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How to find a list of child elements (LINQ to XML)

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This article compares the XPath child elements axis to the LINQ to XML Elements axis.

Example: Find all child elements of an element

This example finds all of the child elements of the Address element in XML document Sample XML file: Multiple purchase orders.

The XPath expression is: ./*

XDocument cpo = XDocument.Load("PurchaseOrders.xml");
XElement po = cpo.Root.Element("PurchaseOrder").Element("Address");

// LINQ to XML query
IEnumerable<XElement> list1 = po.Elements();

// XPath expression
IEnumerable<XElement> list2 = po.XPathSelectElements("./*");

if (list1.Count() == list2.Count() &&
        list1.Intersect(list2).Count() == list1.Count())
    Console.WriteLine("Results are identical");
else
    Console.WriteLine("Results differ");
foreach (XElement el in list1)
    Console.WriteLine(el);

Dim cpo As XDocument = XDocument.Load("PurchaseOrders.xml")
Dim po As XElement = cpo.Root.<PurchaseOrder>.<Address>.FirstOrDefault

' LINQ to XML query
Dim list1 As IEnumerable(Of XElement) = po.Elements()

' XPath expression
Dim list2 As IEnumerable(Of XElement) = po.XPathSelectElements("./*")

If (list1.Count() = list2.Count()) AndAlso _
    (list1.Intersect(list2).Count() = list1.Count()) Then
    Console.WriteLine("Results are identical")
Else
    Console.WriteLine("Results differ")
End If
For Each el As XElement In list1
    Console.WriteLine(el)
Next

This example produces the following output:

Results are identical
<Name>Ellen Adams</Name>
<Street>123 Maple Street</Street>
<City>Mill Valley</City>
<State>CA</State>
<Zip>10999</Zip>
<Country>USA</Country>

See also