XmlTextWriter.Formatting Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Xml

Assembly:

System.Xml.ReaderWriter.dll

Source:

XmlTextWriter.cs

Indicates how the output is formatted.

public:
 property System::Xml::Formatting Formatting { System::Xml::Formatting get(); void set(System::Xml::Formatting value); };

public System.Xml.Formatting Formatting { get; set; }

member this.Formatting : System.Xml.Formatting with get, set

Public Property Formatting As Formatting

Property Value

Formatting

One of the Formatting values. The default is Formatting.None (no special formatting).

Examples

The following example writes an XML fragment.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
int main()
{
   
   //Create a writer to write XML to the console.
   XmlTextWriter^ writer = nullptr;
   writer = gcnew XmlTextWriter( Console::Out );
   
   //Use indentation for readability.
   writer->Formatting = Formatting::Indented;
   writer->Indentation = 4;
   
   //Write an element (this one is the root).
   writer->WriteStartElement( "book" );
   
   //Write the title element.
   writer->WriteStartElement( "title" );
   writer->WriteString( "Pride And Prejudice" );
   writer->WriteEndElement();
   
   //Write the close tag for the root element.
   writer->WriteEndElement();
   
   //Write the XML to file and close the writer.
   writer->Close();
}

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;

public class Sample
{

  public static void Main()
  {
     //Create a writer to write XML to the console.
     XmlTextWriter writer = null;
     writer = new XmlTextWriter (Console.Out);

     //Use indentation for readability.
     writer.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;
     writer.Indentation = 4;

     //Write an element (this one is the root).
     writer.WriteStartElement("book");

     //Write the title element.
     writer.WriteStartElement("title");
     writer.WriteString("Pride And Prejudice");
     writer.WriteEndElement();

     //Write the close tag for the root element.
     writer.WriteEndElement();

     //Write the XML to file and close the writer.
     writer.Close();
  }
}

Option Explicit
Option Strict

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Sample
    
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        'Create a writer to write XML to the console.
        Dim writer As XmlTextWriter = Nothing
        writer = New XmlTextWriter(Console.Out)
        
        'Use indentation for readability.
        writer.Formatting = Formatting.Indented
        writer.Indentation = 4
        
        'Write an element (this one is the root).
        writer.WriteStartElement("book")
        
        'Write the title element.
        writer.WriteStartElement("title")
        writer.WriteString("Pride And Prejudice")
        writer.WriteEndElement()
        
        'Write the close tag for the root element.
        writer.WriteEndElement()
        
        'Write the XML to file and close the writer.
        writer.Close()
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

Note

Starting with the .NET Framework 2.0, we recommend that you create XmlWriter instances by using the XmlWriter.Create method and the XmlWriterSettings class to take advantage of new functionality.

If the Indented option is set, child elements are indented using the Indentation and IndentChar properties. Only element content is indented. The following C# code writes out HTML elements including mixed content:

XmlTextWriter w = new XmlTextWriter(Console.Out);
 w.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;
 w.WriteStartElement("ol");
 w.WriteStartElement("li");
 w.WriteString("The big "); // This means "li" now has a mixed content model.
 w.WriteElementString("b", "E");
 w.WriteElementString("i", "lephant");
 w.WriteString(" walks slowly.");
 w.WriteEndElement();
 w.WriteEndElement();

The above code produces the following output:

<ol>
  <li>The big <b>E</b><i>lephant</i> walks slowly.</li>
</ol>

When this is viewed in HTML no white space appears between the bold and italic elements. In fact, in this example, if indenting was added between these elements the word "Elephant" would be incorrectly broken.

Note

Writing any text content, excluding String.Empty puts that element into mixed content mode. Child elements do not inherit this "mixed" mode status. A child element of a "mixed" element does indenting, unless it is also contains "mixed" content. Element content and mixed content are defined according to the XML 1.0 definitions of these terms.

See also

• Formatting