XmlValidatingReader.IsEmptyElement Property

Definition

Gets a value indicating whether the current node is an empty element (for example, <MyElement/>).

public:
 virtual property bool IsEmptyElement { bool get(); };
public override bool IsEmptyElement { get; }
member this.IsEmptyElement : bool
Public Overrides ReadOnly Property IsEmptyElement As Boolean

Property Value

true if the current node is an element (NodeType equals XmlNodeType.Element) that ends with />; otherwise, false.

Examples

The following example displays the text content of each element.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
int main()
{
   XmlTextReader^ txtreader = nullptr;
   XmlValidatingReader^ reader = nullptr;
   try
   {
      
      //Implement the readers.
      txtreader = gcnew XmlTextReader( "elems.xml" );
      reader = gcnew XmlValidatingReader( txtreader );
      
      //Parse the XML and display the text content of each of the elements.
      while ( reader->Read() )
      {
         if ( reader->IsStartElement() )
         {
            if ( reader->IsEmptyElement )
                        Console::WriteLine( "<{0}/>", reader->Name );
            else
            {
               Console::Write( "<{0}> ", reader->Name );
               reader->Read(); //Read the start tag.
               if ( reader->IsStartElement() )
                              
               //Handle nested elements.
               Console::Write( "\r\n<{0}>", reader->Name );
               Console::WriteLine( reader->ReadString() ); //Read the text content of the element.
            }
         }
      }
   }
   finally
   {
      if ( reader != nullptr )
            reader->Close();
   }

}

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;

public class Sample
{
  public static void Main()
  {
    XmlTextReader txtreader = null;
    XmlValidatingReader reader = null;

    try
    {
       //Implement the readers.
       txtreader = new XmlTextReader("elems.xml");
       reader = new XmlValidatingReader(txtreader);

       //Parse the XML and display the text content of each of the elements.
       while (reader.Read()){
         if (reader.IsStartElement()){
           if (reader.IsEmptyElement)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("<{0}/>", reader.Name);
                    }
                    else
                    {
               Console.Write("<{0}> ", reader.Name);
               reader.Read(); //Read the start tag.
               if (reader.IsStartElement())  //Handle nested elements.
                   Console.Write("\r\n<{0}>", reader.Name);
               Console.WriteLine(reader.ReadString());  //Read the text content of the element.
           }
         }
       }
     }

     finally
     {
        if (reader != null)
          reader.Close();
      }
  }
} // End class
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

Public Class Sample
   
   Public Shared Sub Main()
      Dim txtreader As XmlTextReader = Nothing
      Dim reader As XmlValidatingReader = Nothing
      
      Try
         'Implement the readers.
         txtreader = New XmlTextReader("elems.xml")
         reader = New XmlValidatingReader(txtreader)
         
         'Parse the XML and display the text content of each of the elements.
         While reader.Read()
            If reader.IsStartElement() Then
               If reader.IsEmptyElement Then
                  Console.WriteLine("<{0}/>", reader.Name)
               Else
                  Console.Write("<{0}> ", reader.Name)
                  reader.Read() 'Read the start tag.
                  If (reader.IsStartElement())  'Handle nested elements.
                    Console.WriteLine()
                    Console.Write("<{0}>", reader.Name)
                  End If
                  Console.WriteLine(reader.ReadString()) 'Read the text content of the element.
               End If
            End If
         End While      
      
      Finally
         If Not (reader Is Nothing) Then
            reader.Close()
         End If
      End Try
   End Sub
End Class

The example uses the file, elems.xml, as input.

<book>
  <title>Pride And Prejudice</title>
  <price>19.95</price>
  <misc/>
</book>

Remarks

Note

The XmlValidatingReader class is obsolete in .NET Framework 2.0. You can create a validating XmlReader instance by using the XmlReaderSettings class and the Create method. For more information, see the Remarks section of the XmlReader reference page.

This property enables you to determine the difference between the following:

<item num="123"/> (IsEmptyElement is true).

<item num="123"> (IsEmptyElement is false, although element content is empty).

A corresponding EndElement node is not generated for empty elements.

If default content has been added to an element due to schema validation, IsEmptyElement still returns true. It has no bearing on whether or not the element has a default value. In other words, IsEmptyElement simply reports whether or not the element in the source document had an end element tag.

Applies to

See also