XmlValidatingReader.EntityHandling Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Xml

Assembly:

System.Xml.ReaderWriter.dll

Source:

XmlValidatingReader.cs

Gets or sets a value that specifies how the reader handles entities.

public:
 property System::Xml::EntityHandling EntityHandling { System::Xml::EntityHandling get(); void set(System::Xml::EntityHandling value); };

public System.Xml.EntityHandling EntityHandling { get; set; }

member this.EntityHandling : System.Xml.EntityHandling with get, set

Public Property EntityHandling As EntityHandling

Property Value

EntityHandling

One of the EntityHandling values. If no EntityHandling is specified, it defaults to EntityHandling.ExpandEntities.

Exceptions

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

Invalid value was specified.

Examples

The following example uses the ResolveEntity method to expand a general entity.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
int main()
{
   XmlValidatingReader^ reader = nullptr;
   XmlTextReader^ txtreader = nullptr;
   try
   {
      
      //Create and load the XmlTextReader with the XML file. 
      txtreader = gcnew XmlTextReader( "book1.xml" );
      txtreader->WhitespaceHandling = WhitespaceHandling::None;
      
      //Create the XmlValidatingReader over the XmlTextReader.
      //Set the reader to not expand general entities.
      reader = gcnew XmlValidatingReader( txtreader );
      reader->ValidationType = ValidationType::None;
      reader->EntityHandling = EntityHandling::ExpandCharEntities;
      reader->MoveToContent(); //Move to the root element.
      reader->Read(); //Move to title start tag.
      reader->Skip(); //Skip the title element.
      
      //Read the misc start tag.  The reader is now positioned on
      //the entity reference node.
      reader->ReadStartElement();
      
      //Because EntityHandling is set to ExpandCharEntities, you must call 
      //ResolveEntity to expand the entity.  The entity replacement text is 
      //then parsed and returned as a child node.         
      Console::WriteLine( "Expand the entity..." );
      reader->ResolveEntity();
      Console::WriteLine( "The entity replacement text is returned as a text node." );
      reader->Read();
      Console::WriteLine( "NodeType: {0} Value: {1}", reader->NodeType, reader->Value );
      Console::WriteLine( "An EndEntity node closes the entity reference scope." );
      reader->Read();
      Console::WriteLine( "NodeType: {0} Name: {1}", reader->NodeType, reader->Name );
   }
   finally
   {
      if ( reader != nullptr )
            reader->Close();
   }

}

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

public class Sample
{
  public static void Main()
  {
     XmlValidatingReader reader = null;
     XmlTextReader txtreader = null;

     try
     {
       //Create and load the XmlTextReader with the XML file.
       txtreader = new XmlTextReader("book1.xml");
       txtreader.WhitespaceHandling = WhitespaceHandling.None;

       //Create the XmlValidatingReader over the XmlTextReader.
       //Set the reader to not expand general entities.
       reader = new XmlValidatingReader(txtreader);
       reader.ValidationType = ValidationType.None;
       reader.EntityHandling = EntityHandling.ExpandCharEntities;

       reader.MoveToContent();  //Move to the root element.
       reader.Read();  //Move to title start tag.
       reader.Skip();  //Skip the title element.

       //Read the misc start tag.  The reader is now positioned on
       //the entity reference node.
       reader.ReadStartElement();

       //Because EntityHandling is set to ExpandCharEntities, you must call
       //ResolveEntity to expand the entity.  The entity replacement text is
       //then parsed and returned as a child node.
       Console.WriteLine("Expand the entity...");
       reader.ResolveEntity();

       Console.WriteLine("The entity replacement text is returned as a text node.");
       reader.Read();
       Console.WriteLine("NodeType: {0} Value: {1}", reader.NodeType ,reader.Value);

       Console.WriteLine("An EndEntity node closes the entity reference scope.");
       reader.Read();
       Console.WriteLine("NodeType: {0} Name: {1}", reader.NodeType,reader.Name);
    }
    finally
    {
       if (reader != null)
         reader.Close();
    }
  }
}

Option Strict
Option Explicit

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Sample
   
   Public Shared Sub Main()
      Dim reader As XmlValidatingReader = Nothing
      Dim txtreader As XmlTextReader = Nothing
      
      Try
         'Create and load the XmlTextReader with the XML file. 
         txtreader = New XmlTextReader("book1.xml")
         txtreader.WhitespaceHandling = WhitespaceHandling.None
         
         'Create the XmlValidatingReader over the XmlTextReader.
         'Set the reader to not expand general entities.
         reader = New XmlValidatingReader(txtreader)
         reader.ValidationType = ValidationType.None
         reader.EntityHandling = EntityHandling.ExpandCharEntities
         
         reader.MoveToContent() 'Move to the root element.
         reader.Read() 'Move to title start tag.
         reader.Skip() 'Skip the title element.
         'Read the misc start tag.  The reader is now positioned on
         'the entity reference node.
         reader.ReadStartElement()
         
         'Because EntityHandling is set to ExpandCharEntities, you must call 
         'ResolveEntity to expand the entity.  The entity replacement text is 
         'then parsed and returned as a child node.  
         Console.WriteLine("Expand the entity...")
         reader.ResolveEntity()
         
         Console.WriteLine("The entity replacement text is returned as a text node.")
         reader.Read()
         Console.WriteLine("NodeType: {0} Value: {1}", reader.NodeType, reader.Value)
         
         Console.WriteLine("An EndEntity node closes the entity reference scope.")
         reader.Read()
         Console.WriteLine("NodeType: {0} Name: {1}", reader.NodeType, reader.Name)
      
      Finally
         If Not (reader Is Nothing) Then
            reader.Close()
         End If
      End Try
   End Sub
End Class

The example uses the file, book1.xml, as input.

<?xml version='1.0' ?>
<!DOCTYPE book [<!ENTITY h 'hardcover'>]>
<book>
  <title>Pride And Prejudice</title>
  <misc>&h;</misc>
</book>

Remarks

Note

The XmlValidatingReader class is obsolete in .NET Framework 2.0. You can create a validating XmlReader instance by using the XmlReaderSettings class and the Create method. For more information, see the Remarks section of the XmlReader reference page.

This property can be changed and takes effect after the next Read call.

When EntityHandling is set to ExpandCharEntities, attribute values are only partially normalized. The reader normalizes each individual text node independently from the content of adjacent entity reference nodes.

To illustrate the difference between the entity handling modes consider the following XML:

<!DOCTYPE doc [<!ENTITY num "123">]>
 <doc> &#65; &num; </doc>

When EntityHandling is set to ExpandEntities the "doc" element node contains one text node with the expanded entity text:

Depth	NodeType	Name	Value
1	Text		A 123

When EntityHandling is set to ExpandCharEntities, and WhitespaceHandling is set to Significant or All, the "doc" element expands the character entity and returns the general entity as a node:

Depth	NodeType	Name	Value
1	Text		A
1	EntityReference	num
1	SignificantWhitespace

See also

• XmlReader