How to Parse XML String

I am using .net 4.0 for my web services (.asmx)

My client will send following xml string to webservice

<event>
<site>FLEX-CUBE</site>
<eventid>6F98CB30-17DE-48F8-99D9-7660F612ECCB</eventid>
<eventdata>
<currencies>
<currency>
<isocode>USD</isocode>
<bankbuyrate>3.65</bankbuyrate>
<banksellrate>3.695</banksellrate>
<STAFFbuyrate>3.673</STAFFbuyrate>
<STAFFsellrate>3.673</STAFFsellrate>
<displayname>USD</displayname>
<decimaldigits>4</decimaldigits>
</currency>
</currencies>
</eventdata>
</event>

<event>
<site>FLEX-CUBE</site>
<eventid>6F98CB30-17DE-48F8-99D9-7660F612ECCB</eventid>
<eventdata>
<currencies>
<currency>
<isocode>BDT</isocode>
<bankbuyrate>0.0469</bankbuyrate>
<banksellrate>0.0484</banksellrate>
<STAFFbuyrate>0.04742</STAFFbuyrate>
<STAFFsellrate>0.04742</STAFFsellrate>
<displayname>BDT</displayname>
<decimaldigits>4</decimaldigits>
</currency>
</currencies>
</eventdata>
</event>

Please let me know how can I parse these values and save it to our local database.

thanks in advance Junaid

One approach is to not parse and use XmlSerialization (um, actually Deserialization).

To do this, you create class(es) that represents the xml schema. Then use XmlSerializer to deserialize the xml into an object.

Finally you read the object's properties and save to the database. The sample below skips the database saving part.

First, the Event class (which represents a single event xml entry).

Code:

---

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Serialization;

namespace CG.EventXmlDeserialization
{
    [XmlRoot(ElementName = "event", Namespace = "")]
    [XmlType(AnonymousType = true, Namespace = "")]
    public class Event
    {
        public static Event CreateFromXml(string xml)
        {
            var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Event));

            using (var reader = new StringReader(xml))
            {
                return (Event)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
            }
        }

        [XmlElement("site")]
        public string Site { get; set; }

        [XmlElement("eventid")]
        public Guid EventId { get; set; }

        [XmlElement("eventdata")]
        public EventData Data { get; set; }

        public Event()
        {
            Data = new EventData();
        }
    }

    public class EventData
    {
        [XmlArray("currencies")]
        [XmlArrayItem("currency")]
        public Currency[] Currencies
        {
            set { if (value != null) { _currencies.AddRange(value); } }
            get { return _currencies.ToArray(); }
        }

        public EventData()
        {
            _currencies = new List<Currency>();
        }

        private List<Currency> _currencies;
    }

    public class Currency
    {
        [XmlElement("isocode")]
        public string IsoCode { get; set; }
       
        [XmlElement("bankbuyrate")]
        public decimal BankBuyRate { get; set; }
       
        [XmlElement("banksellrate")]
        public decimal BankSellRate { get; set; }
       
        [XmlElement("STAFFbuyrate")]
        public decimal StaffBuyRate { get; set; }
       
        [XmlElement("STAFFsellrate")]
        public decimal StaffSellRate { get; set; }
       
        [XmlElement("displayname")]
        public string DisplayName { get; set; }
       
        [XmlElement("decimaldigits")]
        public int DecimalDigits { get; set; }
    }
}

---

Next, code for simulating the incoming event xml, deserializing it into an Event object, and then writing out the properties.

Code:

---

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Xml;

namespace CG.EventXmlDeserialization
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("CG.EventXmlDeserialization");
            Console.WriteLine("Illustrates deserializing xml into an object\n");
           
            // Simulate incoming xml string by reading the xml file
            // and convert it into and xml string
            var xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
            xmlDoc.Load("event.xml");
            var xml = xmlDoc.InnerXml;

            // Deserialize the xml into an Event object
            var evt = Event.CreateFromXml(xml);

            // Use the Event object's values
            Console.WriteLine("{0,15} {1}", "EventId:", evt.EventId);
            Console.WriteLine("{0,15} {1}", "Site:", evt.Site);

            Console.WriteLine("\n{0,15}", "Currencies:");
            foreach (var currency in evt.Data.Currencies)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("{0,20} {1}", "IsoCode:", currency.IsoCode);
                Console.WriteLine("{0,20} {1}", "BankBuyRate:", currency.BankBuyRate);
                Console.WriteLine("{0,20} {1}", "BankSellRate:", currency.BankSellRate);
                Console.WriteLine("{0,20} {1}", "StaffBuyRate:", currency.StaffBuyRate);
                Console.WriteLine("{0,20} {1}", "StaffSellRate:", currency.StaffSellRate);
                Console.WriteLine("{0,20} {1}", "DisplayName:", currency.DisplayName);
                Console.WriteLine("{0,20} {1}", "DecimalDigits:", currency.DecimalDigits);
            }
        }
    }
}

---

Sample Output:

Code:

---

CG.EventXmlDeserialization
Illustrates deserializing xml into an object

      EventId: 6f98cb30-17de-48f8-99d9-7660f612eccb
          Site: FLEX-CUBE

    Currencies:
            IsoCode: USD
        BankBuyRate: 3.65
      BankSellRate: 3.695
      StaffBuyRate: 3.673
      StaffSellRate: 3.673
        DisplayName: USD
      DecimalDigits: 4

---

See attach VS 2012 project

Thank you so much for your help! it worked perfectly!