removing xmlns from xml file

Question

Hi I am Appending new Elements into XML file which is creating additional xmlns attribute and cannot be removed. i tried most of the common options

here's my code

This Add's new Entrys to the XML file

Private Sub AddNewElement(ByRef FileInfo As System.IO.FileInfo)

        Dim bln As Boolean = False
        Dim XmlDoc As System.Xml.XmlDocument = Nothing
        Dim OAssemblyInfo As AssemblyInfo = Nothing
        Dim NodeDependentAssembly As System.Xml.XmlNode
        Dim NodeAssemblyIdentity As System.Xml.XmlNode = Nothing
        Dim NodeBindingRedirect As System.Xml.XmlNode = Nothing
        Dim nodelist As System.Xml.XmlNodeList

        Try
            Dim cr As String = Environment.NewLine
            Dim newElement As String = _
           "<dependentAssembly>" & cr & _
           "<assemblyIdentity name=" & """" & "ABCEntities" & """" & " publicKeyToken=" & """" & "21f532fe36bf9cd6" & """" & " culture=" & """" & "neutral" & """" & " />" & cr & _
           "<bindingRedirect oldVersion=" & """" & "1.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535" & """" & " newVersion=" & """" & "7.136.13.0" & """" & " />" & cr & _
           "<codeBase version=" & """" & "7.136.13.0" & """" & " href=" & """" & "file:///C:\Program Files\ABC\ABCEntities.dll" & """" & " />" & cr & _
           "</dependentAssembly>" & cr & _
          "<dependentAssembly>" & cr & _
           "<assemblyIdentity name=" & """" & "ABCProcesses" & """" & " publicKeyToken=" & """" & "21f532fe36bf9cd6" & """" & " culture=" & """" & "neutral" & """" & " />" & cr & _
           "<bindingRedirect oldVersion=" & """" & "1.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535" & """" & " newVersion=" & """" & "7.136.13.0" & """" & " />" & cr & _
           "<codeBase version=" & """" & "7.136.13.0" & """" & " href=" & """" & "file:///C:\Program Files\ABC\ABCProcesses.dll" & """" & " />" & cr & _
          "</dependentAssembly>" & cr


            ' Load the config file into the XML DOM.
            XmlDoc = New System.Xml.XmlDocument
            XmlDoc.Load(FileInfo.FullName)

            For Each NodeDependentAssembly In XmlDoc.Item("configuration").Item("runtime").Item("assemblyBinding")
                ' Skip any comments.
                If NodeDependentAssembly.Name = "dependentAssembly" Then

                    If NodeDependentAssembly.HasChildNodes = True Then

                        nodelist = NodeDependentAssembly.ChildNodes
                        NodeAssemblyIdentity = nodelist.ItemOf(0)


                        Select Case NodeAssemblyIdentity.Attributes.GetNamedItem("name").Value

                            Case "ABCEntities"
                                bln = True

                            Case "ABCProcesses"
                                bln = True
                        End Select
                    End If
                End If
            Next



            If bln = False Then

                Dim docFrag As XmlDocumentFragment = XmlDoc.CreateDocumentFragment()


                docFrag.InnerXml = newElement
                                    Dim root As XmlNode = XmlDoc.Item("configuration").Item("runtime").Item("assemblyBinding")

                root.AppendChild(docFrag)

                ' Save the Xml.
                XmlDoc.Save(FileInfo.FullName)


            End If

        Catch ex As Exception
            Throw
        Finally
            XmlDoc = Nothing
        End Try
    End Sub

Above code adds uncessary xmlns which cannot be removed ......atleast easily

Here's the code i have tried to remove but not worked so far (its not complete function for simplicity)

   ' Load the config file into the XML DOM.
            XmlDoc = New System.Xml.XmlDocument
            XmlDoc.Load(FileInfo.FullName)


            For Each NodeDependentAssembly In XmlDoc.Item("configuration").Item("runtime").Item("assemblyBinding")

                ' Skip any comments.
                If NodeDependentAssembly.Name = "dependentAssembly" Then

                    If NodeDependentAssembly.Attributes.Count > 0 Then
                        NodeDependentAssembly.Attributes.RemoveAll()
                        NodeDependentAssembly.OuterXml.Replace("xmlns", "")
                        NodeDependentAssembly.Attributes.RemoveAll()
                    End If

here's the XML config file with two new entrys

 <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly xmlns=""> -----------remove xmlns from here
               <assemblyIdentity name="ABCEntities" publicKeyToken="21f532fe36bf9cd6" culture="neutral" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535 " newVersion="7.136.13.0" />
        <codeBase version="7.136.13.0" href="file:///C:\Program Files\ABC\ABCEntities.dll" />
      </dependentAssembly>
      <dependentAssembly xmlns=""> -----------remove xmlns from here
        <assemblyIdentity name="ABCProcesses" publicKeyToken="21f532fe36bf9cd6" culture="neutral" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535 " newVersion="7.136.13.0" />
        <codeBase version="7.136.13.0" href="file:///C:\Program Files\ABC\ABCProcesses.dll" />
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>

Answer 1

The XML that you're creating in your string literal has no namespace declared on the elements. The element you're appending it to belongs to a namespace. The parser is correct in adding xmlns="" to the new elements - if it didn't, it would be changing their namespace.

To fix this, add a namespace declaration to the XML elements you're adding, declaring them to be in the same namespace as the document you're adding them to. Change:

<dependentAssembly>

to:

<dependentAssembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">

When you do this, the parser won't need to put an xmlns declaration on the elements, because it will see that they already belong to the namespace that the parent element is in.

One other thing: look up VB.Net's support for XML literals.