That's true, there is MSXML. But sometimes life calls for in-code solutions. Sometimes you can't wait for MS to fix bugs. Sometimes you need something you can control. That's where this project comes in. It provides an XML parser with a interface similar to that of MSXML. The code is light-weight and very quick.

Provided below (it is also in the download) is the code to load any given XML file into the TreeView control. You can see how remarkably easy the XML parser is to use.

The code comes as code group containing 2 projects. The 1^st one is the XML Parser implementation itself. It is implemented as an ActiveX DLL. The second project is the test project that drives the XML Parser and loads a file into the TreeView control. To get started, simply double-click the g.vbg file. Also included is a sample XML file.

Option Explicit

Private Sub btnLoadXmlFile_Click()
    Dim oDoc As MYXMLDOM.XMLDOC
    
    'first pick the file
    With cd
        .Filter = "XML Files (*.xml) |*.xml"
        .ShowOpen
    
        If Len(.FileName) = 0 Then Exit Sub
    End With
    
    
    Set oDoc = New MYXMLDOM.XMLDOC
    With oDoc
        .loadXML (load(cd.FileName))
    End With
    
    'load the file into the tree
    LoadDocIntoTree oDoc
    
    Set oDoc = Nothing
End Sub

Private Sub LoadDocIntoTree(oDoc As MYXMLDOM.XMLDOC)
    Dim oTvNode As MSComctlLib.Node
    Dim oXmlNode As MYXMLDOM.XMLNODE
    Dim x As Long
    
    tv.Nodes.Clear

    With oDoc
        'grab the top node - there can only be one
        If .HasChildNodes Then
            For x = 0 To .ChildNodes.Count - 1
                Set oXmlNode = .ChildNodes(x)
                
                If oXmlNode.NodeType <> NODE_COMMENT And oXmlNode.NodeType <> NODE_PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION Then
                
                    Set oTvNode = tv.Nodes.Add(, , NextKey(), oXmlNode.NodeName)
                    oTvNode.EnsureVisible
                    
                    If oXmlNode.HasChildNodes Then
                        LoadChildNodesIntoTree oXmlNode, oTvNode
                    End If
                End If
            
            Next
        End If
    End With
    
    
    'make sure the top node is visible
    If tv.Nodes.Count > 0 Then tv.Nodes(1).EnsureVisible
    
    Set oTvNode = Nothing
    Set oXmlNode = Nothing
End Sub

Private Sub LoadChildNodesIntoTree(oXmlNode As XMLNODE, ParentTvNode As MSComctlLib.Node)
    Dim x As Long
    Dim oChildXmlNode As XMLNODE
    Dim oChildTvNode As MSComctlLib.Node
    
    With oXmlNode
        If .HasChildNodes Then
            For x = 0 To .ChildNodes.Count - 1
                Set oChildXmlNode = .ChildNodes(x)
                
                If oChildXmlNode.NodeType <> NODE_COMMENT And oChildXmlNode.NodeType <> NODE_PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION Then
                    
                    Set oChildTvNode = tv.Nodes.Add(ParentTvNode.Key, tvwChild, NextKey(), oChildXmlNode.NodeName)
                    oChildTvNode.EnsureVisible
                    
                    If oChildXmlNode.HasChildNodes Then
                        LoadChildNodesIntoTree oChildXmlNode, oChildTvNode
                    End If
                End If
                
                Set oChildXmlNode = Nothing
                Set oChildTvNode = Nothing
            Next
        End If
    End With    
End Sub

'HELPER FUNCTIONS
Private Function load(ByVal FileName As String) As String
    Dim xmlStr As String, xmlLine As String
    Dim freeFileNo As Integer
    freeFileNo = FreeFile
    Open FileName For Input As #freeFileNo
        If Not EOF(1) Then
            Do While Not EOF(freeFileNo)
                Input #freeFileNo, xmlLine
                xmlStr = xmlStr & " " & xmlLine
            Loop
        End If
    Close #freeFileNo
    load = xmlStr
End Function

Private Function NextKey() As String
    Static KeyCount As Integer
    
    KeyCount = KeyCount + 1
    
    '"x" is just a dummy letter
    'it is not needed here, just my way of doing stuff
    NextKey = "x" & KeyCount
    
End Function