Outputting Class Of Stored Values To List

Question

This loads a set of values from an XML file and places them into a class for storage. I'm trying to figure out how to output the values as a list so I can place them into a Listbox.

I thought there would be an easy way like a .ToList() method or to be able to foreach through the strings in the class (no public GetEnumerator). I've been able to find out that Foreach hides some of the complexity but not away to do what I want.

I've been searching online with no avail (lacking the correct terminology maybe), unfortunately I left my C# reference books at work :/

Would much appreciate a pointer in the right direction, Thanks.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;

namespace ThereIsOnlyRules
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }

    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        try
        {
            listBox1.Items.Clear();

            string path = "characterXML.xml";
            FileStream fs = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite);
            System.Xml.XmlDocument CXML = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();

            CXML.Load(fs);

            //Get the number of elements 
            XmlNodeList elemList = CXML.GetElementsByTagName("unit");

            //foreach (var element in elemList)
            //{
            //    listBox1.Items.Add(element);
            //}

            for (int i = 0; i < elemList.Count; i++)
            {
                UnitAttributes attributes = new UnitAttributes();

                attributes.army = elemList[i].Attributes["army"].Value;
                attributes.category = elemList[i].Attributes["category"].Value;
                attributes.type = elemList[i].Attributes["type"].Value;
                attributes.composition = elemList[i].Attributes["composition"].Value;
                attributes.WS = elemList[i].Attributes["WS"].Value;
                attributes.BS = elemList[i].Attributes["BS"].Value;
                attributes.T = elemList[i].Attributes["T"].Value;
                attributes.W = elemList[i].Attributes["W"].Value;
                attributes.I = elemList[i].Attributes["I"].Value;
                attributes.A = elemList[i].Attributes["A"].Value;
                attributes.LD = elemList[i].Attributes["LD"].Value;
                attributes.save = elemList[i].Attributes["Save"].Value;
                attributes.armour = elemList[i].Attributes["armour"].Value;
                attributes.weapons = elemList[i].Attributes["weapons"].Value;
                attributes.specialrules = elemList[i].Attributes["specialrules"].Value;
                attributes.transport = elemList[i].Attributes["transport"].Value;
                attributes.options = elemList[i].Attributes["options"].Value;

                //foreach (string item in attributes)
                //{

                    //unit.Add(item);
                //}
                //listBox1.Items.AddRange(attributes)

            }  

            //Close the filestream
            fs.Close();
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {

        }
    }
}
}

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace ThereIsOnlyRules
{
class UnitAttributes
{
    public string army { get; set; }
    public string category { get; set; }
    public string type { get; set; }
    public string composition { get; set; }
    public string WS { get; set; }
    public string BS { get; set; }
    public string T { get; set; }
    public string W { get; set; }
    public string I { get; set; }
    public string A { get; set; }
    public string LD { get; set; }
    public string save { get; set; }
    public string armour { get; set; }
    public string weapons { get; set; }
    public string specialrules { get; set; }
    public string transport { get; set; }
    public string options { get; set; }
    }
}

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
<unit
army="Tyranids"
category="Troops"
type="Infantry"
composition="10-30"
WS="3"
BS="3"
T="3"
W="1"
I="4"
A="1"
LD="6"
Save="6+"
armour="Chitin"
weapons="Claws and Teeth, Fleshborer"
specialrules="Instictive Behaviour - Lurk, Move Through Cover"
transport="If the brood consists of 20 models or less, it may take a Mycetic Spore."
options="Strangleweb, Spinefists, Spike rifle, Devourer, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs"
>
Termagant Brood
</unit>
<unit
army="Tyranids"
category="Troops"
type="Infantry"
composition="10-30"
WS="3"
BS="3"
T="3"
W="1"
I="5"
A="2"
LD="6"
Save="6+"
armour="Chitin"
weapons="Scything Talons"
specialrules="Instictive Behaviour - Feed, Bounding Leap, Fleet, Move Through Cover"
transport="If the brood consists of 20 models or less, it may take a Mycetic Spore."
options="Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs"
>
Hormagaunt Brood
</unit>
</config>

Answer 1

Are the members of your class fields or properties? Either way, a little reflection and Linq should allow you to enumerate through the data members of your class, after you have hydrated an instance of it from your XML file.

var fieldDictionary = 
   (from f in typeof(UnitAttributes).GetFields()
    select new {Name = f.Name, Value = (string)(f.GetValue(attributes))})
   .ToDictionary(x=>x.Name, x=>x.Value);

fieldDictionary is now a Dictionary<string, string> (which is an IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, string>>), which should be suitable for loading into a ListBox.

Be advised; reflection is slow. It would be far more preferable for you to modify or extend your UnitAttributes class to implement IEnumerable (probably of a Tuple, maybe a KeyValuePair). It would also allow you to enumerate the properties of an instance of the class in exactly the order you want, instead of the order in which they're defined, or by some other FieldInfo/PropertyInfo data like the field's name.

Also be aware that a field is not a property, and vice versa. If you have a mix of properties and public fields on your class, I would HIGHLY recommend standardizing to one or the other; otherwise you'll have to reflect BOTH a list of properties and a list of fields using two of the above Linq statements (at a cost of roughly double the run time), and there will be no chance of them being in any custom-defined order.

Answer 2

You'll save yourself a lot of time and effort if you use a common serializer like XmlSerializer to handle converting your objects to/from strings. You don't have to write this type of code from scratch.