Reading from .XML

[TheWizardofInt]

I have this format for an XML form:

 

<Individuals>
- <Individual>
 <Individuals-Name>Joe Light</Individuals-Name> 
 <Individuals-ID-Number>3999</Individuals-ID-Number> 
 <Main-Applicants-Name>Joe P Light</Main-Applicants-Name> 
 <Main-Applicants-ID-Number>3999</Main-Applicants-ID-Number> 
 <Relationship-to-Main-Applicant>Self</Relationship-to-Main-Applicant> 
 <Birthdate>03-05-1973</Birthdate> 
 <Gender>Male</Gender> 
 <Smoker>Smoker</Smoker> 
- <Application-Data>
 <Rate>163.85</Rate> 
 <PlanCode /> 
 <PlanNumber>MHP007</PlanNumber> 
 </Application-Data>
- <Dependent-Data>
 <SSN- /> 
 <depHeight /> 
 <depWeight /> 
 </Dependent-Data>
 </Individual>
</Individuals>

 

It is a lot longer than that, and the values within it will tend to vary. It isn't well formed so I can't just import it to a dataset.

 

So I am stuck manually parsing this thing using XML functions - totally new ground for me.

 

Seems all of the examples want to tell me how to return the whole thing, as if I were blind and couldn't see it.

 

I need to read <Individuals-Name>Joe Light</Individuals-Name> and put that into a datatable, where Column1's Name is 'Name', and Column2's Name is 'Value', entering the name of the node I am getting (Individuals-Name) and its value (Joe Light) respectively

 

I have been able to read elements and tell that they have no values and what not - but does anyone have a snippet like this one:

 

Function ParseXmlContent(ByVal objXMLReader As XmlTextReader) As DataTable

       'read or "pull" the nodes of the XML document   
       Dim strNodeResult As String = ""
       Dim sName As String = ""
       Dim sValue As String = ""
       Dim objNodeType As XmlNodeType
       Dim dt As New DataTable
       Dim dr As DataRow

       dt.Columns.Add("Name")
       dt.Columns.Add("Value")
       'read each node in turn � returns False if no more nodes to read   
       Do While objXMLReader.Read()

           'select on the type of the node (these are only some of the types)     
           objNodeType = objXMLReader.NodeType

           Select Case objNodeType

               'Case XmlNodeType.XmlDeclaration

               'get the name and value         
               '   strNodeResult += "|XML Declaration: " & objXMLReader.Name _
               '                 & " " & objXMLReader.Value & "|" & Chr(10)

           Case XmlNodeType.Element

                   'just get the name, any value will be in next (#text) node
                   'strNodeResult += "Element: *" & objXMLReader.Name & "*" & Chr(10)
                   sName = objXMLReader.Name
                   If sValue.Length > 0 Then
                       dr = dt.NewRow
                       dr.Item("Value") = sValue
                       dr.Item("Name") = sName
                       dt.Rows.Add(dr)
                   End If
                   sValue = ""
                   sName = ""
               Case XmlNodeType.Text

                   'just display the value, node name is "#text" in this case         
                   sValue = objXMLReader.Value

           End Select 
       Loop   'and read the next node   

       'and return the resulting string   
       Return dt

   End Function

 

To help me out here?

 

Thanks

[TheWizardofInt]

Actually solved this for myself

 

XML takes some getting of your mind around, it seems, so I am going to post the code I used for the next guy with the same question

 

Dim oXML As New XmlDocument
       Dim oFil As New FileStream(_FileName, FileMode.Open)
       Dim oNodeList As XmlNodeList
       Dim oNode As XmlNode
       Dim sName As String = ""
       Dim sValue As String = ""
       Dim sNode As String = ""
       Dim dr As DataRow
       Dim dt As New DataTable
       Dim GlobDS As DataSet
       dim globCount As Integer

       dt.Columns.Add("Node")
       dt.Columns.Add("Name")
       dt.Columns.Add("Value")

       oXML.Load(oFil)

       oFil.Close()

       oNodeList = oXML.GetElementsByTagName("*")

       For Each oNode In oNodeList
           sName = oNode.Name
'here, you can see that I am looking for the first instance of a 
'new node called "Individuals-Name".  This lets me create a new
'datatable for each contact in the XML stream
           If sName = "Individuals-Name" And dt.Rows.Count > 0 Then
               globDS.Tables.Add(dt)
               dt = New DataTable
               dt.Columns.Add("Node")
               dt.Columns.Add("Name")
               dt.Columns.Add("Value")
               globCount = globCount + 1
'I am creating a new datatable for every contact set in the XML stream
'I am counting them because I am going to have a datagrid display the tables
'one-at-a-time, and I want to page through them
           End If
           If oNode.HasChildNodes Then
'what I am counting on here is the format of <node><child><value>
'If you have been playing with this, you have noticed that the node 
'value is a child of the node name, but where nodes are grouped by 
'descriptors like 'Personal Data' and such, the descriptor creates a new
'subset.  Now I can, at a glance or programatically, look at the Node 
'field and see what part of the whole set the node belongs to
               sValue = oNode.ChildNodes(0).Value
               If Not sValue = Nothing Then
                   If sValue.Length > 0 Then
                       dr = dt.NewRow
                       dr.Item("Value") = sValue
                       dr.Item("Name") = sName
                       dr.Item("Node") = sNode
                       dt.Rows.Add(dr)
                   End If
                   sValue = ""
                   sName = ""
               Else
                   'handle creating a new node
                   sNode = oNode.Name
               End If
           End If
       Next
       globCount = 0
'now I display the results in a datagrid, and I can do anything I want with it
'later, I will put an Up and Down button on the form so that I can move from
'contact set to contact set
       With dgDisplay
           .DataSource = globDS.Tables(globCount)
           .Refresh()
       End With

 

I hope this helps the next person behind me on the learning curve. It was quite a climb to get here.

[VBAHole22]

Most helpful. Thank you.