How to export data gridview to XML

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Hi am trying to save a datagridview to XML file using XDocument but the problem is when i click export button the datagridview gets clear and the exported XML file is empty

This button fill datagridview from multiple textboxs :

private void add_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
     {
         int n = dataGridView1.Rows.Add();
    
         dataGridView1.Rows[n].Cells[0].Value = txtOne.Text;
         dataGridView1.Rows[n].Cells[1].Value = txtTwo.Text;
         dataGridView1.Rows[n].Cells[2].Value = txtThree.Text; 
     }

This what am looking for as exported XML file:

<root>
 <table>
 <one>125</one>
 <two>125</two>
   <child>
     <three>987</three> 
   </child>
 </table>
 </root>

What I have tried:

private void Export_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
       
    const string FILENAME = @"c:\temp\test.xml";
    XDocument doc = new XDocument(
    new XDeclaration("1.0", "ISO-8859-1", null),
    new XElement("root",    
        dt.AsEnumerable().Select(row => new XElement("child", new object[]{
                new XElement("one",row[0]),
                new XElement("two",row[1]),
                new XElement("child",new XElement("three", row[2])),
                }));
    
    
    dataGridView1.DataSource = dt;
    doc.Save(FILENAME);
    SaveFileDialog saveFileDialog1 = new SaveFileDialog();
    saveFileDialog1.InitialDirectory = Convert.ToString(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments);
    saveFileDialog1.Filter = "File Name |*.xml";
    saveFileDialog1.FilterIndex = 1;
    if (saveFileDialog1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
    {
        doc.Save(saveFileDialog1.FileName);
    }

Posted 27-May-20 6:21am

colanlog

Updated 27-May-20 11:23am

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2 solutions

Solution 1

Although Data Binding is the recommended way, you could do it like the example taken from: Export DataGridView to XML File without any DataSet or DataTable ...[^]

private DataTable GetDataTableFromDGV(DataGridView dgv) {
    var dt = new DataTable();

    foreach (DataGridViewColumn column in dgv.Columns) {
        if (column.Visible) {
            // You could potentially name the column based on the DGV column name (beware of dupes)
            // or assign a type based on the data type of the data bound to this DGV column.
            dt.Columns.Add();
        }
    }

    object[] cellValues = new object[dgv.Columns.Count];
    foreach (DataGridViewRow row in dgv.Rows) {
        for (int i = 0; i < row.Cells.Count; i++) {
            cellValues[i] = row.Cells[i].Value;
        }
        dt.Rows.Add(cellValues);
    }

    return dt;
}

And to save:

DataTable dT = GetDataTableFromDGV(DataGridView1);
           DataSet dS = new DataSet();
           dS.Tables.Add(dT);
           dS.WriteXml(File.OpenWrite("xml.xml"));

The DataSet is probably not needed, just use DataTable.WriteXml("xml.xml")
See: DataTable.WriteXml Method (System.Data) | Microsoft Docs[^]

Posted 27-May-20 6:48am

RickZeeland

Updated 27-May-20 7:01am

v2

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Maciej Los · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-27T11:25:00

First of all, you'll never be good programmer, if you're trying to use the piece of code by copy-paste and without changing code on your own.

Second of all, your DataGridView control is bind to none DataSource, because you're adding rows directly!

C#

private void add_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
         int n = dataGridView1.Rows.Add();
         //ignored lines!
}

See: Create an Unbound DataGridView Control - Windows Forms | Microsoft Docs[^]

Third of all, your xml structure is wrong! Instead of:

XML

<root>
 <table>
 <one>125</one>
 <two>125</two>
   <child>
     <three>987</three> 
   </child>
 </table>
 </root>

it should be something like:

XML

<root>
   <table>
     <row>
       <one>125</one>
       <two>128</two>
       <child>
         <three>987</three> 
       </child>
     </row>
     <row>
       <one>321</one>
       <two>216</two>
       <child>
         <three>999</three> 
       </child>
     </row>
   </table>
 </root>

So, if you would like to export unbound data into xml file, you have to loop through the collection of DataGridViewRows[^].

C#

private void Export_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    const string FILENAME = @"c:\temp\test.xml";
    XDocument doc = new XDocument(new XDeclaration("1.0", "ISO-8859-1", "yes"));
    XElement root = new XElement("root");
    XElement tbl = new XElement("table");
    List<XElement> entries = DataGridView1.Rows.Cast<DataGridViewRow>()
	.Select(row => new XElement("row", new XElement[]
		{
			new XElement("one", row.Cells[0].Value.ToString()),
			new XElement("two", row.Cells[1].Value.ToString()),
			new XElement("child", new XElement("three", row.Cells[2].Value.ToString()))
		}))
		.ToList();
    tbl.Add(entries);
    root.Add(tbl);
    doc.Add(root);
    doc.Save(FILENAME);
}

Good luck!