XmlTextWriter usage

gistfile1.cs

public static string ToXml()
{
	StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
	using (StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter(builder))
	{
		using (XmlTextWriter writer = new XmlTextWriter(stringWriter))
		{
			// This produces UTF16 XML
			writer.Indentation = 4;
			writer.IndentChar = '\t';
			writer.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;
			writer.WriteStartDocument();
			writer.WriteStartElement("Root");
			writer.WriteAttributeString("myattrib", "123");
			writer.WriteEndElement();
			writer.WriteEndDocument();
		}
	}
	return builder.ToString();
}

public static string ToUTF8Xml()
{
	string result;
	MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(); // The writer closes this for us
	using (XmlTextWriter writer = new XmlTextWriter(stream, Encoding.UTF8))
	{
		writer.Indentation = 4;
		writer.IndentChar = '\t';
		writer.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;
		writer.WriteStartDocument();
		writer.WriteStartElement("Root");
		writer.WriteAttributeString("myattrib", "123");
		writer.WriteEndElement();
		writer.WriteEndDocument();
		writer.Flush();
		
		// Make sure you flush or you only get half the text
		writer.Flush();
		
		// Use a StreamReader to get the byte order correct
		StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream, Encoding.UTF8, true);
		stream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
		result = reader.ReadToEnd();

		// #2 - doesn't write the byte order reliably
		//result = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(stream.GetBuffer(), 0, (int)stream.Length);
	}

	// Make sure you use File.WriteAllText("myfile", xml, Encoding.UTF8);
	// or equivalent to write your file back.
	return result;
}