Beginning XML with C# 7: XML Processing and Data Access for C# Developers. 2 Ed

Contents....5

About the Author....16

About the Technical Reviewer....17

Introduction....18

Chapter 1: Introducing XML and the .NET Framework....20

What Is XML?....20

Benefits of XML....21

XML Is an Industry Standard....21

XML Is Self-Describing....21

XML Is Extensible....21

XML Can Be Processed Easily....21

XML Can Be Used to Easily Exchange Data....22

XML Can Be Used to Easily Share Data....22

XML Can Be Used to Create Specialized Vocabularies....22

XML-Driven Applications....22

Rules of XML Grammar....24

Markup Is Case Sensitive....25

A Document Must Have One and Only One Root Element....25

A Start Tag Must Have an End Tag....25

Start and End Tags Must Be Properly Nested....26

Attribute Values Must Be Enclosed in Quotes....26

DTD and XML Schema....26

Parsing XML Documents....27

XSLT....28

XPath....29

The .NET Framework....30

.NET Framework and XML....31

Assemblies and Namespaces....32

System.Xml Namespace....32

System.Xml.Schema Namespace....32

System.Xml.XPath Namespace....32

System.Xml.Xsl Namespace....32

System.Xml.Serialization Namespace....32

System.Xml.Linq Namespace....33

The Classic XML Parsing Model of the .NET Framework....33

The LINQ-Based Parsing Model of the .NET Framework....33

.NET Configuration Files....34

ADO.NET....36

ASP.NET Web Forms Server Controls....36

XML Serialization....37

Web Services, WCF Services, and Web API....38

XML Documentation....38

XAML Markup....40

SQL Server XML Features....40

Working with Visual Studio....40

Creating Windows Forms Applications....41

Creating Class Libraries....44

Summary....47

Chapter 2: Manipulating XML Documents Using the Document Object Model....48

Using the DOM Parser....48

Knowing When to Use DOM....50

A Sample XML Document....51

Opening an Existing XML Document for Parsing....52

Navigating Through an XML Document....54

Looking for Specific Elements and Nodes....55

Retrieving Specific Elements Using the GetElementsByTagName() Method....56

Retrieving Specific Elements Using the GetElementById() Method....57

Selecting Specific Nodes Using the SelectNodes() Method....60

Selecting a Single Specific Node Using the SelectSingleNode() Method....62

Modifying XML Documents....63

Navigating Between Various Nodes....64

Modifying Existing Content....65

Deleting Existing Content....66

Adding New Content....67

Using Helper Methods....69

Dealing with Whitespace....69

Dealing with Namespaces....73

Understanding Events of the XmlDocument Class....74

Summary....77

Chapter 3: Reading and Writing XML Documents....78

What Are XML Readers and Writers?....78

When to Use Readers and Writers....79

Reader Classes....79

The XmlTextReader Class....79

The XmlValidatingReader Class....79

The XmlNodeReader Class....79

Reading XML Documents Using XmlTextReader....80

Opening XML Documents....80

Reading Attributes, Elements, and Values....82

Improving Performance by Using Name Tables....84

Dealing with Namespaces....85

Moving Between Elements....85

The ReadSubTree() Method....85

The ReadToDescendant() Method....86

The ReadToFollowing() Method....86

The ReadToNextSibling() Method....87

The Skip() Method....87

Moving Between Attributes....88

Reading Content....88

The ReadInnerXml() Method....89

The ReadOuterXml() Method....89

The ReadString() Method....89

Writing XML Documents Using XmlTextWriter....90

Exporting Columns As Elements....94

Exporting Columns As Attributes....94

Specifying Character Encoding....94

Formatting the Output....95

Including Namespace Support....97

Dealing with Nontextual Data....100

Serializing Data....101

Deserializing Data....102

Summary....103

Chapter 4: Accessing XML Documents Using the XPath Data Model....104

Overview of XPath....104

Location Path....105

Axis....105

Node Tests....105

Predicates....106

Putting It All Together....106

XPath Functions....106

The XPath Data Model....108

Creating XPathNavigator....108

Navigating an XML Document Using XPathNavigator....109

Selecting Nodes....111

Selecting Single Nodes....113

Selecting Children, Ancestors, and Descendants....114

Compiling XPath Expressions....115

Navigating Between Attributes....115

Retrieving Inner and Outer XML....116

Getting an XmlReader from XPathNavigator....118

Getting an XmlWriter from XPathNavigator....121

Editing XML Documents with the XPathNavigator Class....123

Adding Nodes....125

Modifying Nodes....126

Deleting Nodes....127

Saving Changes....128

Summary....128

Chapter 5: Validating XML Documents....129

Providing Structure for XML Documents....129

Document Type Definition (DTD)....130

XML Data Reduced (XDR) Schema....130

XML Schema Definition (XSD) Schema....130

Creating Structure for an XML Document....130

The Structure of Employees.xml....130

Creating the DTD....131

Creating the XML Schema....133

XSD for Employees.xml....134

Creating the XSD in Visual Studio Designer....134

Creating the Schema from XML Document Using Visual Studio IDE....140

Creating the Schema by Using the XML Schema Definition Tool....141

Creating the Schema from an XML Document....142

Creating the Schema from an Assembly....143

Creating Schemas by Using the Schema Object Model (SOM)....144

The Core SOM Classes....144

Creating an XML Schema Using the SOM....146

Creating the Schema....149

Creating a Simple Type for Names....149

Creating a Simple Type for Phone Numbers....149

Creating a Simple Type for Notes....150

Creating a Complex Type That Represents an Employee....150

Creating a Top-Level Complex Type....151

Creating the Root Element....152

Compiling the Schema....152

Saving the Schema....152

Attaching the DTD and XML Schemas to XML Documents....153

Inline DTDs....154

External DTDs....154

Inline XML Schema....155

External XML Schema....155

Adding Frequently Used Schemas to the Schema Cache....156

Using XmlReader to Validate XML Documents....157

Using XmlDocument to Validate XML Documents....160

Using XPathNavigator to Validate XML Documents....163

Specifying XML Schema via Code....163

Summary....165

Chapter 6: Transforming XML with XSLT....166

Overview of XSLT....166

Applying Templates Using ....170

Branching Using ....171

Branching Using and ....173

Transforming Elements and Attributes....175

The XslCompiledTransform Class....178

Performing Transformations Using XslCompiledTransform....178

Passing Arguments to a Transformation....181

Using Script Blocks in an XSLT Style Sheet....183

Using Extension Objects....187

Compiling XSLT Style Sheets....188

Summary....190

Chapter 7: XML in ADO.NET....191

Overview of ADO.NET Architecture....191

Connected Data Access....191

Disconnected Data Access....192

ADO.NET Data Providers....193

SQL Server Data Provider....193

OLEDB Data Provider....193

ODBC Data Provider....193

Oracle Data Provider....194

The Assemblies and Namespaces Involved....194

ADO.NET Classes....194

Connection (SqlConnection and OleDbConnection)....194

Command (SqlCommand and OleDbCommand)....195

Parameter (SqlParameter and OleDbParameter)....195

DataReader (SqlDataReader and OleDbDataReader)....195

DataAdapter (SqlDataAdapter and OleDbDataAdapter)....195

DataSet....196

XML and Connected Data Access....196

Using the ExecuteXmlReader() Method....196

XML and Disconnected Data Access....198

Understanding DataSet....199

Understanding DataAdapter....200

Working with DataSet and DataAdapter....202

Filling a DataSet....202

Accessing Data from DataSet....203

Adding New Rows....204

Updating an Existing Row....204

Deleting a Row....205

Using DataRow States....205

Saving the Changes to the Database....206

Saving DataSet Contents As XML....208

Saving Only the Schema....212

Extracting DataSet Contents As an XML String....213

Reading XML Data into DataSet....213

Using the Automatic Read Operation....215

Reading DiffGrams....215

Reading XML Fragments....215

Ignoring Schema Information....216

Inferring Schema Information....216

Reading Schema Information....216

Generating Menus Dynamically Based On an XML File....216

Reading Only the Schema Information....218

Creating a Typed DataSet....220

Using Visual Studio to Create a Typed DataSet....221

Using the xsd.exe Tool to Create a Typed DataSet....226

Summary....226

Chapter 8: XML Serialization....227

Understanding the Flavors of Serialization....227

Classes Involved in the XML Serialization....228

Serializing and Deserializing Objects Using XmlSerializer....228

Handling Events Raised During Deserialization....231

Serializing and Deserializing Complex Types....233

Serialization and Inheritance....237

Customizing the Serialized XML....240

Changing the XML Document Root....242

Changing the Element Names....242

Serializing Members As Attributes....242

Ignoring Public Members in the Serialization Process....243

Changing Array and Array Element Names....243

Ignoring Null Objects in the Serialization Process....243

Changing Enumeration Identifiers....243

Serializing and Deserializing Objects Using DataContractSerializer....243

Customizing the Serialized XML....246

Serializing and Deserializing Objects Using SoapFormatter....247

Customizing SOAP Serialization....250

Summary....253

Chapter 9: XML in Web Services....254

What Are Web Services?....254

Creating and Consuming Web Services....255

Creating a Web Service....256

Setting a Description for a Web Method....262

Adding Web Methods for CRUD Functionality....262

Creating a Proxy for a Web Service....269

Creating a Form That Calls the Web Methods....271

Understanding SOAP....274

Using SOAP Headers....275

Customizing the XML Serialization....279

Understanding the WSDL Document....280

The Messages....281

The Type Definitions....281

The Port Types....282

The Binding....282

The Service....282

A Summary of WSDL....282

Summary....282

Chapter 10: XML in WCF and Web API....283

Operations Based Services vs. Resource Based Services....284

Understanding WCF Vocabulary....284

Creating and Consuming a WCF Service....285

Creating the Service....285

Hosting the Service....290

Consuming the Service....293

Testing the Host and Client....296

Hosting a WCF Service in IIS....298

Understanding the Role of XML in WCF Services....301

Using XmlSerializer Instead of DataContractSerializer....302

Understanding REST Services....303

Creating a REST Service Using WCF....304

Creating a Client That Consumes the EmployeeManager REST Service....308

Creating a REST Service Using Web API....312

Creating a Client That Consumes the EmployeeManager Web API Service....315

Using XmlSerializer Instead of DataContractSerializer....317

Summary....318

Chapter 11: XML in SQL Server....319

Using XML Extensions to the SELECT Statement....319

The FOR XML Clause....319

The AUTO Mode....320

The RAW Mode....321

Returning the Schema of the XML....322

The PATH Mode....323

The EXPLICIT Mode....323

Specifying the Root Element Name....327

Using OPENXML....327

Using SQLXML Features....329

The SQLXML Managed Classes....329

Executing SELECT Queries....330

Executing Parameterized SELECT Queries....332

Filling a DataSet....333

Updating a DataSet by Using SqlXmlAdapter....334

Applying XSLT Templates....336

Writing Template Queries....339

Updating Data with DiffGrams....340

The XML Data Type....342

Creating a Table with an XML Column....343

Inserting, Modifying, and Deleting XML Data....343

Methods of the XML Data Type....344

Using the query() Method....345

Using the value() Method....345

Using the exist() Method....345

XML Data Modification Language (XML DML)....346

XQuery Support in the XML Data Type....347

Summary....347

Chapter 12: XML in .NET Framework....348

Using XAML to Define the WPF User Interface....348

Displaying XML Data in a WPF Application....353

Using XML in ASP.NET....355

XML and ASP.NET....356

Server Control Markup....356

Creating a Web Site....356

Designing the Web Form....357

Writing Code....361

Running the Web Application....363

The XML Data Source Control....364

Applying Transformations....367

Filtering Data by Using XPath Expressions....369

Binding an XML Data Source to a Menu Control....370

Working with Site Maps....372

Using a SiteMapPath Control....374

Using a SiteMapDataSource Control....375

Using the XML Control....376

Using the .NET Framework Configuration System....378

Structure of the web.config File....380

Web.config Inheritance....380

Using Web.config for Common Configuration Tasks....380

Storing and Retrieving Application Configuration Settings....381

Storing and Retrieving Database Connection Strings....382

Using Forms Authentication....384

Configuring Session State....387

Displaying Custom Error Pages....389

Documenting Code with XML Comments....391

Creating a Class Library....391

Documenting the Summary and Remarks....392

Adding Paragraphs....392

Documenting Method Parameters and Return Values....393

Specifying Scope and Permissions....393

Specifying Links to Other Members....394

Adding Lists....394

Generating XML Documentation from Comments....395

Using Sandcastle Help File Builder to Generate Help Files....396

Summary....398

Chapter 13: Working with LINQ to XML....399

Overview of LINQ....399

Working with LINQ Queries....400

Grouping Data Using LINQ....402

Sorting Data Using LINQ....404

Filtering Data Using LINQ....404

Shaping Data Using LINQ....405

Classic XML Technologies vs. LINQ to XML....405

Working with XML Fragments....405

Visual Construction of XML Trees....406

Ease in Namespace Handling....406

Renaming XML Nodes....406

Static Methods to Load XML....406

Whitespace Handling....406

XML Transformation....406

When to Use LINQ to XML....406

LINQ to XML Class Hierarchy....407

Opening an Existing XML Document for Parsing....407

Navigating Through an XML Tree....409

Looking for Specific Elements and Attributes....411

Retrieving Specific Elements Using the Descendants() Method....411

Searching on the Basis of Attribute Values....412

Modifying XML Data....414

Loading the XML Document....415

Navigating Between Various Nodes....415

Adding New Content....416

Modifying Existing Content....417

Deleting Existing Content....417

Saving the Modified XML Tree to a File....418

Displaying Employee Details....418

Events of the XElement Class....419

Dealing with Whitespace....420

Dealing with Namespaces....423

Specifying Namespaces While Constructing Elements....424

Validating XML Documents....425

Transforming XML Trees....427

Changing the Shape of an XML Tree....428

Projecting a New Type....430

Summary....431

Appendix A: Creating a Custom XmlReader and XmlWriter....432

Creating a Custom XmlReader....432

Inheriting from XmlReader....433

Creating the TableReader Class....434

Declaring Class-Level Variables....438

Initializing the Variables....438

Retrieving the Total Number of Attributes....439

Closing the Reader....439

Reading Attributes....439

Navigating Between the Attributes....440

Advancing the Reader....441

Checking Whether the Value Is Empty....441

Reading Values....441

Returning the Table or Column Name....442

Returning Values....442

Using the TableReader Class....442

Creating a Custom XmlWriter....444

Inheriting from XmlWriter....445

Creating the RssWriter Class....446

Coding Stream-Related Operations....447

Defining Enumerations for RSS-Specific Tags....447

Writing Elements....447

Writing Attributes....449

Writing Data....450

Writing an XML Declaration....451

Using the RssWriter Class....452

Summary....453

Appendix B: Resources....454

W3C Web Site for XML Specifications....454

W3C Web Site for XML Schema Specifications....454

W3C Web Site for XPath-Related Information....454

W3C Web Site for XSL-Related Information....454

W3C Web Site for SOAP Specifications....454

System.Xml Reference....454

.NET/ASP.NET/WCF/Web API....455

Wikipedia—XML Section....455

Author’s Web Site on .NET and Web Development....455

XML Notepad—XML Editor....455

Sandcastle Help File Builder....455

SQLXML Programming....455

Index....456

Master the basics of XML as well as the namespaces and objects you need to know in order to work efficiently with XML. You’ll learn extensive support for XML in everything from data access to configuration, from raw parsing to code documentation. You will see clear, practical examples that illustrate best practices in implementing XML APIs and services as part of your C#-based Windows 10 applications.Beginning XML with C# 7 is completely revised to cover the XML features of .NET Framework 4.7 using C# 7 programming language. In this update, you’ll discover the tight integration of XML with ADO.NET and LINQ as well as additional .NET support for today’s RESTful web services and Web API.Written by a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and developer, this book demystifies everything to do with XML and C# 7.

What You Will Learn:

• Discover how XML works with the .NET Framework
• Read, write, access, validate, and manipulate XML documents
• Transform XML with XSLT
• Use XML serialization and web services
• Combine XML in ADO.NET and SQL Server
• Create services using Windows Communication Foundation
• Work with LINQ
• Use XML with Web API and more

Who This Book Is For:

Those with experience in C# and .NET new to the nuances of using XML. Some XML experience is helpful.