Using XML DOM and XPATH together in perl

paragpdoke · #1 June 12th, 2009, 03:27 PM

Hello Perl Experts.
I am new to perl and seek help with some XML stuff.
My XML document is nested a few levels deep...so I want to use xpath to find the exact element to work with. Then I wish to:
- Modify attribute values
- Add child elements
- Modify text inside existing child elements

I installed ActivePerl v5.10.0 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread and used ppm to install XML-DOM and XML-XPATH. However, I don't get how to use them together.

XML::XPATH will allow me to locate the ("mandatory" - refer XML below) element I need ... but probably need XML::DOM to modify the attribute or the elements.

How do I use XPATH and DOM together to perform the mentioned actions ? Any newbie example code snippets (or links to existing posts) will be greatly appreciated.

Here is an XML file similar to what I need:

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<?xml version="1.0"?>

<project>

    <task>

        <mode name="default">

            <prerequisites>

                <actions>

                    <action name="a1"/>

                    <action name="a2"/>

                </actions>

            </prerequisites>

            <inputs>

                <item type="applications">App1</item>

                <item type="applications">App2</item>

                <item type="applications">App3</item>

                <item type="document">D1</item>

                <item type="file">F1</item>

                <item type="link">L1</item>

            </inputs>

            <action name="a1">

                <step name="S1">Detailed instructions vary for each step</step>

                <step name="S2">Detailed instructions vary for each step</step>

                <step name="S3">Detailed instructions vary for each step</step>

                <step name="S4">Detailed instructions vary for each step</step>

                <step name="S5">Detailed instructions vary for each step</step>

                <step name="S5.5" mandatory="true">Detailed instructions vary for each step</step>

                <step name="S6">Detailed instructions vary for each step</step>

            </action>

            <action name="a2">

                ...

            </action>

        </mode>

        <mode name="minimal">

            ...

        </mode>

    </task>

    <task>

        ...

    </task>

</project>

Thanks in advance,
Parag

Markus · #2 June 12th, 2009, 10:04 PM

Would XML::XPath::setNodeText not work for you?

Mark.

paragpdoke · #3 June 13th, 2009, 05:04 AM

Hello Markus.
Thank you for your reply. I will try this on Monday (when I am back in office) and share my observations (and I am 99% sure, your suggestion will work).

Till then...have a nice weekend.

-Parag

Markus · #4 June 13th, 2009, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paragpdoke

Till then...have a nice weekend.

-Parag

You too.

Mark.

paragpdoke · #5 June 16th, 2009, 05:23 PM

Hello Markus.
I tried this yesterday...but got stuck with some other problems.
Actually, I have worked on XML using VB 6.0 ... the API used there had the ability to load, query and save ... all as methods of the same object. I seem to be looking for something similar in Perl ... but cannot figure out how to do it.

If I am on the right track, I should be trying something on the lines of:

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use XML::DOM::XPATH;

my $xp = XML::XPATH->new(filename => "theFile.xml");

$xp->setNodeText("/project/task/mode[@name="default"]/action/step[@mandatory="true"]" ,"false");

Next, I should load the in memory XML DOM into a DOM object and save it to the file system. This is where I am stuck.

My attempts so far had the DOM loading the XML from the file system ... which obviously did not have the modified attribute ... as the changes haven't been saved yet.

Sorry for getting stuck with trivial issues ... it is just that I am a newbie trying my first attempts at perl.

Thanks,
Parag

Using XML DOM and XPATH together in perl

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