Linq to XML with nested Dictionary and Array

Question

I am Working on Windows Phone 8 application:

I have a document like this :

<array>
    <dict>
        <key>SubTopics</key>
        <array>
            <dict>
                <key>ID</key>
                <array>
                    <string>CD1</string>
                    <string>CD2</string>
                    <string>CD3</string>
                    <string>CD4</string>    
                </array>
                <key>Title</key>
                <string>Miscellaneous</string>
                <key>Desc</key>
                <string> this is just a text</string>
                <key>HasItems</key>
                <true/>
            </dict>
            <dict>
                <key>ID</key>
                <array>
                    <string>DDC1</string>
                    <string>DDC2</string>
                    <string>DDC3</string>
                    <string>DDC4</string>
                    <string>DDC5</string>
                </array>
                <key>Title</key>
                <string>Miscellaneous One</string>
                <key>Desc</key>
                <string> this is just a text</string>
                <key>HasItems</key>
                <true/>
            </dict>
      </array>
      <key>MainTitle</key>
      <string>Data</string>
    </dict>
    <dict>
        <key>SubTopics</key>
        <array>
            <dict>
                <key>ID</key>
                <array>
                    <string>SSD1</string>
                    <string>SS2</string>
                    <string>SS3</string>
                    <string>SS4</string>    
                </array>
                <key>Title</key>
                <string>Goblins</string>
                <key>Desc</key>
                <string> this is just a text</string>
                <key>HasItems</key>
                <true/>
            </dict>
            <dict>
                <key>ID</key>
                <array>
                    <string>ADC1</string>
                    <string>ADC2</string>
                    <string>ADC3</string>
                    <string>ADC4</string>
                    <string>DDC5</string>
                </array>
                <key>Title</key>
                <string>Tracks</string>
                <key>Desc</key>
                <string> this is just a text</string>
                <key>HasItems</key>
                <true/>
            </dict>
      </array>
      <key>MainTitle</key>
      <string>Data Two</string>
    </dict>
</array>

How to parse this ?

Its like this :

MainTitle 

   --SubTitle

  ---ID

  ---Desc

  ---Boolean Value
 MainTitle 

   --SubTitle

  ---ID

  ---Desc

  ---Boolean Value

Basically a List of Dictionary with Key and Array list of values.

I have tried like this but its not complete:

List<MyObject> topics = (from plist in doc.Root.Element("array").Elements("dict")
                                  select new MyObject
                                  {
                                      MainTitle = (string)plist.Element("string"),
                                      ListOfSubTitles = plist.Element("array")
                                                   .Elements("dict")
                                                   .Elements("string")
                                                   .Select(s => (string)s)
                                                   .ToList(),
                                      ListOfIDs = plist.Element("array")
                                                    .Elements("dict")
                                                    .Elements("array")
                                                    .Elements("string")
                                                    .Select(s => (string)s)
                                                    .ToList()
                                  }).ToList();

Answer 1

Ok, here is a little class that can parse your xml:

public class Parser
{
    public List<Dictionary<string, object>> Parse(XElement root)
    {
        var result = new List<Dictionary<string, object>>();

        foreach (var e in root.Elements())
        {
            if (e.Name == "dict")
            {
                result.Add(ParseDict(e));
            }
        }

        return result;
    }

    private Dictionary<string, object> ParseDict(XElement element)
    {
        var dict = new Dictionary<string, object>();

        foreach (var subelement in element.Elements())
        {
            if (subelement.Name == "key")
            {
                dict.Add(subelement.Value, ParseValue(subelement.ElementsAfterSelf().First()));        
            }
        }

        return dict;
    }

    private object ParseValue(XElement valueElement)
    {
        if (valueElement.Name == "string")
        {
            return valueElement.Value;
        }

        if (valueElement.Name == "array")
        {
            return new List<object>(valueElement.Elements().Select(e => ParseValue(e)));
        }

        if (valueElement.Name == "dict")
        {
            return ParseDict(valueElement);
        }

        if (valueElement.Name == "true")
        {
            return true;
        }

        if (valueElement.Name == "false")
        {
            return false;
        }

        return null;
    }
}

It is used like this:

        var parser = new Parser();
        var doc = XDocument.Load(<path to xml file>);

        var result = parser.Parse(doc.Root);

The parser is very crude and makes assumptions about the xml. And as pointed out in earlier comments, it is not the best way to use xml like this, where position of elements has significance. Also the use of "object" in the parser isn't a good solution, but the parser gets a lot more advanced if you want to avoid that.

Answer 2

I used Hakan's Parser class almost straight out of the box: I needed an integer element but no true or false - simple edits. This snippet might help people test their code. I have renamed some of Hakan's symbols to fit my project.

private void Button_Click_1(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        List<Dictionary<string, object>> topicsList = topicParser.Parse(topicsXDocument.Root);
        Console.WriteLine("The Topics List contains:");
        foreach (Dictionary<string, object> topic in topicsList)
        {
            foreach (KeyValuePair<string, object> element in topic)
            {
                string name = element.Key;
                object content = element.Value;
                Console.WriteLine("Key: {0}, Value: {1}", name, content.ToString());
            }
        }

    }