Add a new element to xml using powershell

Question

I have an XML file like given below

<xml xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
<Product>


<Feature Id="f1" Absent="qqq"  Title="test" Level="1">

  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef1" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef2" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef3" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef4" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="WindowsFolder1" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef5" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef6" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef7" />
  <Feature Id="f2"  Display="hidden">
    <ComponentRef Id="Component1" />
  </Feature>
 <FeatureGroupRef Id ="fg1"/>
</Feature>

       </Product>

</xml>

Need to add an element between first Feature tag feature id=f1. The element format i want to add is given below

<ComponentGroupRef Id="Mycomponentname" />.

The resultant xml should look like below

<Feature Id="f1" Absent="qqq"  Title="test" Level="1">

  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef1" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef2" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef3" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef4" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="WindowsFolder1" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef5" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef6" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef7" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="Mycomponentname" />
  <Feature Id="f2"  Display="hidden">
    <ComponentRef Id="Component1" />
  </Feature>
 <FeatureGroupRef Id ="fg1"/>
</Feature>

       </Product>

</xml>

I tried the following code for adding the element but it is failing

$filePath="C:\Filename.xml"
[xml]$doc=Get-Content $filePath
$x= $doc.CreateElement("ComponentGroupRef")
$x.SetAttribute('id','Mycomponentname')
$doc.Product.Feature.AppendChild($x)

The error i am getting at the last line of code is given below

You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.

BenH · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-28 16:14:47Z

1

Don't forget the xml tag.

$filePath="C:\Filename.xml"
[xml]$doc=Get-Content $filePath
$x= $doc.CreateElement("ComponentGroupRef", $doc.xml.Product.NamespaceURI)
$x.SetAttribute('id','Mycomponentname')
$doc.xml.Product.Feature.AppendChild($x)

One note is since it's appended, it'll show up at the end after fg1. Something like this:

<xml xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
  <Product>
    <Feature Id="f1" Absent="qqq" Title="test" Level="1">
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef1" />
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef2" />
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef3" />
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef4" />
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="WindowsFolder1" />
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef5" />
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef6" />
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="ComponentGroupRef7" />
      <Feature Id="f2" Display="hidden">
        <ComponentRef Id="Component1" />
      </Feature>
      <FeatureGroupRef Id="fg1" />
      <ComponentGroupRef id="Mycomponentname" />
    </Feature>
  </Product>
</xml>

edited Oct 28, 2016 at 16:14

answered Oct 28, 2016 at 15:11

BenH

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7 Comments

BenH Over a year ago

How are you saving it? Something like this? $doc.save("C:\Filename.new.xml")

mystack Over a year ago

yes i am saving it using $doc.save("C:\Filename.xml")

BenH Over a year ago

What about this? $doc = $doc.OuterXml.Replace("xmlns=`"http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi`"", "")

mystack Over a year ago

no Ben,it's not working. I only want to remove the xmlns=" " from <ComponentGroupRef id="Mycomponentname" xmlns="" /> and not from the root.Thanks Ben for helping me

mystack Over a year ago

I got it correct by using $doc=[xml] $doc.OuterXml.Replace(" xmlns="'", "")

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