BENEFITS OF XMLDATADOCUMENT OVER XMLDOCUMENT

Recently I came across a requirement, where I need to fetch the data from GridView and convert it to XML.

I had a predefined format of XML, in which I need to save the data :

<root>

<rec>

<amount />

<remark />

</rec>

<rec>

<amount />

<remark />

</rec>

</root>

Also, I have a checkbox in the first column of GridView. I have to fetch records for which checkbox is checked.

I can use either XMLDocument or XMLDataDocument for the same.

1. Using XMLDocument:XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();

XmlElement root = xmlDoc.CreateElement("root"); xmlDoc.AppendChild(root);

foreach (GridViewRow Row in grdTest.Rows)

{

CheckBox chkTopUpRequest = (CheckBox)Row.FindControl("chkRequest");

if (null != chkTopUpRequest && chkTopUpRequest.Checked)

{

XmlElement rec = xmlDoc.CreateElement("rec");

root.AppendChild(rec);

XmlElement topupid = xmlDoc.CreateElement("topupid");

topupid.InnerText = grdTopUpRequest.DataKeys[Row.RowIndex].Value.ToString();

rec.AppendChild(topupid);

XmlElement amount = xmlDoc.CreateElement("amount");

TextBox txtAmount = (TextBox)Row.FindControl("txtAmount");

amount.InnerText = txtAmount.Text.Trim();

rec.AppendChild(amount);

XmlElement remarks = xmlDoc.CreateElement("remarks");

TextBox txtRemarks = (TextBox)Row.FindControl("txtRemarks");

remarks.InnerText = txtRemarks.Text.Trim();

rec.AppendChild(remarks);

}

}

2. Using XMLDataDocument :

DataSet dataSet = new DataSet("root");

DataTable dataTable = new DataTable("rec");

dataTable.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[]

{

new DataColumn("topupid"),

new DataColumn("amount"),

new DataColumn("remarks")

});

foreach (GridViewRow Row in grdTest.Rows)

{

CheckBox chkTopUpRequest = (CheckBox)Row.FindControl("chkRequest");

if (null != chkTopUpRequest && chkTopUpRequest.Checked)

{

TextBox txtAmount = (TextBox)Row.FindControl("txtAmount");

TextBox txtRemarks = (TextBox)Row.FindControl("txtRemarks");

dataTable.Rows.Add(grdTopUpRequest.DataKeys[Row.RowIndex].Value.ToString(),

txtAmount.Text.Trim(),

txtRemarks.Text.Trim());

}

}

dataSet.Tables.Add(dataTable);

XmlDataDocument xmlDataDoc = new XmlDataDocument(dataSet);

XMLDocument is an in-memory (cache) tree representation of an XML document and enables the navigation and editing of this document.

The XmlDataDocument class extends XmlDocument and allows structured data to be stored, retrieved, and manipulated through a relational DataSet. This class allows components to mix XML and relational views of the underlying data.

CREATING XML FROM GRIDVIEW AND SAVING IT AS STRING USING XMLDOCUMENT

Today, I came across a requirement in which i have a GridView which have some databound columns and one checkbox cloumn. On a button click, I need to pick all the rows in which checkbox is checked.

I need to convert the data of all the rows in XML format and then at last save it in database. But, before saving it, I again need to convert it to string format.

//These two namespaces are required to create XML Document and String Writer.

using System.Xml;

using System.IO;

protected string CreateXMLFromGrid()

{

// Created new XmlDocument to store Xml.

XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();

//Created the root element and added it to xmlDoc.

XmlElement root = xmlDoc.CreateElement("root");

xmlDoc.AppendChild(root);

foreach (GridViewRow Row in grdTopUpRequest.Rows)

{

CheckBox chkTopUpRequest = (CheckBox)Row.FindControl("chkRequest");

if (null != chkTopUpRequest && chkTopUpRequest.Checked)

{

XmlElement rec = xmlDoc.CreateElement("rec");

root.AppendChild(rec);

XmlElement topupid = xmlDoc.CreateElement("topupid");

topupid.InnerText = grdTopUpRequest.DataKeys[Row.RowIndex].Value.ToString();

rec.AppendChild(topupid);

XmlElement amount = xmlDoc.CreateElement("amount");

TextBox txtAmount = (TextBox)Row.FindControl("txtAmount");

amount.InnerText = txtAmount.Text.Trim();

rec.AppendChild(amount);

XmlElement remarks = xmlDoc.CreateElement("remarks");

TextBox txtRemarks = (TextBox)Row.FindControl("txtRemarks");

amount.InnerText = txtRemarks.Text.Trim();

rec.AppendChild(remarks);

}

// Creating an Object of StringWriter and assigining it to XmlTextWriter, whixh will

// copy the xml from xmlDoc to StringWriter.

StringWriter strWriter = new StringWriter();

XmlTextWriter xmlTxtWriter = new XmlTextWriter(strWriter);

xmlDoc.WriteTo(xmlTxtWriter);

return strWriter.ToString();

}

}