XML Node Attribute returning as NULL when populated?

Question

I have a XML Doc that I'm pulling out a specific Node and all of it's attributes. In debug mode I can see that I'm getting the specific Nodes and all of their attributes. However, when I try to get the attribute value it can't find it and returns a NULL value. I've done some searching and looked at some examples and from what I can tell I should be getting the value but I'm not and I don't see what I'm doing wrong.

I'm trying to get the StartTime value.

Here is the XML that is returned.

Here you can see in debug and with the Text Visualizer the value should be there.

The code I'm trying.

XmlNodeList nodes = xmlDoc.GetElementsByTagName("PlannedAbsences");
if (nodes != null && nodes.Count > 0)
{
    foreach (XmlNode node in nodes)
    {

        if (node.Attributes != null)
        {
            var nameAttribute = node.Attributes["StartTime"];
            if (nameAttribute != null)
            {
                //var startDate = nameAttribute.Value;
            }
        }
    }
}

You're iterating over all the PlannedAbsences nodes in the document. The StartTime attribute isn't on PlannedAbsences, it's on Absence. — Joe White
– Joe White, Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 20:10

William · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-19 17:47:27Z

1

Using the XDocument class contained within the System.Xml.Linq namespace, grab the sub elements from the PlannedAbsences parent, then iterate over sub elements retrieving the value of the desired attribute.

var xmlDoc = XDocument.Load(@"path to xml file")
var absences = xmlDoc.Element("PlannedAbsences")?.Elements("Absence");
foreach (var item in absences)
{
    var xElement = item.Attribute("StartTime").Value;
    Console.WriteLine(xElement);
}

edited Oct 19, 2018 at 17:47

answered Oct 19, 2018 at 16:55

William

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6 Comments

Caverman Over a year ago

I get 'XmlDocument' does not contain a definition for 'Element'.

William Over a year ago

Check that you have the System.Xml.Linq namespace added. The xmlDoc variable should be a XDocument type. I'll edit my answer to address this.

Caverman Over a year ago

I added the System.Xml.Linq namespace and tried the updated XDocument code but I still get the same erorr "XmlDocument does not contain a definition for Element'. I'm trying to sift through the code of another project that should be calling the same end point and doing something similar to see if I missed something.

William Over a year ago

It might be worth a try using the entire namespace in the variable declaration XDocument.Load to System.Xml.Linq.XDocument.Load. There could be another reference with a XDocument type.

Tom W Over a year ago

The answer suggests using XDocument, not XmlDocument. They are different classes.

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