SelectSingleNode problem in vb .net

[bharnett]

I pulled this code from a different application we use to write/read data between an xml and a form. The information I am trying to read is just a string of a directory path that the user picks on the form.

Here is the XML file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<root>
  <settings>
    <importdir>test</importdir>
    <exportdir>test</exportdir>
    <archivedir>test</archivedir>
  </settings>  
</root>

Here is the code:

Public Class Form1
    Dim xSettings As New System.Xml.XmlDocument
    Dim xSettingsFileName As String = String.Empty
    Dim sFilePath As String

    Private Sub frmMain_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        xSettingsFileName = "loaderconfig.XML"
        sFilePath = My.Application.Info.DirectoryPath & "\" & xSettingsFileName
        'sFilePath = "C:\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\OTPP Loader\OTPP Loader\bin\Debug\loaderconfig.xml"
        refreshconfig()

    End Sub

    Public Sub refreshconfig()
        'Clear out the text boxes to ensure nothing is there when we load the settings
        Me.txtImportPath.Text = String.Empty
        Me.txtExportPath.Text = String.Empty

        xSettings.Load(sFilePath)

        Me.txtImportPath.Text = xSettings.SelectSingleNode("root/settings/importdir").InnerText
        Me.txtExportPath.Text = xSettings.SelectSingleNode("root/settings/importdir").InnerText

It is erroring on Me.txtImportPat h.Text = xSettings.Selec tSingleNode("ro ot/settings/importdir").Inn erText and the error I'm getting is:
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

I don't know why this is happening as it works great in the application I grabbed this code from.

THANKS!

[Curtis Rutland]

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[DrBunchman]

Hi bharnett,

This error means that the XPath query is not evalutating to a node correctly i.e. the XPath is probably wrong.

First thing to do is test that XPath string - have you got Stylus Studio or a similar XML editor which you can use to test these queries? That will make your life much easier and I think there are some free ones out there.

Can you try putting the two forward slashes at the beginning of all of your XPath strings and see if that makes any difference. e.g.

   
Me.txtImportPath.Text = xSettings.SelectSingleNode("//root/settings/importdir").InnerText
Me.txtExportPath.Text = xSettings.SelectSingleNode("//root/settings/importdir").InnerText

Does that help at all?

Dr B

[bharnett]

Nevermind, just figured it out. It was loading the wrong XML file!

[Curtis Rutland]

Glad you found the answer.

[DrBunchman]

Nevermind, just figured it out. It was loading the wrong XML file!

Ah, well that would help! :-)

Dr B