XmlSiteMapProvider Class

The System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider class is derived from the System.Web.SiteMapProvider class and is the default site map provider for ASP.NET. The System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider class generates site map trees from XML files with the file name extension .sitemap.

Syntax

public class XmlSiteMapProvider : StaticSiteMapProvider, IDisposable

Remarks

The System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider class loads site map data from an XML file that follows a known schema. The site map data is bounded by <siteMap> tags and consists of nested <siteMapNode> tags. Two constraints are imposed by the System.Web.SiteMapProvider and System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider classes on the structure of the site map data:

Only one root node can exist.
For System.Web.SiteMapNode objects that specify URLs, the URLs must be unique within the scope of the provider. (For nodes that do not specify URLs, all keys must be unique.)

The following code example shows an example of an XML file that can be used with the System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider.

Example

<siteMap>
  <siteMapNode title="RootNode" description="This is the root node of the site map. There can be only one root node." url="Page1.aspx" >
    <siteMapNode title="ChildofRootNode" description="Descriptions do not have to be unique." url="Page2.aspx">
      <siteMapNode title="ChildOfChildNode" description="SiteMapNode objects can be nested to any level." url="Page3.aspx"/>
    </siteMapNode>
    <siteMapNode title="ChildofRootNode" description="Descriptions do not have to be unique." url="Page4.aspx"/>
  </siteMapNode>
</siteMap>

The System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider is the default provider for ASP.NET and it reads XML data from a file named Web.sitemap that is located within the directory structure of the ASP.NET application. By default, the Web.sitemap file is located at the application root; however, if you want to change the name or location of the file from which the System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider loads data, you can override the default configuration in your Web.config file. By overriding the default configuration settings in your Web.config file, you can tailor the behavior of the System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider for each ASP.NET application, as necessary.

The following code example demonstrates an example Web.config file, where the System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider is still used, but a different site map file is used. Because all providers in a System.Web.SiteMapProviderCollection object must be named uniquely, the one that is specified in the Web.config file uses a name other than the default but is also set as the default provider so that it will be used instead of the System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider that is specified in the default ASP.NET configuration.

Note:

You can change the name of the site navigation data file, but you cannot change its extension. The System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider only reads data from files that are named with the file name extension .sitemap.

Example

<siteMap defaultProvider="MyXmlSiteMapProvider" enabled="true">
  <providers>
    <add name="MyXmlSiteMapProvider"
      description="SiteMap provider that reads in .sitemap files."
      type="System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.3600.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
      siteMapFile="CustomWeb.sitemap" />
  </providers>
</siteMap>

Requirements

Namespace: System.Web
Assembly: System.Web (in System.Web.dll)
Assembly Versions: 2.0.0.0
Since: .NET 2.0