How to Properly Handle Namespaces in XElement When Creating XML Documents?

XElement Namespaces Explained

When attempting to create XML documents with prefixed namespaces using XElement, such as:

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

you may encounter an exception stating that the colon character is not allowed in names. This comprehensive answer will provide a detailed explanation and a solution to resolve this issue.

Namespaced Elements in XElement

In LINQ to XML, creating namespaced elements is straightforward:

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

This approach generates XML without the explicit namespace declaration:

<sphinx:docset/>

Aliasing the Namespace

To make the alias work correctly and create XML with explicit namespace declarations, follow these steps:

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"))));

This code generates XML with the desired namespace declaration:

<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:schema>
  </sphinx:docset>
</container>

In summary, creating namespaced elements in LINQ to XML is easy. By following these steps, you can effectively handle namespace declarations when working with XML data.

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