XElement namespaces (How to?)

Question

How to create xml document with node prefix like:

<sphinx:docset>   <sphinx:schema>     <sphinx:field name="subject"/>     <sphinx:field name="content"/>     <sphinx:attr name="published" type="timestamp"/>  </sphinx:schema> 

When I try to run something like new XElement("sphinx:docset") i getting exception

Unhandled Exception: System.Xml.XmlException: The ':' character, hexadecimal val ue 0x3A, cannot be included in a name.
at System.Xml.XmlConvert.VerifyNCName(String name, ExceptionType exceptionTyp e)
at System.Xml.Linq.XName..ctor(XNamespace ns, String localName)
at System.Xml.Linq.XNamespace.GetName(String localName)
at System.Xml.Linq.XName.Get(String expandedName)

Answer 1

It's really easy in LINQ to XML:

XNamespace ns = "sphinx"; XElement element = new XElement(ns + "docset"); 

Or to make the "alias" work properly to make it look like your examples, something like this:

XNamespace ns = "http://url/for/sphinx"; XElement element = new XElement("container",     new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "sphinx", ns),     new XElement(ns + "docset",         new XElement(ns + "schema"),             new XElement(ns + "field", new XAttribute("name", "subject")),             new XElement(ns + "field", new XAttribute("name", "content")),             new XElement(ns + "attr",                           new XAttribute("name", "published"),                          new XAttribute("type", "timestamp")))); 

That produces:

<container xmlns:sphinx="http://url/for/sphinx">   <sphinx:docset>     <sphinx:schema />     <sphinx:field name="subject" />     <sphinx:field name="content" />     <sphinx:attr name="published" type="timestamp" />   </sphinx:docset> </container> 

Answer 2

You can read the namespace of your document and use it in queries like this:

XDocument xml = XDocument.Load(address); XNamespace ns = xml.Root.Name.Namespace; foreach (XElement el in xml.Descendants(ns + "whateverYourElementNameIs"))     //do stuff