Save a dataset as XML

  • Article

Applies to: yesVisual Studio noVisual Studio for Mac

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

Access the XML data in a dataset by calling the available XML methods on the dataset. To save the data in XML format, you can call either the GetXml method or the WriteXml method of a DataSet.

Calling the GetXml method returns a string that contains the data from all data tables in the dataset that's formatted as XML.

Calling the WriteXml method sends the XML-formatted data to a file that you specify.

To save the data in a dataset as XML to a variable

  • The GetXml method returns a String. Declare a variable of type String and assign it the results of the GetXml method.

    Dim xmlData As String = NorthwindDataSet.GetXml()

    string xmlData = northwindDataSet.GetXml();

To save the data in a dataset as XML to a file

  • The WriteXml method has several overloads. Declare a variable and assign it a valid path to save the file to. The following code shows how to save the data to a file:

    Dim filePath As String = "ENTER A VALID FILEPATH"
NorthwindDataSet.WriteXml(filePath)

    string filePath = "ENTER A VALID FILEPATH";
northwindDataSet.WriteXml(filePath);

See also