How to: Find Elements with a Specific Attribute (XPath-LINQ to XML)
Sometimes you want to find all elements that have a specific attribute. You are not concerned about the contents of the attribute. Instead, you want to select based on the existence of the attribute.
The XPath expression is:
./*[@Select]
Example
The following code selects just the elements that have the Select attribute.
XElement doc = XElement.Parse(
@"<Root>
<Child1>1</Child1>
<Child2 Select='true'>2</Child2>
<Child3>3</Child3>
<Child4 Select='true'>4</Child4>
<Child5>5</Child5>
</Root>");
// LINQ to XML query
IEnumerable<XElement> list1 =
from el in doc.Elements()
where el.Attribute("Select") != null
select el;
// XPath expression
IEnumerable<XElement> list2 =
((IEnumerable)doc.XPathEvaluate("./*[@Select]")).Cast<XElement>();
if (list1.Count() == list2.Count() &&
list1.Intersect(list2).Count() == list1.Count())
Console.WriteLine("Results are identical");
else
Console.WriteLine("Results differ");
foreach (XElement el in list1)
Console.WriteLine(el);
Dim doc As XElement = _
<Root>
<Child1>1</Child1>
<Child2 Select='true'>2</Child2>
<Child3>3</Child3>
<Child4 Select='true'>4</Child4>
<Child5>5</Child5>
</Root>
' LINQ to XML query
Dim list1 As IEnumerable(Of XElement) = _
From el In doc.Elements() _
Where el.@Select <> Nothing _
Select el
' XPath expression
Dim list2 As IEnumerable(Of XElement) = DirectCast(doc.XPathEvaluate _
("./*[@Select]"), IEnumerable).Cast(Of XElement)()
If list1.Count() = list2.Count() And _
list1.Intersect(list2).Count() = list1.Count() Then
Console.WriteLine("Results are identical")
Else
Console.WriteLine("Results differ")
End If
For Each el As XElement In list1
Console.WriteLine(el)
Next
This example produces the following output:
Results are identical
<Child2 Select="true">2</Child2>
<Child4 Select="true">4</Child4>