Dictionary To Xml

[mp]

Trying to implement a persistant storage method for a dictionary of
dictionaries
at run time a dictionary is filled with sorted dictionaries
at some point in prog i want to store existing data to disk
at next program run dictionaries could be refilled with data from disk

first thought is use xml
open to other suggestions
here is first implementation...it works but is there a better way or are
there any constructive criticisms of this method

m_profilesDict is defined at module level as dictionary(Of String, Object)
it is filled previous to calling this sub
this sub could also receive a dict obj as arg in lieu of private member var
sorry the news reader removed indenting, hope it's readable
Sub TestDictionaryToXml()

Dim xmlDoc As XmlDocument = New XmlDocument()

Dim XmlDecl As XmlDeclaration = xmlDoc.CreateXmlDeclaration("1.0", "utf-8",
String.Empty)


' Create the root element

Dim rootNode As XmlElement = xmlDoc.CreateElement("ProfilesList")

xmlDoc.InsertBefore(XmlDecl, xmlDoc.DocumentElement)

xmlDoc.AppendChild(rootNode)

Dim someDict As SortedDictionary(Of Double, String)


'<ProfileList>

' <Profile ID="01">

' <Length>24.625</Length>

' <Pcmk>3</Pcmk>

' </Profile>

'</ProfileList>

Dim LengthNode As XmlElement

Dim LengthText As XmlText

Dim CodeNode As XmlElement

Dim CodeText As XmlText

Dim parentNode As XmlElement

For Each kvp As KeyValuePair(Of String, Object) In m_profilesDict

' Create a new <Profile> element and add it to the root node

parentNode = xmlDoc.CreateElement("Profile")

' Set attribute name and value!

parentNode.SetAttribute("ID", kvp.Key)

xmlDoc.DocumentElement.PrependChild(parentNode)

'kvp.Value

someDict = kvp.Value

For Each kvp2 As KeyValuePair(Of Double, String) In someDict

' Create the required nodes

LengthNode = xmlDoc.CreateElement("LENGTH")

LengthText = xmlDoc.CreateTextNode(kvp2.Key)

' append the nodes to the parentNode without the value

parentNode.AppendChild(LengthNode)

' save the value of the fields into the nodes

LengthNode.AppendChild(LengthText)

CodeNode = xmlDoc.CreateElement("PCMK")

CodeText = xmlDoc.CreateTextNode(kvp2.Value)

' append the nodes to the parentNode without the value

parentNode.AppendChild(CodeNode)

' save the value of the fields into the nodes

CodeNode.AppendChild(CodeText)

Next kvp2


Next kvp




' Save to disk

xmlDoc.Save("PathToFile\FileName.xml")

End Sub



Thanks for any tips

mark

 

[Martin Honnen]

first thought is use xml
open to other suggestions
here is first implementation...it works but is there a better way or are
there any constructive criticisms of this method

With .NET 3.5, instead of using System.Xml.XmlDocument, you could
consider to use LINQ to XML and VB.NET's XML literal support.
See the LINQ to XML documentation:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb387098.aspx