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.NET Framework 3.5
XmlTextReader Class
 IsEmptyElement Property

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:
.NET Framework Class Library
XmlTextReader..::.IsEmptyElement Property

Gets a value indicating whether the current node is an empty element (for example, <MyElement/>).

Namespace:  System.Xml
Assembly:  System.Xml (in System.Xml.dll)
Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Overrides ReadOnly Property IsEmptyElement As Boolean
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim instance As XmlTextReader
Dim value As Boolean

value = instance.IsEmptyElement
C#
public override bool IsEmptyElement { get; }
Visual C++
public:
virtual property bool IsEmptyElement {
    bool get () override;
}
JScript
public override function get IsEmptyElement () : boolean

Property Value

Type: System..::.Boolean
true if the current node is an element (NodeType equals XmlNodeType.Element) that ends with />; otherwise, false.
NoteNote:

In the .NET Framework version 2.0 release, the recommended practice is to create XmlReader instances using the XmlReader..::.Create method. This allows you to take full advantage of the new features introduced in this release. For more information, see Creating XML Readers.

This property enables you to determine the difference between the following:

<item num="123"/> (IsEmptyElement is true).

<item num="123"> (IsEmptyElement is false, although element content is empty).

A corresponding EndElement node is not generated for empty elements.

IsEmptyElement simply reports whether or not the element in the source document had an end element tag.

The following example displays the text content of each element.

Visual Basic
Option Strict
Option Explicit

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Sample

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim reader As XmlTextReader = Nothing

        Try
            'Load the reader with the XML file.
            reader = New XmlTextReader("elems.xml")

            'Parse the XML and display the text content of each of the elements.
            While reader.Read()
                If reader.IsStartElement() Then
                    If reader.IsEmptyElement Then
                        Console.WriteLine("<{0}/>", reader.Name)
                    Else
                        Console.Write("<{0}>" + " ", reader.Name)
                        reader.Read() 'Read the start tag.
                        If (reader.IsStartElement())  'Handle nested elements.
                          Console.WriteLine()
                          Console.Write("<{0}>", reader.Name)
                        End If
                        Console.WriteLine(reader.ReadString()) 'Read the text content of the element.
                    End If
                End If
            End While


        Finally
            If Not (reader Is Nothing) Then
                reader.Close()
            End If
        End Try
    End Sub 'Main 
End Class 'Sample

C#
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;

public class Sample 
{
  public static void Main()
  {
    XmlTextReader reader = null;

    try
    {
       //Load the reader with the XML file.
       reader = new XmlTextReader("elems.xml");

       //Parse the XML and display the text content of each of the elements.
       while (reader.Read()){
         if (reader.IsStartElement()){
           if (reader.IsEmptyElement)
              Console.WriteLine("<{0}/>", reader.Name);
           else{
               Console.Write("<{0}> ", reader.Name);
               reader.Read(); //Read the start tag.
               if (reader.IsStartElement())  //Handle nested elements.
                 Console.Write("\r\n<{0}>", reader.Name);
               Console.WriteLine(reader.ReadString());  //Read the text content of the element.
           }
         }
       } 

     } 

     finally 
     {
        if (reader != null)
          reader.Close();
      }
  }

} // End class

Visual C++
#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
int main()
{
   XmlTextReader^ reader = nullptr;
   try
   {

      //Load the reader with the XML file.
      reader = gcnew XmlTextReader( "elems.xml" );

      //Parse the XML and display the text content of each of the elements.
      while ( reader->Read() )
      {
         if ( reader->IsStartElement() )
         {
            if ( reader->IsEmptyElement )
                        Console::WriteLine( "<{0}/>", reader->Name );
            else
            {
               Console::Write( "<{0}> ", reader->Name );
               reader->Read(); //Read the start tag.
               if ( reader->IsStartElement() )

               //Handle nested elements.
               Console::Write( "\r\n<{0}>", reader->Name );
               Console::WriteLine( reader->ReadString() ); //Read the text content of the element.
            }
         }
      }
   }
   finally
   {
      if ( reader != nullptr )
            reader->Close();
   }

}


The example uses the file, elems.xml, as input.

<book>
  <title>Pride And Prejudice</title>
  <price>19.95</price>
  <misc/>
</book>

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
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