Remove Child Nodes Keep Their Parent

Question

I have XML Code Block as below (it is part of similar lines of hundreds..):

<specs>
    <spec name='fald' value = '100'>
        <name></name>
        <value></value>
    </spec>
</specs>

I need to convert code as seen below:

  <specs>
     <spec name ='fald' value = '100'/>
  </specs>

Using following code I am able to delete child nodes:

foreach (XElement child in doc.Descendants().Reverse())
{
    if (child.HasAttributes)
    {
        foreach (var attribute in child.Attributes())
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(attribute.Value) && string.IsNullOrEmpty(child.Value))
                child.Remove();
        }
    }
}

But this process also deletes parent node ('spec') which is expected to take place there. Any help is appreciated, thanks...

Answer 1

It's a little unclear what the criteria for deleting an element is, but to get you started, perhaps this is somewhere along the lines of what you are looking for?

var xml =
    @"<specs>
        <spec name='fald' value='100'>
          <name></name>
          <value></value>
        </spec>
      </specs>";

var doc = XElement.Parse(xml);

var childrenToDelete = doc.XPathSelectElements("//spec/*")
    .Where(elem => string.IsNullOrEmpty(elem.Value)
            && (!elem.HasAttributes
            || elem.Attributes().All(attr => string.IsNullOrEmpty(attr.Value))))
    .ToList();

foreach (var child in childrenToDelete)
{
    child.Remove();
}

// Produces:
// <specs>
//   <spec name="fald" value="100" />
// </specs>

Check this fiddle for a test run.