Linq to Xml to Datagridview

Question

Right, starting to go crazy here. I have the following code:

var query = (from c in db.Descendants("Customer")
                             select c.Elements());
                dgvEditCusts.DataSource = query.ToList();

In this, db relates to an XDocument.Load call. How can I get the data into the DataGridView?

Just thought I should mention: it returns a completely blank dgv.

Not that the XML should matter too much, but here's an example:

<Root>
  <Customer>
    <CustomerNumber>1</CustomerNumber>
    <EntryDate>2010-04-13T21:59:46.4642+01:00</EntryDate>
    <Name>Customer Name</Name>
    <Address>Address</Address>
    <PostCode1>AB1</PostCode1>
    <PostCode2>2XY</PostCode2>
    <TelephoneNumber>0123456789</TelephoneNumber>
    <MobileNumber>0123456789</MobileNumber>
    <AlternativeNumber></AlternativeNumber>
    <EmailAddress>[email protected]</EmailAddress>
  </Customer>
</Root>

Answer 1

When you call db.Descendants("Customer") you are returning ONLY the elements that have the name Customer in it. NOT it's children. See MSDN Docs.

So when you call c.Elements() it is trying to get the Customer's child elements which don't exist b/c they were filtered out.

I think it might work if you drop the Customer filtering.

Answer 2

Ah, never mind, I've worked out the answer to my own question eventually. Here's the code for anyone else that may have this problem:

var query = from c in db.Descendants("Customer")
                            select new
                            {
                                CustomerNumber = Convert.ToInt32((string)c.Element("CustomerNumber").Value),
                                Name = (string)c.Element("Name").Value,
                                Address = (string)c.Element("Address").Value,
                                Postcode = (string)c.Element("PostCode1").Value + " " + c.Element("PostCode2").Value
                            };
                dgvEditCusts.DataSource = query.ToList();