• Article

XmlReader.ReadElementContentAsString Method

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

Reads the current element and returns the contents as a String object.

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

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Overridable Function ReadElementContentAsString As String

public virtual string ReadElementContentAsString()

Return Value

Type: System.String
The element content as a String object.

Exceptions

Exception Condition
InvalidOperationException

The XmlReader is not positioned on an element.
XmlException

The current element contains child elements.

-or-

The element content cannot be converted to a String object.
ArgumentNullException

The method is called with nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) arguments.

Remarks

This method reads the start tag, the contents of the element, and moves the reader past the end element tag. It expands entities and ignores processing instructions and comments. The element can only contain simple content. That is, it cannot have child elements.

Examples

The following example uses the XmlReader methods to read the content of elements and attributes.

Dim output As StringBuilder = New StringBuilder()

Dim xmlString As String = _
    "<bookstore>" & _
            "<book genre='autobiography' publicationdate='1981-03-22' ISBN='1-861003-11-0'>" & _
                "<title>The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin</title>" & _
                "<author>" & _
                    "<first-name>Benjamin</first-name>" & _
                    "<last-name>Franklin</last-name>" & _
                "</author> " & _
                "<price>8.99</price>" & _
            "</book>" & _
        "</bookstore>"

' Create an XmlReader
Using reader As XmlReader = XmlReader.Create(New StringReader(xmlString))

    reader.ReadToFollowing("book")
    reader.MoveToFirstAttribute()
    Dim genre As String = reader.Value
    output.AppendLine("The genre value: " + genre)

    reader.ReadToFollowing("title")
    output.AppendLine("Content of the title element: " + reader.ReadElementContentAsString())
End Using

OutputTextBlock.Text = output.ToString()

StringBuilder output = new StringBuilder();

String xmlString =
    @"<bookstore>
        <book genre='autobiography' publicationdate='1981-03-22' ISBN='1-861003-11-0'>
            <title>The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin</title>
            <author>
                <first-name>Benjamin</first-name>
                <last-name>Franklin</last-name>
            </author>
            <price>8.99</price>
        </book>
    </bookstore>";

// Create an XmlReader
using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(xmlString)))
{
    reader.ReadToFollowing("book");
    reader.MoveToFirstAttribute();
    string genre = reader.Value;
    output.AppendLine("The genre value: " + genre);

    reader.ReadToFollowing("title");
    output.AppendLine("Content of the title element: " + reader.ReadElementContentAsString());
}

OutputTextBlock.Text = output.ToString();

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.