	The XML was not well-formed, or an error occurred while parsing the XML.

Remarks

This method is similar to ReadInnerXml except it also returns the start and end tags.

This method handles element and attribute nodes in the following manner:

Node type	Position before the call	XML fragment	Return value	Position After the Call
Element	On the item1 start tag.	<item1>text1</item1><item2>text2</item2>	<item1>text1</item1>	On the item2 start tag.
Attribute	On the attr1 attribute node.	<item attr1="val1" attr2="val2">text</item>	attr1="val1"	Remains on the attr1 attribute node.

If the reader is positioned on a leaf node, calling ReadOuterXml is equivalent to calling Read. The method returns String.Empty (except for attribute nodes, in which case the attribute markup is returned).

This method checks for well-formed XML.

Examples

The following example uses the ReadOuterXml method.

Dim output As StringBuilder = New StringBuilder()

' XmlXapResolver is the default resolver. 
Using reader As XmlReader = XmlReader.Create("book.xml")

    ' Moves the reader to the root element.
    reader.MoveToContent()

    reader.ReadToFollowing("book")
    ' Note that ReadInnerXml only returns the markup of the node's children
    ' so the book's attributes are not returned.
    output.AppendLine("Read the first book using ReadInnerXml...")
    output.AppendLine(reader.ReadInnerXml())

    reader.ReadToFollowing("book")

    ' ReadOuterXml returns the markup for the current node and its children
    ' so the book's attributes are also returned.
    output.AppendLine("Read the second book using ReadOuterXml...")
    output.AppendLine(reader.ReadOuterXml())
End Using

OutputTextBlock.Text = output.ToString()

StringBuilder output = new StringBuilder();

// XmlXapResolver is the default resolver.
using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create("book.xml"))
{
    // Moves the reader to the root element.
    reader.MoveToContent();

    reader.ReadToFollowing("book");
    // Note that ReadInnerXml only returns the markup of the node's children
    // so the book's attributes are not returned.
    output.AppendLine("Read the first book using ReadInnerXml...");
    output.AppendLine(reader.ReadInnerXml());

    reader.ReadToFollowing("book");

    // ReadOuterXml returns the markup for the current node and its children
    // so the book's attributes are also returned.
    output.AppendLine("Read the second book using ReadOuterXml...");
    output.AppendLine(reader.ReadOuterXml());

}

OutputTextBlock.Text = output.ToString();

The example uses bool.xml file as input.

<bookstore>
    <book genre='novel' ISBN='10-861003-324'>
        <title>The Handmaid's Tale</title>
        <price>19.95</price>
    </book>
    <book genre='novel' ISBN='1-861001-57-5'>
        <title>Pride And Prejudice</title>
        <price>24.95</price>
    </book>
</bookstore>

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.

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