DataSet.XmlReader hangs when & is in string within XML file

[Guest]

I am trying to create a dataset from an XML file. When calling
myDataSet.ReadXml("sample.xml") the code produces an exception error. The
XML file has many strings that identify pnp ids on a system. These string
values contain multiple "&" signs within them (e.g.
<pnpid>PCI\VEN_1000&DEV_8000&SUDEV_1008<\pnpid>). How can I correctly read
these pnp ids into a dataset?

I've tried using ReadXml with various stream readers(StreamReader or
TextReader) but they cause the same error.

 

[Marc Gravell]

Well, the data simply isn't XML. Rather than trying to "fix" the reader
*correctly* telling you this, I'd fix whatever is writing the invalid
"XML" files. It should read:
<pnpid>PCI\VEN_1000&amp;DEV_8000&amp;SUDEV_1008<\pnpid>

Which is read as an element "pnpid" with text content
"PCI\VEN_1000&DEV_8000&SUDEV_1008"

This is often caused by people using string concatenation to write
"xml", instead of (e.g.) XmlWriter (which would have dealt with this
automatically).

Marc

 

[Marc Gravell]

Eeks it gets worse: I didn't spot it first time: the trailing slash is
in the wrong direction too!!!!

<pnpid>PCI\VEN_1000&amp;DEV_8000&amp;SUDEV_1008</pnpid>

Marc

 

[Guest]

This makes a lot of sense. I changed my sample file to & and it worked just
fine. I will be creating the "writer" as well so this will be taken into
account. Thanks very much.

 

[Kevin Yu [MSFT]]

Hi Steve,

Yes, as Marc said, the & char is a reserved word in XML. So it will be
better to use an XmlWriter or XmlDocument to generate XML files. They will
automatically escape the reserved words for you.

Kevin Yu
Microsoft Online Community Support

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