Use XML Literals in C#?

Question

Is it possible to add literal XML data within a C# code file? I\'m currently using a multiline string literal but it gets messy as you can see. Any better way of doing this?

Answer 1

As a peculiar, and very case-specific solution, if you happen to be working in an ASP.NET environment using the Razor engine, in a CSHTML file you can:

Func xml = @
    @(item.PropertyA)
    @(item.PropertyB)
    @(item.PropertyC)
;

With the addition of an extension method:

public static XDocument ToXDocument(this Func source, T item)
{
    return XDocument.Parse(source(item).ToHtmlString());
}

You can then:

XDocument document = xml.ToXDocument(new MyType() {
    PropertyA = "foo",
    PropertyB = "bar",
    PropertyC = "qux",
});

Again, peculiar? Yes. Case-specific? Yes. But it works, and gives great Intellisense. (mind you, it also will give a bunch of validity warnings, depending on the document validation version)