.NET Method Performance IsValidXml

Question

I have a legacy legacy application that passes a lot of XML as strings.

I often need the ability to check if a string is valid XML. What is the fastest and least expensive way to validate an XML string in .NET?

I work in .NET 3.5 and most likely I will use this as an extension method (from the line) in this single project as part of the solution.

UPDATE :
What I mean by "valid" in my case is well-formed XML. I do not need to check resources or schema.

Answer 1

XML- . , , , ( , ), - XmlReader:

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        const int iterations = 20000;
        const string xml = @"<foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/><foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/></bar><bar/></foo><foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/></bar><bar/></foo><foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/></bar><bar/></foo><foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/></bar><bar/></foo><foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/></bar><bar/></foo><foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/></bar><bar/></foo><foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/></bar><bar/></foo><foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/></bar><bar/></foo><foo><bar><baz a='b' c='d'/></bar><bar/></foo></bar><bar/></foo>";

        Stopwatch st = new Stopwatch();

        st.Start();
        for (int i=0; i<iterations; i++)
        {
            using (StringReader sr = new StringReader(xml))
            using (XmlReader xr = XmlReader.Create(sr))
            {
                while (xr.Read())
                {
                }
            }
        }
        st.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("XmlReader: {0} ms.", st.ElapsedMilliseconds));

        st.Reset();
        st.Start();
        for (int i=0; i<iterations; i++)
        {
            XElement.Parse(xml);
        }
        st.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("XElement: {0} ms.", st.ElapsedMilliseconds));

        st.Reset();
        st.Start();
        for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++)
        {
            XmlDocument d= new XmlDocument();
            d.LoadXml(xml);
        }
        st.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("XmlDocument: {0} ms.", st.ElapsedMilliseconds));

        st.Reset();
        st.Start();
        for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++)
        {
            using (StringReader sr = new StringReader(xml))
            {
                XPathDocument d = new XPathDocument(new StringReader(xml));                    
            }
        }
        st.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("XPathDocument: {0} ms.", st.ElapsedMilliseconds));

        Console.ReadKey();
    }

XmlReader , . . Reflector , , XmlDocument, XDocument XPathDocument XmlReader .

Answer 2

.NET XML- (?) . , - :

public static class XmlUtilities
{
    public static bool IsXml(this string data)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(data)) return false;

        try
        {
            System.Xml.XmlDocument doc = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();

            doc.LoadXml(data);

            return true;            
        }
        catch
        {
            return false;
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

XElement:

public static class XmlUtilities
{

    public static bool IsXml(this string data)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(data)) return false;

        try
        {
            var doc = XElement.Parse(data)

            return true;            
        }
        catch (XmlException)
        {
            return false;
        }
    }
}