XmlDocument.CloneNode(Boolean) Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Xml

Assembly:

System.Xml.ReaderWriter.dll

Source:

XmlDocument.cs

Creates a duplicate of this node.

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

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

override this.CloneNode : bool -> System.Xml.XmlNode

Public Overrides 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 XmlDocument node.

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()
{
   
   //Create the XmlDocument.
   XmlDocument^ doc = gcnew XmlDocument;
   doc->LoadXml( "<book genre='novel' ISBN='1-861001-57-5'><title>Pride And Prejudice</title></book>" );
   
   //Create a deep clone.  The cloned node 
   //includes the child node.
   XmlDocument^ deep = dynamic_cast<XmlDocument^>(doc->CloneNode( true ));
   Console::WriteLine( deep->ChildNodes->Count );
   
   //Create a shallow clone.  The cloned node does not 
   //include the child node.
   XmlDocument^ shallow = dynamic_cast<XmlDocument^>(doc->CloneNode( false ));
   Console::WriteLine( "{0}{1}", shallow->Name, shallow->OuterXml );
   Console::WriteLine( shallow->ChildNodes->Count );
}

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

public class Sample
{
  public static void Main()
  {
    //Create the XmlDocument.
    XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
    doc.LoadXml("<book genre='novel' ISBN='1-861001-57-5'>" +
                "<title>Pride And Prejudice</title>" +
                "</book>");

    //Create a deep clone.  The cloned node
    //includes the child node.
    XmlDocument deep = (XmlDocument) doc.CloneNode(true);
    Console.WriteLine(deep.ChildNodes.Count);

    //Create a shallow clone.  The cloned node does not
    //include the child node.
    XmlDocument shallow = (XmlDocument) doc.CloneNode(false);
    Console.WriteLine(shallow.Name + shallow.OuterXml);
    Console.WriteLine(shallow.ChildNodes.Count);
  }
}

Option Explicit
Option Strict

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Sample
    
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        'Create the XmlDocument.
        Dim doc As New XmlDocument()
        doc.LoadXml("<book genre='novel' ISBN='1-861001-57-5'>"  & _
                    "<title>Pride And Prejudice</title>"  & _
                    "</book>")
        
        'Create a deep clone.  The cloned node 
        'includes the child node.
        Dim deep As XmlDocument = CType(doc.CloneNode(True), XmlDocument)
        Console.WriteLine(deep.ChildNodes.Count)
        
        'Create a shallow clone.  The cloned node does not 
        'include the child node.
        Dim shallow As XmlDocument = CType(doc.CloneNode(False), XmlDocument)
        Console.WriteLine(shallow.Name + shallow.OuterXml)
        Console.WriteLine(shallow.ChildNodes.Count)
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

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

If deep is true, the cloned node includes all the child nodes, otherwise only the XmlDocument node is cloned. See the XmlNode.CloneNode method to see how this method behaves on other node types.