XmlValidatingReader.ReadString Method

Definition

Reads the contents of an element or text node as a string.

public:
 override System::String ^ ReadString();
public override string ReadString ();
override this.ReadString : unit -> string
Public Overrides Function ReadString () As String

Returns

The contents of the element or text node. This can be an empty string if the reader is positioned on something other than an element or text node, or if there is no more text content to return in the current context.

Examples

The following example displays the text content of each of the elements.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
int main()
{
   XmlTextReader^ txtreader = nullptr;
   XmlValidatingReader^ reader = nullptr;
   try
   {
      
      //Implement the readers.
      txtreader = gcnew XmlTextReader( "elems.xml" );
      reader = gcnew XmlValidatingReader( txtreader );
      
      //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();
   }

}

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

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

    try
    {
       //Implement the readers.
       txtreader = new XmlTextReader("elems.xml");
       reader = new XmlValidatingReader(txtreader);

       //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
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Sample
   
   Public Shared Sub Main()
      Dim txtreader As XmlTextReader = Nothing
      Dim reader As XmlValidatingReader = Nothing
      
      Try
         'Implement the readers.
         txtreader = New XmlTextReader("elems.xml")
         reader = New XmlValidatingReader(txtreader)
         
         '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
End Class

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

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

Remarks

The text node can be either an element or an attribute text node.

Note

The XmlValidatingReader class is obsolete in .NET Framework 2.0. You can create a validating XmlReader instance by using the XmlReaderSettings class and the Create method. For more information, see the Remarks section of the XmlReader reference page.

If positioned on an element, ReadString concatenates all text, significant white space, white space, and CDATA section node types together and returns the concatenated data as the element content. The reader stops when any markup is encountered, including comments and processing instructions. This could occur in a mixed content model, or when an element end tag is read.

If positioned on a text node, ReadString performs the same concatenation from the text node to the element end tag. If the reader is positioned on an attribute text node, ReadString has the same functionality as if the reader were position on the element start tag. It returns all the concatenated element text nodes.

The EntityHandling property determines how ReadString works as follows:

Value Description
ExpandEntities Returns expanded character and general entities. This is the default.
ExpandCharEntities Returns the text content up to but not including a general entity reference. This means a general entity causes ReadString to stop. You must call Read to step over the entity reference.

Applies to

See also