XDocument.Load() Error

Question

I have some code:

WebRequest request = HttpWebRequest.Create(url);
WebResponse response = request.GetResponse();
using (System.IO.StreamReader sr = 
    new System.IO.StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()))
{
    System.Xml.Linq.XDocument doc = new System.Xml.Linq.XDocument();
    doc.Load(new System.IO.StringReader(sr.ReadToEnd()));
}

I can't load my response in my XML document. I get the following error:

Member 'System.XMl.Linq.XDocument.Load(System.IO.TextReader' cannot be accessed 
with an instance reference; qualify it with a type name instead.

This is becoming really frustrating. What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Unlike XmlDocument.Load , XDocument.Load is a static method returning a new XDocument :

XDocument doc = XDocument.Load(new StringReader(sr.ReadToEnd()));

It seems pretty pointless to read the stream to the end then create a StringReader though. It's also pointless creating the StreamReader in the first place - and if the XML document isn't in UTF-8, it could cause problems. Better:

For .NET 4, where there's an XDocument.Load(Stream) overload:

using (var response = request.GetResponse())
{
    using (var stream = response.GetResponseStream())
    {
        var doc = XDocument.Load(stream);
    }
}

For .NET 3.5, where there isn't:

using (var response = request.GetResponse())
{
    using (var stream = response.GetResponseStream())
    {
        var doc = XDocument.Load(XmlReader.Create(stream));
    }
}

Or alternatively, just let LINQ to XML do all the work:

XDocument doc = XDocument.Load(url);

EDIT: Note that the compiler error did give you enough information to get you going: it told you that you can't call XDocument.Load as doc.Load , and to give the type name instead. Your next step should have been to consult the documentation, which of course gives examples.