XmlNode.CloneNode(Boolean) Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Xml

Assembly:

System.Xml.ReaderWriter.dll

Source:

XmlNode.cs

Creates a duplicate of the node, when overridden in a derived class.

public:
 abstract System::Xml::XmlNode ^ CloneNode(bool deep);

public abstract System.Xml.XmlNode CloneNode (bool deep);

abstract member CloneNode : bool -> System.Xml.XmlNode

Public MustOverride Function CloneNode (deep As Boolean) As XmlNode

Parameters

deep

Boolean

true to recursively clone the subtree under the specified node; false to clone only the node itself.

Returns

XmlNode

The cloned node.

Exceptions

InvalidOperationException

Calling this method on a node type that cannot be cloned.

Examples

The following example shows the difference between a deep and shallow clone.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
int main()
{
   XmlDocument^ doc = gcnew XmlDocument;
   doc->LoadXml( "<book ISBN='1-861001-57-5'>"
   "<title>Pride And Prejudice</title>"
   "<price>19.95</price>"
   "</book>" );
   XmlNode^ root = doc->FirstChild;
   
   //Create a deep clone.  The cloned node 
   //includes the child nodes.
   XmlNode^ deep = root->CloneNode( true );
   Console::WriteLine( deep->OuterXml );
   
   //Create a shallow clone.  The cloned node does not 
   //include the child nodes, but does include its attribute.
   XmlNode^ shallow = root->CloneNode( false );
   Console::WriteLine( shallow->OuterXml );
}

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

public class Sample {

  public static void Main() {

    XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
    doc.LoadXml("<book ISBN='1-861001-57-5'>" +
                "<title>Pride And Prejudice</title>" +
                "<price>19.95</price>" +
                "</book>");

    XmlNode root = doc.FirstChild;

    //Create a deep clone.  The cloned node
    //includes the child nodes.
    XmlNode deep = root.CloneNode(true);
    Console.WriteLine(deep.OuterXml);

    //Create a shallow clone.  The cloned node does not
    //include the child nodes, but does include its attribute.
    XmlNode shallow = root.CloneNode(false);
    Console.WriteLine(shallow.OuterXml);
  }
}

Option Explicit
Option Strict

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Sample
    
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        
        Dim doc As New XmlDocument()
        doc.LoadXml("<book ISBN='1-861001-57-5'>" & _
                    "<title>Pride And Prejudice</title>" & _
                    "<price>19.95</price>" & _
                    "</book>")
        
        Dim root As XmlNode = doc.FirstChild
        
        'Create a deep clone.  The cloned node 
        'includes the child nodes.
        Dim deep As XmlNode = root.CloneNode(True)
        Console.WriteLine(deep.OuterXml)
        
        'Create a shallow clone.  The cloned node does not 
        'include the child nodes, but does include its attribute.
        Dim shallow As XmlNode = root.CloneNode(False)
        Console.WriteLine(shallow.OuterXml)
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

This method serves as a copy constructor for nodes. The duplicate node has no parent (ParentNode returns null).

The following table describes the specific behavior for each XmlNodeType.

XmlNodeType	CloneNode(true)	CloneNode(false)
Attribute	Clones the attribute node, including child nodes.	Clones the attribute node, including child nodes.
CData	Clones the CData node, including its data content.	Clones the CData node, including its data content.
Comment	Clones the comment node, including its text content.	Clones the comment node, including its text content.
Document	Clones the document node, including any child nodes.	Clones the document node.
DocumentFragment	Clones the document fragment node, including any child nodes.	Clones the document fragment node.
DocumentType	Clones the document type node.	Clones the document type node.
Element	Clones the element node, its attributes, and any child nodes.	Clones the element node and its attributes, including any default attributes.
Entity	Entity nodes cannot be cloned.	Entity nodes cannot be cloned.
EntityReference	Clones the entity reference node. The replacement text is not included.	Clones the entity reference node. The replacement text is not included.
Notation	Notation nodes cannot be cloned.	Notation nodes cannot be cloned.
ProcessingInstruction	Clones the processing instruction node, including its target and data.	Clones the processing instruction node, including its target and data.
SignificantWhitespace	Clones the significant white space node, including its data value.	Clones the significant white space node, including its data value.
Text	Clones the text node, including its data value.	Clones the text node, including its data value.
Whitespace	Clones the white space node, including its data value.	Clones the white space node, including its data value.
XmlDeclaration	Clones the XmlDeclaration node, including its data value.	Clones the XmlDeclaration node, including its data value.
All other node types.	These node types cannot be cloned.	These node types cannot be cloned.