vb.net - create xml from Data Table rows

Question

I want to create/save some data in an xml format, which is saved in a 2 fields data table object (the second field "target" holds no data).

The final solution should look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<body>
  <trans-unit>
    <source>Some Text-1</source>
    <target />
  </trans-unit>
  <trans-unit>
    <source>Some Text-2</source>
    <target />
  </trans-unit>
  <trans-unit>
    <source>Some Text-3</source>
    <target />
  </trans-unit>
  ...
</body>

So far I managed to produce this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
<body>
  <trans-unit>
    <source xmlns="Some Text-1" />
    <target />
    <source xmlns="Some Text-2" />
    <target />
    <source xmlns="Some Text-3" />
    <target />
    ...
</body>

with this code(too many comments, I know...):

Private Sub btnSave_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnSave.Click
    Dim xdoc As New XmlDocument
    'Dim xTransUnit As List(Of XmlElement) = New List(Of XmlElement)

    Dim xRoot As XmlElement = xdoc.CreateElement("body")
    Dim xTU As XmlElement = xdoc.CreateElement("trans-unit")
    'Dim xSource As XmlElement = xdoc.CreateElement("source")
    'Dim xTarget As XmlElement = xdoc.CreateElement("target")
    xdoc.AppendChild(xdoc.CreateXmlDeclaration("1.0", "utf-8", "no"))
    xdoc.AppendChild(xRoot)

    For Each row As DataRow In dtTranslation.Rows
        Dim xList As List(Of XmlElement) = New List(Of XmlElement)
        'xList.Add(xdoc.CreateElement("source", row("Source").ToString()))
        'xList.Add(xdoc.CreateElement("target", row("Target").ToString()))
        'xList.Add(xdoc.CreateElement("source", row("Source").ToString()))
        'xList.Add(xdoc.CreateElement("target", row("Target").ToString()))
        'Dim xSource As XmlElement = xdoc.CreateElement("source")
        'Dim xTarget As XmlElement = xdoc.CreateElement("target")
        'xSource.InnerText = row("Source").ToString()
        'xTarget.InnerText = row("Target").ToString()
        'xTU.AppendChild(xFields(0))
        'xTU.AppendChild(xFields(1))
        'xFields.Add(xRoot)
        Dim xSource As XmlElement = xdoc.CreateElement("source", row("Source").ToString())
        Dim xTarget As XmlElement = xdoc.CreateElement("target", row("Target").ToString())
        'xSource.InnerText = row("Source").ToString()
        'xTarget.InnerText = row("Target").ToString()
        xRoot.AppendChild(xTU)
        xTU.AppendChild(xSource)
        xTU.AppendChild(xTarget)

        'xTU.AppendChild(xFields(0))
        'xTU.AppendChild(xFields(1))
    Next

    'xTU.AppendChild(xSource)
    'xTU.AppendChild(xTarget)
    'xRoot.AppendChild(xTU)


    'xdoc.DocumentElement.SetAttribute("version", "1.2")
    'xdoc.AppendChild(xdoc.CreateElement("xliff"))
    'xdoc.CreateElement("body")

    xdoc.Save("E:\Temp\TestXML-3.xml")

End Sub

Any help would be very appreciated!

Do you know XMLSerializer? There is an easy way to convert a Collection to XML data. You can then use annotations to control how the xml data should look like. Have a look at this question: stackoverflow.com/questions/1212742/… — Sebastian Siemens
– Sebastian Siemens, Commented May 23 at 8:46
Look at the various DataTable.WriteXML methods. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/… — HardCode
– HardCode, Commented May 23 at 16:08
The following may be of interest: stackoverflow.com/a/73640395/10024425 — It all makes cents
– It all makes cents, Commented May 23 at 18:15

SSS · Accepted Answer · 2025-05-27 07:26:33Z

This should do what you need. It takes the row/node names from the DataTable and the child nodes from the column names in the DataTable:

  Private Sub WriteXml()
    Dim filename = "C:\Junk\Junk.xml"
    Dim dataTable = GetDataTable()
    Dim xdc = DataTableToXmlDocument(dataTable, "body")
    xdc.Save(filename)
  End Sub

  Private Function GetDataTable() As DataTable
    Dim dtb As New DataTable("trans-unit")
    dtb.Columns.Add("source")
    dtb.Columns.Add("target")
    dtb.Rows.Add("Some Text-1", Nothing)
    dtb.Rows.Add("Some Text-2", Nothing)
    dtb.Rows.Add("Some Text-3", Nothing)
    dtb.Rows.Add("Some Text-4", Nothing)
    Return dtb
  End Function

  Private Function DataTableToXmlDocument(dtb As DataTable, rootNode As String) As XmlDocument
    Dim xdc = New XmlDocument()
    xdc.AppendChild(xdc.CreateXmlDeclaration("1.0", "utf-8", "no"))
    xdc.AppendChild(xdc.CreateElement(rootNode))
    For Each drw As DataRow In dtb.Rows
      Dim currentNode = xdc.DocumentElement.AppendChild(xdc.CreateElement(dtb.TableName))
      For i = 0 To dtb.Columns.Count - 1
        Dim currentElement = currentNode.AppendChild(xdc.CreateElement(dtb.Columns(i).ColumnName))
        If drw(i) IsNot DBNull.Value Then
          currentElement.AppendChild(xdc.CreateTextNode(drw(i)))
        End If
      Next i
    Next drw
    Return xdc
  End Function

ElektroStudios · Accepted Answer · 2025-11-12 12:57:57Z

Adapt your Datatable and use a DataSet:

Dim dt As New DataTable("trans-unit")
dt.Columns.Add("source", GetType(String))
dt.Columns.Add("target", GetType(String))

dt.Rows.Add("Some Text-1", String.Empty)
dt.Rows.Add("Some Text-2", String.Empty)
dt.Rows.Add("Some Text-3", String.Empty)

Dim ds As New DataSet("body")
ds.Tables.Add(dt)

Use the XmlWriter class as follows:

Imports System.Text
Imports System.Xml

Dim settings As New XmlWriterSettings With {
    .Indent = True,
    .Encoding = New UTF8Encoding(False),
    .OmitXmlDeclaration = False
}

Using writer As XmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create("output.xml", settings)

    writer.WriteStartDocument()
    ds.WriteXml(writer, XmlWriteMode.IgnoreSchema)
End Using

The generated output.xml content will look as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<body>
  <trans-unit>
    <source>Some Text-1</source>
    <target></target>
  </trans-unit>
  <trans-unit>
    <source>Some Text-2</source>
    <target></target>
  </trans-unit>
  <trans-unit>
    <source>Some Text-3</source>
    <target></target>
  </trans-unit>
</body>

The only disappoint with the code above is that does not generate autoclosed elements (<target />).

If you really require it, simply do these little changes:

Using writer As XmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create("output.xml", settings)

    writer.WriteStartDocument()
    writer.WriteRaw(Environment.NewLine)
    writer.WriteRaw(ds.GetXml())
End Using

Then the generated output.xml content will look as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<body>
  <trans-unit>
    <source>Some Text-1</source>
    <target />
  </trans-unit>
  <trans-unit>
    <source>Some Text-2</source>
    <target />
  </trans-unit>
  <trans-unit>
    <source>Some Text-3</source>
    <target />
  </trans-unit>
</body>

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