Parsing XML

[eSolTec, Inc. 501(c)(3)]

Thank you in advance for any and all assistance. It is greatly appreciated.

I am working with Plimus for licensing my software. I can communicate with
the server and I'm getting responses in XML. My question is, the XML stream
that's coming back is telling if it's a successful license registration,
validation, too many installs etc. How do I capture that information and use
in my logic?

I tried:
'If responseContent = "<status>STATUS _CODE</status>" Then

' MessageBox.Show ("The key you have enter is either invalid
or you misentered the key. Please try again")
' License.Text = ""
' License.Focus()
'Else
MessageBox.Show (responseConten t)
'MessageBox.Sho w("Thank you for registering. Enjoy your
software!")
'Me.Close()
'Dim frm As Form
'frm = frmEZTechToolsI dentifier
'frm.Show()

but the code doesn't capture the XML stream. What do I need please?

--
Michael Bragg, President
eSolTec, Inc.
a 501(C)(3) organization
MS Authorized MAR
looking for used laptops for developmentally disabled.

[Spam Catcher]

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wrote in news:B5******** *************** ***********@mic rosoft.com:

I tried:
'If responseContent = "<status>STATUS _CODE</status>" Then

Perhaps more data than that is coming back.

>
but the code doesn't capture the XML stream. What do I need please?

Take a look at the System.Text.XML classes - you should load the entire doc
into one of the XML class structures (XML Doc, XML reader, etc) and use
those classes to parse the response. You'll get a more accurate result than
merely text parsing.

[Steven Cheng[MSFT]]

Hello Michael,

As for the XML Response stream, how did you get it, through HttpWebRequest
compoent or any other means? Also, before you want to parse the XML
response content, where did you hold the XML content? In a string or a
inmemory stream?

In .net framework, most of the XML processing classes are under the
System.Xml namespace. And you can choose the proper class to maniplate XML
content depend on the format of data you hold. Here are some general
suggestions:

1. If the resposne XML content is held in a string, you can use the
XmlDocument class's "LoadXml" to load it.

#XmlDocument.Lo adXml Method
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...t.loadxml.aspx

2. If the response XML content is in an Stream object (memorystream,
HttpResponseStr eam....), you can use the XmlDocument.Loa d method to load it
into XmlDocument.

After you have load the XML content into XmlDocument instance, you can use
its "SelectSingleNo de" or "SelectNode s" method to query specific nodes
(through XPATH string) from it and check the certain node's value.

#Select Nodes Using XPath Navigation
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/d271ytdx.aspx

#XML Document Object Model (DOM)
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hf9hbf87.aspx

For more information about processing XML data in .net framework, you can
refer to the following MSDN reference:

#XML Documents and Data
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2bcctyt8.aspx
Please feel free to let me know if you have any further specific questions
on this.

Sincerely,

Steven Cheng

Microsoft MSDN Online Support Lead

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[eSolTec, Inc. 501(c)(3)]

Thank you for your response. The XML is streamed into a string I believe and
I can give you all the code that's used and that is being returned.
<plimus_licensi ng_response><st atus>ERROR_MAXC OUNT</status><days_si nce_last_assign ed>1</days_since_last _assigned><days _till_expiratio n>358</days_till_expir ation><use_coun t>1</use_count></plimus_licensin g_response>

This is the string information that is returned from the license company.
The part that I need to parse and run logic on is the
<status>ERROR_C ODE</status>

Based on the error_code, I need to build the IF Then Else statement to make
the code either open the program, return a message to the user, close the
program and refer the user to the support website.

Here is the code I'm using to return the values.

If Username.Text = "" And eMail.Text = "" And tbxLicense.Text = "" Then
MessageBox.Show ("Please enter your registered name.")
Username.Focus( )
ElseIf Username.Text <"" And eMail.Text = "" And tbxLicense.Text =
"" Then
MessageBox.Show ("Please enter the person's email for this
computer")
eMail.Focus()
ElseIf Username.Text <"" And eMail.Text <"" And tbxLicense.Text
= "" Then
MessageBox.Show ("Please enter the license number:
###-####-####-####")
tbxLicense.Focu s()
Else
Dim request As Net.HttpWebRequ est
Dim response As Net.HttpWebResp onse
Dim url As String =
"https://www.plimus.com/jsp/validateKey.jsp ?action=REGISTE R&productId=### ##&key="
& tbxLicense.Text & "&action=REGIST ER &uniqueMachineI d&=" & GetOSProductKey ()
& eMail.Text & Username.Text
request = Net.WebRequest. Create(url)
request.Method = "Get"
response = request.GetResp onse()
Dim sr As IO.StreamReader = New
IO.StreamReader (response.GetRe sponseStream())
Dim responseContent As String = sr.ReadToEnd()

sr.Close()
response.Close( )
Dim reader As Xml.XmlTextRead er = Nothing
tbxResponseCont ent.Text = responseContent

I've looked at code samples and have started with the Dim reader as
Xml.XmlTextRead er = Nothing

The XML response is currently returned to a textbox called
tbxResponseCont ent.Text. The XML stream is the responseContent .
--
Michael Bragg, President
eSolTec, Inc.
a 501(C)(3) organization
MS Authorized MAR
looking for used laptops for developmentally disabled.
"Spam Catcher" wrote:

=?Utf-8?B?ZVNvbFRlYyw gSW5jLiA1MDEoYy koMyk=?= <es*****@noemai l.nospam>
wrote in news:B5******** *************** ***********@mic rosoft.com:

I tried:
'If responseContent = "<status>STATUS _CODE</status>" Then

Perhaps more data than that is coming back.

but the code doesn't capture the XML stream. What do I need please?

Take a look at the System.Text.XML classes - you should load the entire doc
into one of the XML class structures (XML Doc, XML reader, etc) and use
those classes to parse the response. You'll get a more accurate result than
merely text parsing.

[Steven Cheng[MSFT]]

Thanks for your reply Michael,

For the xml fragment you provide, you can simply use XPATH to query out the
<statuselemen t and its innerTEXT data. For example, the following code
use xmlDocument to load the xml data from string, and use the
SelectSingleNod e to query the node throug XPATH string:

=============== =============== ===
Dim xmlstring =
"<plimus_licens ing_response><s tatus>ERROR_MAX COUNT</status><days_si nce_last_
assigned>1</days_since_last _assigned><days _till_expiratio n>358</days_till_ex
piration><use_c ount>1</use_count></plimus_licensin g_response>"

Dim doc As New System.Xml.XmlD ocument

doc.LoadXml(xml string)

Dim node As XmlNode

node = doc.SelectSingl eNode("/plimus_licensin g_response/status")

If Not node Is Nothing Then
Response.Write( "<br/>status: " & node.InnerText)
End If
=============== =============== =====
BTW, the above xpath string only suit this particular case, for other xml
fragment, you need to calculate the proper xpath when you want to query
other node or nodelist.

Here are some articles introducing XPATH and xpath query in .net framework
XML components:

#XPath Tutorial
http://www.w3schools.com/xpath/

#XPath Selections and Custom Functions, and More
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/is...3/02/XMLFiles/

#.NET and XML: XPath Queries
http://www.developer.com/net/net/article.php/3383961

Hope this also helps.

Sincerely,

Steven Cheng

Microsoft MSDN Online Support Lead
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.