How to: Filter on Element Names (LINQ to XML)
When you call one of the methods that return IEnumerable<T> of XElement, you can filter on the element name.
Example
This example retrieves a collection of descendants that is filtered to contain only descendants with the specified name.
This example uses the following XML document: Sample XML File: Typical Purchase Order (LINQ to XML).
XElement po = XElement.Load("PurchaseOrder.xml");
IEnumerable<XElement> items =
from el in po.Descendants("ProductName")
select el;
foreach(XElement prdName in items)
Console.WriteLine(prdName.Name + ":" + (string) prdName);
Dim po As XElement = XElement.Load("PurchaseOrder.xml")
Dim items As IEnumerable(Of XElement) = _
From el In po...<ProductName> _
Select el
For Each prdName As XElement In items
Console.WriteLine(prdName.Name.ToString & ":" & prdName.Value)
Next
This code produces the following output:
ProductName:Lawnmower
ProductName:Baby Monitor
The other methods that return IEnumerable<T> of XElement collections follow the same pattern. Their signatures are similar to Elements and Descendants. The following is the complete list of methods that have similar method signatures:
The following example shows the same query for XML that is in a namespace. For more information, see Working with XML Namespaces.
This example uses the following XML document: Sample XML File: Typical Purchase Order in a Namespace.
XNamespace aw = "https://www.adventure-works.com";
XElement po = XElement.Load("PurchaseOrderInNamespace.xml");
IEnumerable<XElement> items =
from el in po.Descendants(aw + "ProductName")
select el;
foreach (XElement prdName in items)
Console.WriteLine(prdName.Name + ":" + (string)prdName);
Imports <xmlns:aw="https://www.adventure-works.com">
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim po As XElement = XElement.Load("PurchaseOrderInNamespace.xml")
Dim items As IEnumerable(Of XElement) = _
From el In po...<aw:ProductName> _
Select el
For Each prdName As XElement In items
Console.WriteLine(prdName.Name.ToString & ":" & prdName.Value)
Next
End Sub
End Module
This code produces the following output:
{https://www.adventure-works.com}ProductName:Lawnmower
{https://www.adventure-works.com}ProductName:Baby Monitor