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C#: Reading and appending XML file using LINQ with nested values

Hi This is following on from here

As a learning exercise I'm retrieving and updating an XML file of TV show information

It occurred to me that it's possible to have multiple seasons to the same TV show so I adjusted the XML accordingly
TV.XML

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<TV>
  <Show>
      <Name>MacGyver 2016</Name>
      <FolderName>MacGyver 2016</FolderName>
      <TMDBid>67133</TMDBid>
      <Season>
        <SeasonNumber>3</SeasonNumber>
        <Episode>
          <EpisodeNumber>1</EpisodeNumber>
          <EpisodeName>Improvise</EpisodeName>
          <BackDrop>https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w350_and_h196_bestv2/eQMVJkBltvID73sh9vvTistssS6.jpg</BackDrop>
          <FullPath>J:\Media\TV\MacGyver (2016)\S03\Macgyver.2016.S03E01.Improvise.mp4</FullPath>
        </Episode>
      </Season>
      
  </Show>
</TV>

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Of course this broke the LINQ query from the previous so answer

How do adjust the select query bellow to retrieve Episode data which is now nested in Season?

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

namespace XmlReader
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Load the XML Document using Linq to XML
            var xdoc = XDocument.Load(@"J:\Media\TV\TV.xml");
            // Query the Document for the Show's
            var shows = (from node in xdoc.Descendants("Show")
                         select new
                         {
                             ShowName = node.Element("Name").Value,
                             TMDBid = node.Element("TMDBid").Value,
                             Season = node.Elements("Season").Select(sn => new
                             {
                                 SeasonNumber = sn.Element("SeasonNumber").Value,
                                 Episode = sn.Elements("Episode").Select(ep => new
                                 {
                                     EpisodeNumber = ep.Element("EpisodeNumber").Value,
                                     EpisodeName = ep.Element("EpisodeName").Value,
                                     BackDrop = ep.Element("BackDrop").Value,
                                     FullPath = ep.Element("FullPath").Value
                                 })
                             }).ToList()
                         });

            foreach (var item in shows)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Show Name: {0}", item.ShowName);
                foreach (var ep in item.Season )
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("\tSeasonNumber: {0}\nEpisodeNumber: {1}, EpisodeName: {2},\nBackDrop: {3}, \nFullPath: {4} ",
                       ep.SeasonNumber, ep.EpisodeNumber, ep.EpisodeName, ep.BackDrop, ep.FullPath);
                }
            }
            Console.ReadLine();
        }// end main
    }
}

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Searching google just got me more confused

Clearly I'll also need to adjust the Update and how to see if a show or episode exists?

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Fernando Soto

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trevor1940

ASKER

Hi Building on the above and in the last question about checking if a show exist i've re writen your code

        private static bool CheckShow(string showname, string season, string episode)
        {
            // // Checks for the existence of a Show Season and Episode
            var results = (from node in xdoc.Descendants("Show")
                           where node.Element("Name").Value == showname &&
                                 node.Element("Season").Element("SeasonNumber").Value == season &&
                                  node.Element("Season").Element("Episode").Element("EpisodeNumber").Value == episode // This looks cumbersome
                           select node).FirstOrDefault();
            return results != null ? true : false;
        }

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It seems to work but Is this the best way to check for nested elements as it looks cumbersome

Fernando Soto

Hi trevor1940;

It may look cumbersome but it is a helper function so you only write it once and use it from anywhere. It is this way because the information comes from different levels of the document and therefor you need to access those levels to get the data.

trevor1940

ASKER

Thank You

Although beyond the scope of what I'm currently doing the information you provided has made me think about how to deal with more complex XML file containing namespaces & attributions
I'm sure I'll need this again

Thanx

Fernando Soto

Here is the documentation to Programming Guide (LINQ to XML) (C#) | Microsoft Docs.