XmlTextReader.Read Method (System.Xml)

Read Method

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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..::.Read Method

Reads the next node from the stream.

Namespace: System.Xml
Assembly: System.Xml (in System.Xml.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Overrides Function Read As Boolean

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As XmlTextReader
Dim returnValue As Boolean

returnValue = instance.Read()

public override bool Read()

Visual C++

public:
virtual bool Read() override

JScript

public override function Read() : boolean

Return Value

Type: System..::.Boolean
true if the next node was read successfully; false if there are no more nodes to read.

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
XmlException	An error occurred while parsing the XML.

Remarks

Note:
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.

When a reader is first created and initialized, there is no information available. You must call Read to read the first node.

This method requires at least four bytes from the data stream in order to begin parsing. If fewer than four bytes are returned and there is no more data in the stream, the method will fail. If there is more data in the stream, the method will block parsing until receipt of the fourth byte.

Examples

The following example reads an XML file and displays each node.

Visual Basic

Option Strict
Option Explicit

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

'Reads an XML document
Public Class Sample
    Private Const filename As String = "items.xml"

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

        Try
            ' Load the reader with the data file and ignore all white space nodes.         
            reader = New XmlTextReader(filename)
            reader.WhitespaceHandling = WhitespaceHandling.None

            ' Parse the file and display each of the nodes.
            While reader.Read()
                Select Case reader.NodeType
                    Case XmlNodeType.Element
                        Console.Write("<{0}>", reader.Name)
                    Case XmlNodeType.Text
                        Console.Write(reader.Value)
                    Case XmlNodeType.CDATA
                        Console.Write("<![CDATA[{0}]]>", reader.Value)
                    Case XmlNodeType.ProcessingInstruction
                        Console.Write("<?{0} {1}?>", reader.Name, reader.Value)
                    Case XmlNodeType.Comment
                        Console.Write("<!--{0}-->", reader.Value)
                    Case XmlNodeType.XmlDeclaration
                        Console.Write("<?xml version='1.0'?>")
                    Case XmlNodeType.Document
                    Case XmlNodeType.DocumentType
                        Console.Write("<!DOCTYPE {0} [{1}]", reader.Name, reader.Value)
                    Case XmlNodeType.EntityReference
                        Console.Write(reader.Name)
                    Case XmlNodeType.EndElement
                        Console.Write("</{0}>", reader.Name)
                End Select
            End While

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

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;

public class Sample {

  private const String filename = "items.xml";

  public static void Main() {

     XmlTextReader reader = null;

     try {

        // Load the reader with the data file and ignore all white space nodes.         
        reader = new XmlTextReader(filename);
        reader.WhitespaceHandling = WhitespaceHandling.None;

        // Parse the file and display each of the nodes.
        while (reader.Read()) {
           switch (reader.NodeType) {
             case XmlNodeType.Element:
               Console.Write("<{0}>", reader.Name);
               break;
             case XmlNodeType.Text:
               Console.Write(reader.Value);
               break;
             case XmlNodeType.CDATA:
               Console.Write("<![CDATA[{0}]]>", reader.Value);
               break;
             case XmlNodeType.ProcessingInstruction:
               Console.Write("<?{0} {1}?>", reader.Name, reader.Value);
               break;
             case XmlNodeType.Comment:
               Console.Write("<!--{0}-->", reader.Value);
               break;
             case XmlNodeType.XmlDeclaration:
               Console.Write("<?xml version='1.0'?>");
               break;
             case XmlNodeType.Document:
               break;
             case XmlNodeType.DocumentType:
               Console.Write("<!DOCTYPE {0} [{1}]", reader.Name, reader.Value);
               break;
             case XmlNodeType.EntityReference:
               Console.Write(reader.Name);
               break;
             case XmlNodeType.EndElement:
               Console.Write("</{0}>", reader.Name);
               break;
           }       
        }           
     }

     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;
   String^ filename = "items.xml";
   try
   {

      // Load the reader with the data file and ignore all white space nodes.         
      reader = gcnew XmlTextReader( filename );
      reader->WhitespaceHandling = WhitespaceHandling::None;

      // Parse the file and display each of the nodes.
      while ( reader->Read() )
      {
         switch ( reader->NodeType )
         {
            case XmlNodeType::Element:
               Console::Write( "<{0}>", reader->Name );
               break;

            case XmlNodeType::Text:
               Console::Write( reader->Value );
               break;

            case XmlNodeType::CDATA:
               Console::Write( "<![CDATA[{0}]]>", reader->Value );
               break;

            case XmlNodeType::ProcessingInstruction:
               Console::Write( "<?{0} {1}?>", reader->Name, reader->Value );
               break;

            case XmlNodeType::Comment:
               Console::Write( "<!--{0}-->", reader->Value );
               break;

            case XmlNodeType::XmlDeclaration:
               Console::Write( "<?xml version='1.0'?>" );
               break;

            case XmlNodeType::Document:
               break;

            case XmlNodeType::DocumentType:
               Console::Write( "<!DOCTYPE {0} [{1}]", reader->Name, reader->Value );
               break;

            case XmlNodeType::EntityReference:
               Console::Write( reader->Name );
               break;

            case XmlNodeType::EndElement:
               Console::Write( "</{0}>", reader->Name );
               break;
         }
      }
   }
   finally
   {
      if ( reader != nullptr )
            reader->Close();
   }

}

The sample uses the file items.xml.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- This is a sample XML document -->
<!DOCTYPE Items [<!ENTITY number "123">]>
<Items>
  <Item>Test with an entity: &number;</Item>
  <Item>test with a child element <more/> stuff</Item>
  <Item>test with a CDATA section <![CDATA[<456>]]> def</Item>
  <Item>Test with an char entity: &#65;</Item>
  <!-- Fourteen chars in this element.-->
  <Item>1234567890ABCD</Item>
</Items>

Platforms

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.

Version Information

.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

Reference

XmlTextReader Class

XmlTextReader Members

System.Xml Namespace

EntityHandling

Other Resources

Reading XML with the XmlReader