Read XML file from file server

[sindhuvenkat]

Hi,

I need to read a xml file present in a file server/web server from stand alone application. Is it possible? If so, please give me an example or the method to read.

Thanks in advance
Sindhu

[madankarmukta]

Could you please ellaborate more on this ?

you want to read xml as it is or into some other format ?

Thanks!

[sashi]

Hi Sindhu,

Yes, it is possible. There are 3 methods known to me, the list goes on as per below;

1. XmlTextReader
2. XmlDocument
3. XPath

Assuming this is the format of your xml file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<family>
  <name gender="Male">
    <firstname>Tom</firstname>
    <lastname>Smith</lastname>
  </name>
  <name gender="Female">
    <firstname>Dale</firstname>
    <lastname>Smith</lastname>
  </name>
</family>
 

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml
 
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
 
  Dim m_xmlr As XmlTextReader
  'Create the XML Reader
 
  m_xmlr = New XmlTextReader("name_of_the_xml_file_to_read.xml")
  'Disable whitespace so that you don't have to read over whitespaces
 
  m_xmlr.WhiteSpaceHandling = WhiteSpaceHandling.NONE
  'read the xml declaration and advance to family tag
 
  m_xmlr.Read()
  'read the family tag
 
  m_xmlr.Read()
  'Load the Loop
 
  While Not m_xmlr.EOF
    'Go to the name tag
 
    m_xmlr.Read()
    'if not start element exit while loop
 
    If Not m_xmlr.IsStartElement() Then
      Exit While
    End If
    'Get the Gender Attribute Value
 
    Dim genderAttribute = m_xmlr.GetAttribute("gender")
    'Read elements firstname and lastname
 
    m_xmlr.Read()
    'Get the firstName Element Value
 
    Dim firstNameValue = m_xmlr.ReadElementString("firstname")
    'Get the lastName Element Value
 
    Dim lastNameValue = m_xmlr.ReadElementString("lastname")
    'Write Result to the Console
 
    Console.WriteLine("Gender: " & genderAttribute _
      & " FirstName: " & firstNameValue & " LastName: " _
      & lastNameValue)
    Console.Write(vbCrLf)
  End While
  'close the reader
 
  m_xmlr.Close()
 
End Sub