How to Use XML Textwriter

XMLTextWriter is a Microsoft .NET class used to write XML files. The class creates a file, writes the XML elements to the file, and then saves it to a folder on the server. This is helpful for website programmers who develop dynamic content for web pages. Using the XMLTextWriter class requires an understanding of C# or Visual Basic syntax.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Import the XML and IO namespaces to the project. The XMLTextWriter class is not automatically imported into new code files. Use the following syntax at the top of the page:
   using System.IO;
   using System.Xml;

2. Instantiate the class and create a new file. When instantiating the class, it requires a pointer to an XML file. In this example, the "myfile.xml" file is created:
   XmlTextWriter myXML = new XmlTextWriter("myfile.xml", null);

3. Write the top, root element to the file. This is the main element that encapsulates all the item lists. This example creates a list of books. The root element used is "books":
   myXML.WriteStartElement("books");

4. Write the list of books using XML "item" tags. The following writes a list of books under the "books" element created in step 3:
   myXML.WriteElementString("item", "My First Book");
   myXML.WriteElementString("item", "My Second Book");
   myXML.WriteElementString("item", "My Third Book");

5. Close the root tag element. Just like HTML, XML needs a closing tag. The following code closes the tag:
   myXML.WriteEndElement();

6. Close the file. Closing the file frees resources on the server and releases it from being locked. If you forget to close the file, the server holds a "read" lock on it. The following syntax closes the file:
   myXML.Close();

References

• developer.com