Reading embedded XML file c#

1. Make sure the XML file is part of your .csproj project. (If you can see it in the solution explorer, you're good.)

2. Set the "Build Action" property for the XML file to "Embedded Resource".

3. Use the following code to retrieve the file contents at runtime:

   public string GetResourceTextFile(string filename)
   {
       string result = string.Empty;
   
       using (Stream stream = this.GetType().Assembly.
                  GetManifestResourceStream("assembly.folder."+filename))
       {
           using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(stream))
           {
               result = sr.ReadToEnd();
           }
       }
       return result;
   }
   

Whenever you want to read the file contents, just use

string fileContents = GetResourceTextFile("myXmlDoc.xml");

Note that "assembly.folder" should be replaced with the project name and folder containing the resource file.

Update

Actually, assembly.folder should be replaced by the namespace in which a class created in the same folder as the XML file would have by default. This is typically defaultNamespace.folder0.folder1.folder2......

You can also add the XML file as a Resource and then address its contents with Resources.YourXMLFilesResourceName (as a string, i.e. using a StringReader).

Set the Build Action to Embedded Resource, then write the following:

using (Stream stream = typeof(MyClass).Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("MyNameSpace.Something.xml")) {
    //Read the stream
}

You can use Reflector (free from http://www.red-gate.com/products/reflector/) to find the path to the embedded XML file.

Then, it's just a matter of

Assembly a = typeof(Assembly.Namespace.Class).Assembly;

Stream s = a.GetManifestResourceStream("Assembly.Namespace.Path.To.File.xml");
XmlDocument mappingFile = new XmlDocument();
mappingFile.Load(s);
s.Close();