Ignore namespaces in LINQ to XML

Instead of writing:

nodes.Elements("Foo")

write:

nodes.Elements().Where(e => e.Name.LocalName == "Foo")

and when you get tired of it, make your own extension method:

public static IEnumerable<XElement> ElementsAnyNS<T>(this IEnumerable<T> source, string localName)    where T : XContainer{    return source.Elements().Where(e => e.Name.LocalName == localName);}

Ditto for attributes, if you have to deal with namespaced attributes often (which is relatively rare).

[EDIT] Adding solution for XPath

For XPath, instead of writing:

/foo/bar | /foo/ns:bar | /ns:foo/bar | /ns:foo/ns:bar

you can use local-name() function:

/*[local-name() = 'foo']/*[local-name() = 'bar']

Here's a method to strip namespaces:

private static XElement StripNamespaces(XElement rootElement){    foreach (var element in rootElement.DescendantsAndSelf())    {        // update element name if a namespace is available        if (element.Name.Namespace != XNamespace.None)        {            element.Name = XNamespace.None.GetName(element.Name.LocalName);        }        // check if the element contains attributes with defined namespaces (ignore xml and empty namespaces)        bool hasDefinedNamespaces = element.Attributes().Any(attribute => attribute.IsNamespaceDeclaration ||                (attribute.Name.Namespace != XNamespace.None && attribute.Name.Namespace != XNamespace.Xml));        if (hasDefinedNamespaces)        {            // ignore attributes with a namespace declaration            // strip namespace from attributes with defined namespaces, ignore xml / empty namespaces            // xml namespace is ignored to retain the space preserve attribute            var attributes = element.Attributes()                                    .Where(attribute => !attribute.IsNamespaceDeclaration)                                    .Select(attribute =>                                        (attribute.Name.Namespace != XNamespace.None && attribute.Name.Namespace != XNamespace.Xml) ?                                            new XAttribute(XNamespace.None.GetName(attribute.Name.LocalName), attribute.Value) :                                            attribute                                    );            // replace with attributes result            element.ReplaceAttributes(attributes);        }    }    return rootElement;}

Example usage:

XNamespace ns = "http://schemas.domain.com/orders";XElement xml =    new XElement(ns + "order",        new XElement(ns + "customer", "Foo", new XAttribute("hello", "world")),        new XElement("purchases",            new XElement(ns + "purchase", "Unicycle", new XAttribute("price", "100.00")),            new XElement("purchase", "Bicycle"),            new XElement(ns + "purchase", "Tricycle",                new XAttribute("price", "300.00"),                new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xml.GetName("space"), "preserve")            )        )    );Console.WriteLine(xml.Element("customer") == null);Console.WriteLine(xml);StripNamespaces(xml);Console.WriteLine(xml);Console.WriteLine(xml.Element("customer").Attribute("hello").Value);

As I found this question in search for an easy way to ignore namespaces on attributes, here's an extension for ignoring namespaces when accessing an attribute, based on Pavel´s answer (for easier copying, I included his extension):

public static XAttribute AttributeAnyNS<T>(this T source, string localName)where T : XElement{    return source.Attributes().SingleOrDefault(e => e.Name.LocalName == localName);}public static IEnumerable<XElement> ElementsAnyNS<T>(this IEnumerable<T> source, string localName)where T : XContainer{    return source.Elements().Where(e => e.Name.LocalName == localName);}