Beginning XML with C# 2008 (eBook)

Bipin Joshi is an independent blogger and author who writes about apparently unrelated topics technology and yoga. A former software consultant and trainer by profession, Bipin has been programming since 1995 and has worked with the .NET framework since its inception. He is a published author and has authored or co-authored more than a half dozen books and numerous articles on .NET technologies. Bipin was a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) during his tenure as a software consultant and trainer. He can be reached at www.bipinjoshi.com.

Contents at a Glance 5
Contents 6
About the Author 14
About the Technical Reviewer 15
Acknowledgments 16
Introduction 17
Who Is This Book For? 17
Software Required 17
Structure of This Book 17
Downloading the Source Code 18
Contacting the Author 18
Introducing XML and the . NET Framework 19
What Is XML? 19
Rules of XML Grammar 23
DTDs and XML Schemas 25
Parsing XML Documents 25
XSLT 26
XPath 27
The . NET Framework 28
. NET and XML 29
Working with Visual Studio 39
Summary 46
Manipulating XML Documents by Using the Document Object Model 47
Using the DOM Parser 47
Knowing When to Use DOM 49
A Sample XML Document 50
Opening an Existing XML Document for Parsing 51
Navigating Through an XML Document 53
Looking for Specific Elements and Nodes 54
Modifying XML Documents 62
Dealing with White Space 70
Dealing with Namespaces 73
Understanding Events of the XmlDocument Class 75
Summary 78
Reading and Writing XML Documents 79
What Are XML Readers and Writers? 79
When to Use Readers and Writers 80
Reader Classes 80
Reading Documents by Using XmlTextReader 81
Moving Between Elements 87
Moving Between Attributes 90
Reading Content 91
Writing XML Documents 92
Dealing with Nontextual Data 103
Summary 107
Accessing XML Documents by Using the XPath Data Model 108
Overview of XPath 108
The XPath Data Model 112
Summary 135
Validating XML Documents 136
Providing Structure for XML Documents 136
Creating Structure for an XML Document 137
Creating Schemas by Using the Schema Object Model ( SOM) 154
Validating XML Documents Against DTDs and XSD Schemas 163
Summary 173
Transforming XML with XSLT 175
Overview of XSLT 175
The XslCompiledTransform Class 187
Summary 200
XML in ADO.NET 201
Overview of ADO. NET Architecture 201
XML and Connected Data Access 206
XML and Disconnected Data Access 209
Creating a Typed DataSet 234
The XmlDataDocument Class 240
Summary 244
XML Serialization 245
Understanding the Flavors of Serialization 246
Serializing and Deserializing Objects by Using XML Format 247
Serializing Data in SOAP Format 271
Summary 278
XML Web Services 279
What Are Web Services? 279
Creating and Consuming Web Services 280
Understanding SOAP 299
Understanding the WSDL Document 305
Summary 310
XML in SQL Server 311
Using XML Extensions to the SELECT Statement 311
Using OPENXML 320
Using SQLXML Features 322
The XML Data Type 337
Native Web Services 342
Summary 347
Use of XML in the . NET Framework 348
Understanding Remoting 348
Using XML in ASP. NET 361
Working with Site Maps 380
Using the XML Control 384
Using the . NET Framework Configuration System 387
Documenting XML Code 409
Summary 417
Creating Services by Using Windows Communication Foundation 418
Understanding WCF Vocabulary 419
Creating and Consuming a WCF Service 419
Understanding the Role of XML in WCF Services 433
Summary 434
Working with LINQ to XML 435
Overview of LINQ Technology 435
Summary 470
Creating Custom XmlReader and XmlWriter Classes 471
Creating a Custom Implementation of XmlReader 471
Creating a Custom XmlWriter 484
Summary 494
Case Study: A Web Service– Driven Shopping Cart 495
Creating the Database 495
Creating the Web Service 497
Creating the Shopping Cart 505
Testing the Website 514
Resources 517
Index 519