How can I write XML output?

Question

How can I see the XML output of following C# code? I can see that it uses XElement, but where I can locate the XML file or the output?

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    XElement doc = new XElement("searchresults"); // root element

    //create 
    XElement result = new XElement("result",
                             new XElement("Resulthead", "AltaVista"),
                             new XElement("ResultURL", "www.altavista.com/"),
                             new XElement("Description", "AltaVista provides the most comprehensive search experience on the Web! ... "),
                             new XElement("DisplayURL", "www.altavista.com/")
                             );
    doc.Add(result);

    //add another search result
    result = new XElement("result",
                             new XElement("Resulthead", "Dogpile Web Search"),
                             new XElement("ResultURL", "www.dogpile.com/"),
                             new XElement("Description", "All the best search engines piled into one. All the best search engines piled into one."),
                             new XElement("DisplayURL", "www.dogpile.com/")
                             );

    doc.Add(result);

    string xmlString = doc.ToString(SaveOptions.DisableFormatting);
}

Answer 1

Your result only exists inside your "xmlString" variable - it's not being written anywhere, neither onto the console / window, nor into a file.

You'll have to add a

doc.Save(@"C:\your-xml-file-name.xml");

line at the end of your method to save the contents to a file on disk.

Make sure to use a full path, or check in your current directory where the app is running (i.e. in (yourappname)\bin\debug, most likely).

Marc

Answer 2

That code is not writing XML anywhere but memory (the xmlString variable).

You could try calling XElement.Save() and get it on a file:

doc.Save(@"filename.xml");

Or use the debugger and look at the variables.

Or, if you prefer, simply put it in a TextBox:

textBox.Text = xmlString;

Be warned it may not be nicely formatted...