How to format a string of HTML programatically

Question

I've got unformatted html in a string.

I am trying to format it nicely and output the formatted html back into a string. I've been trying to use The System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter to no avail:

System.IO.StringWriter wString = new System.IO.StringWriter();
System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter wHtml = new System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter(wString);

wHtml.Write(sMyUnformattedHtml);

string sMyFormattedHtml = wString.ToString();

All I get is the unformatted html, is it possible to achieve what I'm trying to do here?

What do you mean by "formatted"? Do you want indentation and line breaks? Do you want syntax highlighting? — EndangeredMassa
– EndangeredMassa, Commented Jan 9, 2009 at 4:41
By formatted, I mean with line breaks and indentation. "Pretty print" — Jeremy
– Jeremy, Commented Jan 9, 2009 at 6:30

lotsoffreetime · Accepted Answer · 2009-01-09 10:33:35Z

Here's a function that does exactly that:

    // Attractively format the XML with consistant indentation.

    public static String PrettyPrint(String XML)
    {
        String Result = "";

        using (MemoryStream MS = new MemoryStream())
        {
            using (XmlTextWriter W = new XmlTextWriter(MS, Encoding.Unicode))
            {
                XmlDocument D = new XmlDocument();

                try
                {
                    // Load the XmlDocument with the XML.
                    D.LoadXml(XML);

                    W.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;

                    // Write the XML into a formatting XmlTextWriter
                    D.WriteContentTo(W);
                    W.Flush();
                    MS.Flush();

                    // Have to rewind the MemoryStream in order to read
                    // its contents.
                    MS.Position = 0;

                    // Read MemoryStream contents into a StreamReader.
                    StreamReader SR = new StreamReader(MS);

                    // Extract the text from the StreamReader.
                    String FormattedXML = SR.ReadToEnd();

                    Result = FormattedXML;
                }
                catch (XmlException ex)
                {
                    Result= ex.ToString();
                }

                W.Close();
            }
            MS.Close();
        }
        Debug.WriteLine(Result);
        return Result;
    }

Eugene Yokota · Accepted Answer · 2009-01-09 04:47:21Z

2

You can pass it to tidy externally or use XmlTextWriter if you are willing to use XHTML instead of HTML.

answered Jan 9, 2009 at 4:47

Eugene Yokota

95.9k45 gold badges219 silver badges323 bronze badges

Comments

Andrew Kennan · Accepted Answer · 2009-01-09 04:45:36Z

0

There's nothing in the framework that will do what you want.

If the HTML fragment is valid XML you could load it into an XmlDocument and write some code to traverse it and output it formatted how you want.

answered Jan 9, 2009 at 4:45

Andrew Kennan

14.2k3 gold badges27 silver badges33 bronze badges

Comments

ine · Accepted Answer · 2009-01-09 05:15:04Z

0

Use EFTidyNet, the managed .NET wrapper for Tidy. It is much simpler than using a batch file to call Tidy and also a lot faster.

Tidy can clean up your HTML and make it look nice, as well as turning it into valid HTML or XHTML.

answered Jan 9, 2009 at 5:15

ine

14.1k8 gold badges60 silver badges80 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to format a string of HTML programatically

4 Answers 4

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

4 Answers 4

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related