XML Namespace Program

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

You can use prefixes in XML, a namespace for the prefix must be defined. The namespace can be defined by xmlns attribute in the start tag of an element.

The namespace declaration has the following syntax. xmlns:prefix="URI".

Name Conflicts in XML

Name conflict is called two tags and has the same name to execute the first tag only. If you write the Namespace control, it conflicts.

This often results in a conflict, when trying to mix XML documents from the different XML Applications.

Default Namespace In XML

Defining a default namespace for an element saves us from using the prefixes in all the child elements. In the default namespace, you cannot write the namespace, which automatically used this namespace.

(EX: xmlns="namespaceURI")

(URI) Uniform Resource Identifier

XML language uses the URL, URI and URN. A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is a string of the characters, which identifies an internet resource.

The most common URI is the Uniform Resource Locator (URL), which identifies an internet domain address.

The third not so common type of URI is the Universal Resource Name (URN).

Code

<root xmlns:h="http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/" xmlns:f="http://www.w3schools.com/furniture">
<h:table>
<h:tr>
<h:td>Lion</h:td>
<h:td>Tiger</h:td>
</h:tr>
</h:table>
<f:table>
<f:name>Box</f:name>
<f:width>100</f:width>
<f:height>120</f:height>
</f:table>
<root>

Output

Lion

Tiger

Box

100

120

XML Using Xpath Program

XML and XPath Program: Xpath is called for finding the information within the document.

What is XPath?

XPath is a syntax to define the parts of XML document.
XPath uses the path expressions to navigate in XML documents.
XPath contains a library of the standard functions.
XPath is a major element in XSLT.
XPath is also used in XQuery, XPointer and XLink.
XPath is a W3C recommendation.

Softwares

XML copy Editor, XEditor.

Program

<book>
<title>XML</title>
<author>Erik T. Ray</author>
<year>2003</year>
<price>300</price>
</book>

Xpath

/book

output

XML

Erik T. Ray

2003

300

Xpath

/book/author

output

Erik T. Ray

JSON vs. XML

JSON vs. XML

Both JSON and XML are capable of representing in-memory data in a readable textual format. Similarly, both of them are isomorphic, which means an equivalent one of the given piece of text is possible in the other format. For instance, while invoking a public Web service, a developer can state in the query string parameter whether the output should be in XML or JSON format.

Due to such similarities, it might not be simple to choose a suitable data exchange format from the two. This is where it is essential to consider the differentiating characteristics or both the formats and find out which one is more suitable for a particular application.

Compares the major characteristics of both formats.

Characteristic	JSON	XML
Data Types	Offers scalar data types and articulates structured data in the form of objects and arrays	Does not offer any idea of data types due to which relying on XML Schema is essential for specifying information about the data types.
Array Support	Provides native support	Expresses array by conventions. For instance, XML employs an outer placeholder element that forms the content in an array as inner elements.
Object Support	Provides native support	Expresses objects by conventions, usually by combining attributes and elements.
Null Support	Recognizes the value natively.	Mandates the use of xsi:nil on elements in an instance document along with the import of the related namespace.
Comments	Does not support	Provides native support (via APIs).
Namespaces	Does not support namespaces and that naming collisions do not occur, as objects are nested or the object member name has a prefix.	Accepts namespaces to prevent name collisions and safely extent the prevalent XML standards.
Formatting	Is simple and offers more direct data mapping	It complex and needs more effort for mapping application types to elements.
Size	Has very short syntax, which gives formatted text wherein most space is taken up by the represented data.	Has lengthy documents, particularly in case of element-centric formatting.
Parsing in JavaScript	Has very short syntax, which gives formatted text wherein most space is taken up by the represented data.	Has lengthy documents, particularly in case of element-centric formatting.
Parsing in JavaScript	Needs no additional application for parsing (JavaScript’s eval() function work well ).	Implements XML DOM and requires extra code for mapping text to JavaScript objects.
Parsing	Has JSONPath for selecting specific sections of the data structure but is not widely used.	Has XPath specification for doing the same in an XML document and is widely used.
Learning Curve	Is not sleep at all, due to familiarity with the structure and the underlying dynamic programming language.	Is steep with the need to know several technologies and concepts such as XPath, XSL Transformations (XSLT), DOM, Schema, and Namespaces.
Complexity	Is complex	Is more complex.
Schema (Metadata)	Has a schema but is not widely used.	Used many specifications for defining a schema, including XML Schema Definition (XSD) and Document Type Definition (DTD)
Styling	Has no special specification.	Has XSLT specification for styling an XML document.
Security	Is less secure, as the browser has no JSON parser.	Is more secure.

XML Creation using LINQ to XML

There are many different techniques to use by which you can create an XML document in C#. One of them is LINQ to XML which we are going to discuss in this article.

Let’s say we need to create an XML as below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Parent>
<Header>
<FileDetails>
<FileName>RandomFile</FileName>
<FileVersion>1.0</FileVersion>
</FileDetails>
</Header>
<Body>
<Infos>
<Info Type="Information1">This is Information1</Info>
<Info Type="Information2">This is Information2</Info>
</Infos>
<Users>
<UserDetails>
<Name>
<FirstName>Vipul</FirstName>
<MiddleName/>
<LastName>Malhotra</LastName>
</Name>
<DateOfBirth>12-Apr-1990</DateOfBirth>
</UserDetails>
</Users>
</Body>

Let’s break the creation of the file in two parts so as to be able to see more features.

We will first create the below Xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Parent>
<Header>
<FileDetails>
<FileName>RandomFile</FileName>
<FileVersion>1.0</FileVersion>
</FileDetails>
</Header>
<Body>
<Infos>
<Info Type="Information1">This is Information1</Info>
<Info Type="Information2">This is Information2</Info>
</Infos>
</Body>

In order to create this, we will first define an XDocument with the parent root as below:

XDocument doc = new XDocument(new XElement("Parent"));

After this, we will use this “doc” as the root of the file and will writing nested XElement to it.

Let’s first create the Header portion of the xml.
Header
Please notice that the XElement “Header “ is added as a new element and the further elements are added as nested to this “Header” element. It is due to the reason that the elements are sub-elements of “Header”. Further “FileName” and “FileVersion” element is a sub-element of “FileDetails”

In the same way, we would add another section to the root of the doc. This section would be “Body”.

The code for the same would be as:
code
This follows the same logic that “Body” is also sub-node of the root “parent” and so it is added directly to the root. Whereas , the element “Infos” is sub-element of “Body” and is so added in the way above. Same goes for “Info” which is a further sub-element of “Infos”.

Also notice how an attribute is added to each of the “Info” element using XAttribute.

After this, we further need to add the below section as sub-nodes of “Body” and not the root of the application:

<Users>
<UserDetails>
<Name>
<FirstName>Vipul</FirstName>
<MiddleName/>
<LastName>Malhotra</LastName>
</Name>
<DateOfBirth>12-Apr-1990</DateOfBirth>
</UserDetails>
</Users>

In order to do that, we would make sure that the code starts appending the code inside the “Body” tag of the already created xml.

Using XDocument, we can search for the node “Body” and then start adding node XElements to it .
node
Searching a node Is done using:

Further adding more elements to it is done using the below code:
code
The logic behind the hierarchy is the same as that discussed above.

The code can also be used inside a loop in case we need to add many similar sections to a particular node. Like in this case there can be many users and all of their details would have to be added in different UserDetails section inside the “Body” node.

Export An Excel Using Closed XML

Introduction

In today's tech world, most of the applications being developed under Logistics, Inventory, Internal Transaction and other domains require day-to-day data in excel files and prefer excel file operations in their applications.

I will be sharing one of the Nuget Package tools which, with very minimal lines of code, will export an excel file for us.

The Tool is Closed XML.

Just write a few lines of code and done! It is developer friendly. If we have used the Open XML, there are a lot of lines of code which are required to export an excel from data. We can create an excel file of 2007/2010 configuration without an Excel application.

To add the closed XML package, we add it directly through the user interface from the Nuget Gallery and also, we can use the Package Manager console to add the package using the below command

PM> Install-Package ClosedXML

Snippet

DataTable dt = new DataTable();
dt.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[3]
{
new DataColumn("Id", typeof(int)), new DataColumn("Name", typeof(string)), new DataColumn("Country", typeof(string))
});
dt.Rows.Add(1, "C Sharp corner", "United States");
dt.Rows.Add(2, "Suraj", "India");
dt.Rows.Add(3, "Test User", "France");
dt.Rows.Add(4, "Developer", "Russia"); //Exporting to Excel
string folderPath = "C:\\Excel\\";
if (!Directory.Exists(folderPath))
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(folderPath);
}
//Codes for the Closed XML
using (XLWorkbook wb = new XLWorkbook())
{
wb.Worksheets.Add(dt, "Customers");
//wb.SaveAs(folderPath + "DataGridViewExport.xlsx");
string myName = Server.UrlEncode("Test" + "_" + DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString() + ".xlsx");
MemoryStream stream = GetStream(wb);
// The method is defined below
Response.Clear();
Response.Buffer = true;
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=" + myName);
Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel";
Response.BinaryWrite(stream.ToArray());
Response.End();
}

The above code instantiates a data table, with few data initializations.

public MemoryStream GetStream(XLWorkbook excelWorkbook)
{
MemoryStream fs = new MemoryStream();
excelWorkbook.SaveAs(fs);
fs.Position = 0;
return fs;
}

We are using this method, so as to return a stream in order to download the file in response to using the stream. The save as method of the Closed XML helps create the stream.

Downloaded file looks like below,

file

Introduction To XML Trees

XML document has a single root node.
The tree is a general ordered tree.
A parent node may have any number of children.
Child nodes are ordered and may have siblings.
Preorder traversals are usually used to get the information, out of the tree.

Simple XML Document

<?xml version = “1.0” ?> <address>
<name>
<first>Alice</first></br>
<last>Lee</last></br>
</name>
<email>alee@aol.com</email></br>
<phone>123-45-6789</phone></br>
<birthday>
<year>1983</year></br>
<month>07</month></br>
<day>15</day>
</birthday>
</address>

Program Demo

Write the code from XMLCopyEditor.

Save Any Location(EX:Sample.xml).

code

Output

Introduction To XML

What is XML?

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language.
XML is a markup language much like HTML.
XML was designed to carry the data but not to display it.
XML tags are not predefined. You must define your own tags.
XML is designed to be self-descriptive.

Why XML is popular?

Our machines are now only capable of processing requirements of this data format.
It supports data processing, data storage, and bandwidth requirements for the exchange of XML documents.
Driving force for the use of a technology, like XML, is the desire to exchange information in Open Systems or Open Software.
Development of the internet.

XML

XML is text (Unicode) based; Takes up less space; Can be transmitted efficiently.
One XML document can be displayed differently in different media, like HTML, video, CD, DVD. You only have to change the XML document in order to change all the rest.
XML documents can be modularized and its parts can be reused.

SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language)

Forefather of all markup languages.
In 1969, it Introduced the notion that data processing and document processing could be one and the same thing.
Introduced the notion of a generalized document format.
SGML specification can communicate between systems.
Provides DTD specification to improve the standard of the document.

Example of an HTML Document

<html>
<head><title>Example</title></head.
<body>
<h1>This is an example of a page.</h1>
<h2>Some information goes here.</h2>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT

Write the HTML code in notepad and save it with .html extension(EX:sample.html). Click the file to run in the browser.

OUTPUT

Example

<?xml version=“1.0”/>
<mymessage>
<message> Welcome to XML </message>
</mymessage>

An XML document contains one root element and its child elements.

Example of an XML Document

<?xml version=“1.0”/>
<address>
<name>Alice Lee</name>
<email>alee@aol.com</email>
<phone>212-346-1234</phone>
<birthday>1985-03-22</birthday>
</address>

Demo

The XML code will be written in the XML copy editor. Save it at any location (EX:text.xml). Click it and open in the browse.

code

output(The XML program output)

Difference Between HTML and XML

HTML tags have a fixed meaning and browsers know what it is while the XML tags are different for different applications, and users know what they mean.
HTML tags are used for display while the XML tags are used to describe the documents and the data.

Benefits of XML

Simplifies Data Sharing.
Simplifies Data Transport.
Simplifies Platform Changes.
Separates Data from HTML.
Makes Your Data More Available.
Represents the information and the metadata about the information.
XML is referred as future-proof or loosely coupled, since it has the capability of separating process and data content.
XML is used to create new internet languages.

Well-Formed Documents

An XML document is said to be well-formed if it follows all the rules.
An XML parser is used to check that all the rules have been obeyed.
Parser is a software to process XML Document.
It reads the XML Document, Checks its syntax, reports errors and allows programmatic access to documents contents.
XML document is considered well formed if the syntax is correct.
Single root, start and end tag, attribute values in quotes.
Recent browsers such as Internet Explorer 5 and Netscape 7 come with XML parsers.
Parsers are also available for free download over the Internet. One is Xerces, from the Apache open-source project.
Java 1.4 also supports an open-source parser.

Advantages of xml over sgml

Though XML is using most of the functionality in SGML, it provides a number of distinct advantages.
XML permits well-formed documents to be parsed without the need for a DTD, whereas SGML implementations require some DTD for processing
XML is much simpler and more permissive in its syntax than SGML.
Implementation of SGML over the internet is more difficult than in XML.

Advantages of XML over HTML (and differences)

XML is not a replacement for HTML.
XML and HTML were designed with different goals:
XML was designed to transport and store data, with focus on what data is.
HTML was designed to display data, with focus on how data looks.
HTML is about displaying information, while XML is about carrying information.

Advantages of xml over EDI(Electronic Data Interchange)

XML requires less cost for data transaction and maintenance than EDI (which uses Millions of dollars for transactions).
XML uses Internet for data exchange whereas EDI over Internet does not meet much success.
XML has many built in components like validity checking, data mapping, Extensible style sheet etc.,
XML supports internationalization and localization but EDI doesn’t provide it.

Drawbacks of XML

XML is huge – takes lot of space to represent data (3 to 20 times greater than file formats).
XML editors often lack the detail and helpfulness found in common EDI editors.

Validity

A well-formed document has a tree structure and obeys all the XML rules.
A particular application may add more rules in either a DTD (document type definition) or in a schema.
Many specialized DTDs and schemas have been created to describe particular areas.
These range from disseminating news bulletins (RSS) to chemical formulas.
DTDs were developed first, so they are not as comprehensive as schema.

Thanks for reading.

XML Namespace Program

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