How to: Generate Text Files from XML
This example shows how to generate a comma-separated values (CSV) file from an XML file.
Example
The C# version of this example uses method syntax and the Aggregate operator to generate a CSV file from an XML document in a single expression. For more information, see Query Syntax and Method Syntax in LINQ (C#).
The Visual Basic version uses procedural code to aggregate the collection of strings into a single string.
This example uses the following XML document: Sample XML File: Customers and Orders (LINQ to XML).
XElement custOrd = XElement.Load("CustomersOrders.xml");
string csv =
(from el in custOrd.Element("Customers").Elements("Customer")
select
String.Format("{0},{1},{2},{3},{4},{5},{6},{7},{8},{9}{10}",
(string)el.Attribute("CustomerID"),
(string)el.Element("CompanyName"),
(string)el.Element("ContactName"),
(string)el.Element("ContactTitle"),
(string)el.Element("Phone"),
(string)el.Element("FullAddress").Element("Address"),
(string)el.Element("FullAddress").Element("City"),
(string)el.Element("FullAddress").Element("Region"),
(string)el.Element("FullAddress").Element("PostalCode"),
(string)el.Element("FullAddress").Element("Country"),
Environment.NewLine
)
)
.Aggregate(
new StringBuilder(),
(sb, s) => sb.Append(s),
sb => sb.ToString()
);
Console.WriteLine(csv);
Dim custOrd As XElement = XElement.Load("CustomersOrders.xml")
Dim strCollection As IEnumerable(Of String) = _
From el In custOrd.<Customers>.<Customer> _
Select _
String.Format("{0},{1},{2},{3},{4},{5},{6},{7},{8},{9}{10}", _
el.@CustomerID, _
el.<CompanyName>.Value, _
el.<ContactName>.Value, _
el.<ContactTitle>.Value, _
el.<Phone>.Value, _
el.<FullAddress>.<Address>.Value, _
el.<FullAddress>.<City>.Value, _
el.<FullAddress>.<Region>.Value, _
el.<FullAddress>.<PostalCode>.Value, _
el.<FullAddress>.<Country>.Value, _
Environment.NewLine _
)
Dim sb As StringBuilder = New StringBuilder()
For Each str As String In strCollection
sb.Append(str)
Next
Console.WriteLine(sb.ToString())
This code produces the following output:
GREAL,Great Lakes Food Market,Howard Snyder,Marketing Manager,(503) 555-7555,2732 Baker Blvd.,Eugene,OR,97403,USA
HUNGC,Hungry Coyote Import Store,Yoshi Latimer,Sales Representative,(503) 555-6874,City Center Plaza 516 Main St.,Elgin,OR,97827,USA
LAZYK,Lazy K Kountry Store,John Steel,Marketing Manager,(509) 555-7969,12 Orchestra Terrace,Walla Walla,WA,99362,USA
LETSS,Let's Stop N Shop,Jaime Yorres,Owner,(415) 555-5938,87 Polk St. Suite 5,San Francisco,CA,94117,USA