XmlWriter.WriteStartElement Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Xml

Assembly:

System.Xml.ReaderWriter.dll

When overridden in a derived class, writes the specified start tag.

Overloads

WriteStartElement(String)	When overridden in a derived class, writes out a start tag with the specified local name.
WriteStartElement(String, String)	When overridden in a derived class, writes the specified start tag and associates it with the given namespace.
WriteStartElement(String, String, String)	When overridden in a derived class, writes the specified start tag and associates it with the given namespace and prefix.

Remarks

For the asynchronous version of this method, see WriteStartElementAsync.

WriteStartElement(String)

Source:

XmlWriter.cs

When overridden in a derived class, writes out a start tag with the specified local name.

public:
 void WriteStartElement(System::String ^ localName);

public void WriteStartElement (string localName);

member this.WriteStartElement : string -> unit

Public Sub WriteStartElement (localName As String)

Parameters

localName

String

The local name of the element.

Exceptions

InvalidOperationException

The writer is closed.

-or-

An XmlWriter method was called before a previous asynchronous operation finished. In this case, InvalidOperationException is thrown with the message "An asynchronous operation is already in progress."

EncoderFallbackException

There is a character in the buffer that is a valid XML character but is not valid for the output encoding. For example, if the output encoding is ASCII, you should only use characters from the range of 0 to 127 for element and attribute names. The invalid character might be in the argument of this method or in an argument of previous methods that were writing to the buffer. Such characters are escaped by character entity references when possible (for example, in text nodes or attribute values). However, the character entity reference is not allowed in element and attribute names, comments, processing instructions, or CDATA sections.

Examples

The following example writes an XML node.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
int main()
{
   
   // Create a writer to write XML to the console.
   XmlWriterSettings^ settings = gcnew XmlWriterSettings;
   settings->Indent = true;
   settings->OmitXmlDeclaration = true;
   XmlWriter^ writer = XmlWriter::Create( Console::Out, settings );
   
   // Write the book element.
   writer->WriteStartElement( L"book" );
   
   // Write the title element.
   writer->WriteStartElement( L"title" );
   writer->WriteString( L"Pride And Prejudice" );
   writer->WriteEndElement();
   
   // Write the close tag for the root element.
   writer->WriteEndElement();
   
   // Write the XML and close the writer.
   writer->Close();
   return 1;
}

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

public class Sample {

  public static void Main() {

     // Create a writer to write XML to the console.
     XmlWriterSettings settings = new XmlWriterSettings();
     settings.Indent = true;
     settings.OmitXmlDeclaration = true;
     XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(Console.Out, settings);

     // Write the book element.
     writer.WriteStartElement("book");

     // Write the title element.
     writer.WriteStartElement("title");
     writer.WriteString("Pride And Prejudice");
     writer.WriteEndElement();

     // Write the close tag for the root element.
     writer.WriteEndElement();

     // Write the XML and close the writer.
     writer.Close();
  }
}

Option Explicit
Option Strict

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Sample
    
  Public Shared Sub Main()

     ' Create a writer to write XML to the console.
     Dim settings As XmlWriterSettings = new XmlWriterSettings()
     settings.Indent = true
     settings.OmitXmlDeclaration = true
     Dim writer As XmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create(Console.Out, settings)

     ' Write the book element.
     writer.WriteStartElement("book")
        
     ' Write the title element.
     writer.WriteStartElement("title")
     writer.WriteString("Pride And Prejudice")
     writer.WriteEndElement()
        
     ' Write the close tag for the root element.
     writer.WriteEndElement()
        
     ' Write the XML and close the writer.
     writer.Close()

  End Sub
End Class

Remarks

For the asynchronous version of this method, see WriteStartElementAsync.

WriteStartElement(String, String)

Source:

XmlWriter.cs

When overridden in a derived class, writes the specified start tag and associates it with the given namespace.

public:
 void WriteStartElement(System::String ^ localName, System::String ^ ns);

public void WriteStartElement (string localName, string? ns);

member this.WriteStartElement : string * string -> unit

Public Sub WriteStartElement (localName As String, ns As String)

Parameters

localName

String

The local name of the element.

ns

String

The namespace URI to associate with the element. If this namespace is already in scope and has an associated prefix, the writer automatically writes that prefix also.

Exceptions

InvalidOperationException

The writer is closed.

-or-

An XmlWriter method was called before a previous asynchronous operation finished. In this case, InvalidOperationException is thrown with the message "An asynchronous operation is already in progress."

EncoderFallbackException

There is a character in the buffer that is a valid XML character but is not valid for the output encoding. For example, if the output encoding is ASCII, you should only use characters from the range of 0 to 127 for element and attribute names. The invalid character might be in the argument of this method or in an argument of previous methods that were writing to the buffer. Such characters are escaped by character entity references when possible (for example, in text nodes or attribute values). However, the character entity reference is not allowed in element and attribute names, comments, processing instructions, or CDATA sections.

Remarks

After calling this method you can either write attributes, or create content using WriteComment, WriteString, or WriteStartElement for child elements. You can close the element with either WriteEndElement or WriteFullEndElement. For example, the following C# code:

writer.WriteStartElement("item",null);
writer.WriteString("some text");
writer.WriteEndElement();

Generates the following output:

<item>some text</item>

For the asynchronous version of this method, see WriteStartElementAsync.

WriteStartElement(String, String, String)

Source:

XmlWriter.cs

When overridden in a derived class, writes the specified start tag and associates it with the given namespace and prefix.

public:
 abstract void WriteStartElement(System::String ^ prefix, System::String ^ localName, System::String ^ ns);

public abstract void WriteStartElement (string? prefix, string localName, string? ns);

abstract member WriteStartElement : string * string * string -> unit

Public MustOverride Sub WriteStartElement (prefix As String, localName As String, ns As String)

Parameters

prefix

String

The namespace prefix of the element.

localName

String

The local name of the element.

ns

String

The namespace URI to associate with the element.

Exceptions

InvalidOperationException

The writer is closed.

-or-

An XmlWriter method was called before a previous asynchronous operation finished. In this case, InvalidOperationException is thrown with the message "An asynchronous operation is already in progress."

EncoderFallbackException

There is a character in the buffer that is a valid XML character but is not valid for the output encoding. For example, if the output encoding is ASCII, you should only use characters from the range of 0 to 127 for element and attribute names. The invalid character might be in the argument of this method or in an argument of previous methods that were writing to the buffer. Such characters are escaped by character entity references when possible (for example, in text nodes or attribute values). However, the character entity reference is not allowed in element and attribute names, comments, processing instructions, or CDATA sections.

Examples

The following example writes out an XML fragment.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
public ref class Sample
{
private:
   static String^ m_Document = L"sampledata.xml";

public:
   static void Main()
   {
      XmlWriter^ writer = nullptr;
      try
      {
         XmlWriterSettings^ settings = gcnew XmlWriterSettings;
         settings->Indent = true;
         writer = XmlWriter::Create( m_Document,settings );
         writer->WriteComment( L"sample XML fragment" );
         
         // Write an element (this one is the root).
         writer->WriteStartElement( L"book" );
         
         // Write the namespace declaration.
         writer->WriteAttributeString( L"xmlns", L"bk", nullptr, L"urn:samples" );
         
         // Write the genre attribute.
         writer->WriteAttributeString( L"genre", L"novel" );
         
         // Write the title.
         writer->WriteStartElement( L"title" );
         writer->WriteString( L"The Handmaid's Tale" );
         writer->WriteEndElement();
         
         // Write the price.
         writer->WriteElementString( L"price", L"19.95" );
         
         // Lookup the prefix and write the ISBN element.
         String^ prefix = writer->LookupPrefix( L"urn:samples" );
         writer->WriteStartElement( prefix, L"ISBN", L"urn:samples" );
         writer->WriteString( L"1-861003-78" );
         writer->WriteEndElement();
         
         // Write the style element (shows a different way to handle prefixes).
         writer->WriteElementString( L"style", L"urn:samples", L"hardcover" );
         
         // Write the close tag for the root element.
         writer->WriteEndElement();
         
         // Write the XML to file and close the writer.
         writer->Flush();
         writer->Close();
      }
      finally
      {
         if ( writer != nullptr )
                  writer->Close();
      }

   }

};

void main()
{
   Sample::Main();
}

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

 public class Sample
 {
   private const string m_Document = "sampledata.xml";

   public static void Main() {

      XmlWriter writer = null;

      try {

        XmlWriterSettings settings = new XmlWriterSettings();
        settings.Indent = true;
        writer = XmlWriter.Create (m_Document, settings);

        writer.WriteComment("sample XML fragment");

        // Write an element (this one is the root).
        writer.WriteStartElement("book");

        // Write the namespace declaration.
        writer.WriteAttributeString("xmlns", "bk", null, "urn:samples");

        // Write the genre attribute.
        writer.WriteAttributeString("genre", "novel");

        // Write the title.
        writer.WriteStartElement("title");
        writer.WriteString("The Handmaid's Tale");
        writer.WriteEndElement();

        // Write the price.
        writer.WriteElementString("price", "19.95");

        // Lookup the prefix and write the ISBN element.
        string prefix = writer.LookupPrefix("urn:samples");
        writer.WriteStartElement(prefix, "ISBN", "urn:samples");
        writer.WriteString("1-861003-78");
        writer.WriteEndElement();

        // Write the style element (shows a different way to handle prefixes).
        writer.WriteElementString("style", "urn:samples", "hardcover");

        // Write the close tag for the root element.
        writer.WriteEndElement();

        // Write the XML to file and close the writer.
        writer.Flush();
        writer.Close();
      }

      finally {
        if (writer != null)
           writer.Close();
     }
   }
 }

Option Strict
Option Explicit

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Sample
    Private Shared m_Document As String = "sampledata.xml"
    
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim writer As XmlWriter = Nothing
        
      Try

        Dim settings As XmlWriterSettings = new XmlWriterSettings()
        settings.Indent = true
        writer = XmlWriter.Create (m_Document, settings)
            
        writer.WriteComment("sample XML fragment")
            
        ' Write an element (this one is the root).
        writer.WriteStartElement("book")
            
        ' Write the namespace declaration.
        writer.WriteAttributeString("xmlns", "bk", Nothing, "urn:samples")
            
        ' Write the genre attribute.
        writer.WriteAttributeString("genre", "novel")
            
        ' Write the title.
        writer.WriteStartElement("title")
        writer.WriteString("The Handmaid's Tale")
        writer.WriteEndElement()
            
        ' Write the price.
        writer.WriteElementString("price", "19.95")
            
        ' Lookup the prefix and write the ISBN element.
        Dim prefix As String = writer.LookupPrefix("urn:samples")
        writer.WriteStartElement(prefix, "ISBN", "urn:samples")
        writer.WriteString("1-861003-78")
        writer.WriteEndElement()
            
        ' Write the style element (shows a different way to handle prefixes).
        writer.WriteElementString("style", "urn:samples", "hardcover")
            
        ' Write the close tag for the root element.
        writer.WriteEndElement()
            
        ' Write the XML to file and close the writer.
        writer.Flush()
        writer.Close()
        
        Finally
            If Not (writer Is Nothing) Then
                writer.Close()
            End If
        End Try

    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

For the asynchronous version of this method, see WriteStartElementAsync.