How to remove all namespaces from XML with C#?

Question

I am looking for the clean, elegant and smart solution to remove namespacees from all XML elements? How would function to do that look like?

Defined interface:

public interface IXMLUtils {         string RemoveAllNamespaces(string xmlDocument); } 

Sample XML to remove NS from:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?> <ArrayOfInserts xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">   <insert>     <offer xmlns="http://schema.peters.com/doc_353/1/Types">0174587</offer>     <type2 xmlns="http://schema.peters.com/doc_353/1/Types">014717</type2>     <supplier xmlns="http://schema.peters.com/doc_353/1/Types">019172</supplier>     <id_frame xmlns="http://schema.peters.com/doc_353/1/Types" />     <type3 xmlns="http://schema.peters.com/doc_353/1/Types">       <type2 />       <main>false</main>     </type3>     <status xmlns="http://schema.peters.com/doc_353/1/Types">Some state</status>   </insert> </ArrayOfInserts> 

After we call RemoveAllNamespaces(xmlWithLotOfNs), we should get:

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>     <ArrayOfInserts>       <insert>         <offer >0174587</offer>         <type2 >014717</type2>         <supplier >019172</supplier>         <id_frame  />         <type3 >           <type2 />           <main>false</main>         </type3>         <status >Some state</status>       </insert>     </ArrayOfInserts> 

Preffered language of solution is C# on .NET 3.5 SP1.

Answer 1

Well, here is the final answer. I have used great Jimmy idea (which unfortunately is not complete itself) and complete recursion function to work properly.

Based on interface:

string RemoveAllNamespaces(string xmlDocument); 

I represent here final clean and universal C# solution for removing XML namespaces:

//Implemented based on interface, not part of algorithm public static string RemoveAllNamespaces(string xmlDocument) {     XElement xmlDocumentWithoutNs = RemoveAllNamespaces(XElement.Parse(xmlDocument));      return xmlDocumentWithoutNs.ToString(); }  //Core recursion function  private static XElement RemoveAllNamespaces(XElement xmlDocument)     {         if (!xmlDocument.HasElements)         {             XElement xElement = new XElement(xmlDocument.Name.LocalName);             xElement.Value = xmlDocument.Value;              foreach (XAttribute attribute in xmlDocument.Attributes())                 xElement.Add(attribute);              return xElement;         }         return new XElement(xmlDocument.Name.LocalName, xmlDocument.Elements().Select(el => RemoveAllNamespaces(el)));     } 

It's working 100%, but I have not tested it much so it may not cover some special cases... But it is good base to start.