Linq to XML query where clause excluding null attribute in child

Question

I'm quite new to linq/XML and although I'm making progress I'm stuck at combining two levels of elements in a where clause. The XML is something like this
<employees type="cashier">
<employee hired="Jun 1 2000" fired="Jun 1 2013">
<stats name="jane doe">
... other stuff ...
<stats />
<employee/> <employee hired="Jun 1 2000">
        <stats name="john doe">
            ... other stuff ...
        <stats />
    <employee/>
<employees/>
I'm trying to retrieve all employees of type "cashier" that haven't been fired.
I tried this
IEnumerable<XElement> CashierElements = from el in xDoc.Root.Descendants("employees")
where (string)el.Attribute("type")=="cashier"
&& (string)el.Element("stats").Attribute("fired") != null
select el;
But that returns entries where the fired attribute doesn't exist. I'm not even sure I can reference the stats element attribute in this way but VS2013 doesn't complain about it.
I have managed to muddle past by using two linq selections, the one above without the stats comparison followed by a second on the results that checks for "fired" being null.
How would I achieve this with one select statement?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi,
1) Your XML contains the attribute "fired" on "employee" element. Your query search this attribute on the "stats" element.
2) you say "that haven't been fired" by you search an attribute fired != null ? I'm not sure about your logic.
If I understand your request, your LINQ Query is more than :
IEnumerable<XElement> CashierElements =
// Loop on <employees>
from emps in xDoc.Root.Descendants("employees")
// only 'cashier' type
where (string)emps.Attribute("type") == "cashier"
// Loop on <employee> in filtered <employees>
from emp in emps.Elements("employee")
// only the employee not fired
where emp.Attribute("fired") == null
// select the employee element
select emp;
Regards
Yan Grenier
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