XContainer.Element(XName) Method

Definition

Gets the first (in document order) child element with the specified XName.

public:
 System::Xml::Linq::XElement ^ Element(System::Xml::Linq::XName ^ name);
public System.Xml.Linq.XElement Element (System.Xml.Linq.XName name);
public System.Xml.Linq.XElement? Element (System.Xml.Linq.XName name);
member this.Element : System.Xml.Linq.XName -> System.Xml.Linq.XElement
Public Function Element (name As XName) As XElement

Parameters

name
XName

The XName to match.

Returns

A XElement that matches the specified XName, or null.

Examples

The following example shows two uses of this method. In one case, the method finds the element in srcTree. In the second case, the method does not find the element in the source tree, no element is added to xmlTree, and no exception is thrown.

Note that the Visual Basic example uses the child XML property. It is also allowable to use the Element method directly in Visual Basic.

XElement srcTree = new XElement("Root",  
    new XElement("Element1", 1),  
    new XElement("Element2", 2),  
    new XElement("Element3", 3),  
    new XElement("Element4", 4),  
    new XElement("Element5", 5)  
);  
XElement xmlTree = new XElement("Root",  
    new XElement("Child1", 1),  
    new XElement("Child2", 2),  
    new XElement("Child3", 3),  
    new XElement("Child4", 4),  
    new XElement("Child5", 5),  
    srcTree.Element("Element3"),  
    // Even though Element9 does not exist in srcTree, the following line  
    // will not throw an exception.  
    srcTree.Element("Element9")  
);  
Console.WriteLine(xmlTree);  
Dim srcTree As XElement = _   
        <Root>  
            <Element1>1</Element1>  
            <Element2>2</Element2>  
            <Element3>3</Element3>  
            <Element4>4</Element4>  
            <Element5>5</Element5>  
        </Root>  

Dim xmlTree As XElement = _  
        <Root>  
            <Child1>1</Child1>  
            <Child2>2</Child2>  
            <Child3>3</Child3>  
            <Child4>4</Child4>  
            <Child5>5</Child5>  
            <%= srcTree.<Element3> %>  
            <%= srcTree.<Element9> %>  
        </Root>  

' Even though Element9 does not exist in srcTree, adding it to the tree  
' will not throw an exception.  

Console.WriteLine(xmlTree)  

This example produces the following output:

<Root>  
  <Child1>1</Child1>  
  <Child2>2</Child2>  
  <Child3>3</Child3>  
  <Child4>4</Child4>  
  <Child5>5</Child5>  
  <Element3>3</Element3>  
</Root>  

The following is the same example, but in this case the XML is in a namespace. For more information, see Work with XML Namespaces.

XNamespace aw = "http://www.adventure-works.com";  
XElement srcTree = new XElement(aw + "Root",  
    new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "aw", "http://www.adventure-works.com"),  
    new XElement(aw + "Element1", 1),  
    new XElement(aw + "Element2", 2),  
    new XElement(aw + "Element3", 3),  
    new XElement(aw + "Element4", 4),  
    new XElement(aw + "Element5", 5)  
);  
XElement xmlTree = new XElement(aw + "Root",  
    new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "aw", "http://www.adventure-works.com"),  
    new XElement(aw + "Child1", 1),  
    new XElement(aw + "Child2", 2),  
    new XElement(aw + "Child3", 3),  
    new XElement(aw + "Child4", 4),  
    new XElement(aw + "Child5", 5),  
    srcTree.Element(aw + "Element3"),  
    // Even though Element9 does not exist in srcTree, the following line  
    // will not throw an exception.  
    srcTree.Element(aw + "Element9")  
);  
Console.WriteLine(xmlTree);  
Imports <xmlns:aw="http://www.adventure-works.com">  

Module Module1  
    Sub Main()  
        Dim srcTree As XElement = _   
            <aw:Root>  
                <aw:Element1>1</aw:Element1>  
                <aw:Element2>2</aw:Element2>  
                <aw:Element3>3</aw:Element3>  
                <aw:Element4>4</aw:Element4>  
                <aw:Element5>5</aw:Element5>  
            </aw:Root>  

        Dim xmlTree As XElement = _  
            <aw:Root>  
                <aw:Child1>1</aw:Child1>  
                <aw:Child2>2</aw:Child2>  
                <aw:Child3>3</aw:Child3>  
                <aw:Child4>4</aw:Child4>  
                <aw:Child5>5</aw:Child5>  
                <%= srcTree.<aw:Element3> %>  
                <%= srcTree.<aw:Element9> %>  
            </aw:Root>  

        ' Even though Element9 does not exist in srcTree, adding it to the tree  
        ' will not throw an exception.  

        Console.WriteLine(xmlTree)  
    End Sub  
End Module  

This example produces the following output:

<aw:Root xmlns:aw="http://www.adventure-works.com">  
  <aw:Child1>1</aw:Child1>  
  <aw:Child2>2</aw:Child2>  
  <aw:Child3>3</aw:Child3>  
  <aw:Child4>4</aw:Child4>  
  <aw:Child5>5</aw:Child5>  
  <aw:Element3>3</aw:Element3>  
</aw:Root>  

Remarks

Returns null if there is no element with the specified name.

Some axis methods return collections of elements or attributes. This method returns only a single element.

This method returns null if the element with the specified name is not found. All of the methods that allow you to construct elements (the constructor of XElement, Add, and so on) accept null as a valid argument. This allows you to use a convenient idiom: you can call this method as part of functional construction, and the element is added to the XML tree being constructed if and only if the element exists in the source tree. The following example shows this idiom.

In contrast to Elements, this method is not an axis method. It does not use deferred execution; it simply returns an element when called.

Applies to

See also