Embedding XML resource file

[David]

I added a resource file to my project to help me manage database connections for different test environments. I added an XML file to my project in Visual Studio (VS project > right click > Properties > Resources > Add Resource). The XML file is an embedded text document in my project. An earlier assumption I had is that the file is deployed to the output directory (bin\Debug) but I found out that that is not the case.
My XML file looks something like this:

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
- <Environments>
- <Environment>
  <Name>Rapid (Public)</Name>
  <URL>ENTER YOUR URL HERE</URL>
  <ConnectionString>ENTER YOUR CONNECTION STRING HERE</ConnectionString>
  <EnableUrlHashing>1</EnableUrlHashing>
  </Environment>
- <!--
    Add any other environments you wish here.
    Environments will be listed in the order they are found in the file.


  -->
- <!--
  <Environment>
    <Name></Name>
    <URL></URL>
    <ConnectionString></ConnectionString>
    <EnableUrlHashing></EnableUrlHashing>
  </Environment>


  -->
  </Environments>

When the XML file is a resource in my project I can refer to it directly (<projectname>.Properties.Resources.<filename>) but it is a string that needs to be loaded into a System.IO.MemoryStream object that can then be read by XmlDocument.Load.
Using the following article as an example: http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t296139-read-xml-from-string-instead-of-file-c.html, my code looks something like this:

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Configuration;

using System.Xml;

using System.IO;

 

namespace vsuiteautomation

{

    public class EnvironmentFactory

    {

 

        public EnvironmentFactory()

        {

             

        }

 

        public List<vergeEnvironment> GetAllEnvironments()

        {

            List<vergeEnvironment> environments = new List<vergeEnvironment>();

 

            XmlDocument xml = new XmlDocument();
 


                //ADDED THIS CODE TO CREATE THE MEMORYSTREAM
            byte[] byteArray = new byte[vsuiteautomation.Properties.Resources.Environments.Length];

            System.Text.ASCIIEncoding encoding = new System.Text.ASCIIEncoding();

            byteArray = encoding.GetBytes(vsuiteautomation.Properties.Resources.Environments);

 

            MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream(byteArray);

            memoryStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);

 

            xml.Load(memoryStream);

 

            XmlNodeList environmentNodes = xml.SelectNodes(@"//Environment");

 

            if (environmentNodes != null)

            {

                foreach (XmlNode environmentNode in environmentNodes)

                {

                    XmlNode nameNode = environmentNode.SelectSingleNode(@"Name");

                    XmlNode urlNode = environmentNode.SelectSingleNode(@"URL");

                    XmlNode connectionStringNode = environmentNode.SelectSingleNode(@"ConnectionString");

                    XmlNode enableUrlHashingNode = environmentNode.SelectSingleNode(@"EnableUrlHashing");

 

                    if (nameNode != null && urlNode != null && connectionStringNode != null && enableUrlHashingNode != null)

                    {

                        bool enableUrlHashing = false;

                        if (enableUrlHashingNode.InnerText == "1")

                        {

                            enableUrlHashing = true;

                        }

 

                        environments.Add(new vergeEnvironment(nameNode.InnerText, urlNode.InnerText, enableUrlHashing, connectionStringNode.InnerText));

                    }

                }

            }

            return environments;

        }

    }

}

There is a custom object called vergeEnvironment which is a custom object to house the resulting list of environments.

I hope this helps people out.
 

[Cody]

Hello David,

I found a much easier method of loading the XML from the resource. Try this instead:

public List<vergeEnvironment> GetAllEnvironments()
{
    List<vergeEnvironment> environments = new List<vergeEnvironment>();

    XmlDocument xml = new XmlDocument();
    xml.LoadXml(vsuiteautomation.Properties.Resources.Environments);

    XmlNodeList environmentNodes = xml.SelectNodes(@"//Environment");

    if (environmentNodes != null)
    {
        foreach (XmlNode environmentNode in environmentNodes)
        {
            XmlNode nameNode = environmentNode.SelectSingleNode(@"Name");
            XmlNode urlNode = environmentNode.SelectSingleNode(@"URL");
            XmlNode connectionStringNode = environmentNode.SelectSingleNode(@"ConnectionString");
            XmlNode enableUrlHashingNode = environmentNode.SelectSingleNode(@"EnableUrlHashing");

            if (nameNode != null && urlNode != null && connectionStringNode != null && enableUrlHashingNode != null)
            {
                bool enableUrlHashing = false;
                if (enableUrlHashingNode.InnerText == "1")
                {
                    enableUrlHashing = true;
                }

                environments.Add(new vergeEnvironment(nameNode.InnerText, urlNode.InnerText, enableUrlHashing, connectionStringNode.InnerText));
            }
        }
    }
    return environments;
}

Regards,
Cody
the Telerik team