System.Xml.Linq

The System.Xml.Linq namespace was added with .NET 3.5. This is known as LINQ to XML. Language Integrated Query (LINQ) is used to describe a query in the same language as the rest of a program. Therefore, interacting with a complex XML document does not require the use of XPath queries.

System.Xml.Linq is loaded by default in PowerShell 7. Windows PowerShell can make use of System.Xml.Linq once the required assembly has been added:

Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Xml.Linq

As a newer interface, System.Xml.Linq tends to be more consistent. The same syntax is used to create a document from scratch that is used to add elements and so on.

Opening documents

The Xdocument class is used to load or parse a document. XML content may be cast to Xdocument in the same way that content is cast using the [Xml] type accelerator:

[System.Xml.Linq.Xdocument]$xDocument = @"
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<cars>
    <car type="Saloon">
        <colour>Green...