XML::Simple how do i keep the same xml format (Values and Attributs)?

tobias_hofer has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hello Monks.

I am using XML::Simple for xml processing.
I read in following from a file:

<TABLE>
       <TABLE-CAPTION ID="ID64706055682598">
          <LONG-NAME>TABLE NAME</LONG-NAME>
       </TABLE-CAPTION>
       <TGROUP COLS="4">
       <COLSPEC COLNUM="1" COLNAME="col1" COLWIDTH="1.00*"/>
       <COLSPEC COLNUM="2" COLNAME="col2" COLWIDTH="1.00*"/>
       <COLSPEC COLNUM="3" COLNAME="col3" COLWIDTH="1.00*"/>
       <COLSPEC COLNUM="4" COLNAME="col4" COLWIDTH="1.00*"/>
       <TBODY>
        <ROW>
         <ENTRY COLNAME="col1">A</ENTRY>
         <ENTRY COLNAME="col2">B</ENTRY>
         <ENTRY COLNAME="col3">C</ENTRY>
         <ENTRY COLNAME="col4">D</ENTRY>
        </ROW>
        <ROW>
         <ENTRY COLNAME="col1">E</ENTRY>
         <ENTRY COLNAME="col2">F</ENTRY>
         <ENTRY COLNAME="col3">G</ENTRY>
         <ENTRY COLNAME="col4">H</ENTRY>
        </ROW>
       </TBODY>
      </TGROUP>
</TABLE>
[download]

And I want to write the same to file. Thing is, that when i am putting the xml to file some values become xml-attributes.
So in the end i got this:

<TABLE>
  <TABLE-CAPTION ID="ID64706055682598" LONG-NAME="TABLE NAME" />
  <TGROUP COLS="4">
    <COLSPEC COLNAME="col1" COLNUM="1" COLWIDTH="1.00*" />
    <COLSPEC COLNAME="col2" COLNUM="2" COLWIDTH="1.00*" />
    <COLSPEC COLNAME="col3" COLNUM="3" COLWIDTH="1.00*" />
    <COLSPEC COLNAME="col4" COLNUM="4" COLWIDTH="1.00*" />
    <TBODY>
      <ROW>
        <ENTRY COLNAME="col1">A</ENTRY>
        <ENTRY COLNAME="col2">B</ENTRY>
        <ENTRY COLNAME="col3">C</ENTRY>
        <ENTRY COLNAME="col4">D</ENTRY>
      </ROW>
      <ROW>
        <ENTRY COLNAME="col1">E</ENTRY>
        <ENTRY COLNAME="col2">F</ENTRY>
        <ENTRY COLNAME="col3">G</ENTRY>
        <ENTRY COLNAME="col4">H</ENTRY>
      </ROW>
    </TBODY>
  </TGROUP>
</TABLE>
[download]

This read about parameters to XML Simple like VauleAttr and KeyAttr but it seems to have no effect. As far as i have understood i can define with ValueAttr what should be printed as Value and not as Attribute.. Maybe i have misunderstood this API? The same idea i have form KeyAttr so i can define what hash-keys are in the end Attributes and no values..

I am stuck in the middle, any help is highly welcome!
Here my prototype where i read in the an xml-file with the content of the first XML-structure i have put here. By this i can check if (at the end) i will get the same XML-structure back when looking at $xml:

use XML::Simple;
use strict;

my $xmlParser = new XML::Simple(    RootName => 'TABLE',
    KeepRoot=>1,
    ValueAttr=>{
        'TABLE-CAPTION' => 'LONG-NAME',
    });
my $data      = $xmlParser->XMLin("testtable.xml");
my $xml       = $xmlParser->XMLout($data);
print "stop";
[download]

Any help is highly welcome!

Regards!
Tobias

Comment on XML::Simple how do i keep the same xml format (Values and Attributs)? Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: XML::Simple how do i keep the same xml format (Values and Attributs)? by hdb (Monsignor) on Jun 14, 2013 at 11:01 UTC
There is also `NoAttr => 1` in `XML::Simple` but that goes into the other extreme.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: XML::Simple how do i keep the same xml format (Values and Attributs)? by jakeease (Friar) on Jun 15, 2013 at 08:45 UTC
I had occasion to use both the OP's solution and `NoAttr => 1` on a project where rewriting existing `XML::Simple` to use a different module wasn't an option. When writing new modules for the project, I used `XML::Twig` or `XML::LibXML`. Didn't know about `XML::Rules`; I'll have to check it out.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: XML::Simple how do i keep the same xml format (Values and Attributs)? (XML::Rules) by Anonymous Monk on Jun 14, 2013 at 10:08 UTC
You switch to XML::Rules :)	[reply]
Re: XML::Simple how do i keep the same xml format (Values and Attributs)? by tobias_hofer (Friar) on Jun 14, 2013 at 10:45 UTC
I cannot switch to XML::Rules.. i need to get this done by XML::Simple.. I wonder why this attribute and value stuff is working in all xml-tags but this 'LONG-NAME' tag.. ???	[reply]
Re^2: XML::Simple how do i keep the same xml format (Values and Attributs)? by tobyink (Canon) on Jun 14, 2013 at 11:17 UTC
Then you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. You don't want to switch away from XML::Simple, yet the author of XML::Simple freely admits that it's not suitable for the sort of task you're describing and recommends other modules instead. Quotes from the documentation: "XML::Simple is able to present a simple API because it makes some assumptions on your behalf. These include: [...] "You don't want fine-grained control of the formatting of generated XML [...] "In a serious XML project, you'll probably outgrow these assumptions fairly quickly. [...] "For event based parsing, use SAX (do not set out to write any new code for XML::Parser's handler API - it is obselete). "For tree-based parsing, you could choose between the 'Perlish' approach of XML::Twig and more standards based DOM implementations - preferably one with XPath support such as XML::LibXML." Personally I use XML::LibXML for virtually any XML-handling task that's thrown my way, and am rarely disappointed by it. `package Cow { use Moo; has name => (is => 'lazy', default => sub { 'Mooington' }) } say Cow->new->name`	[reply]
Re^3: XML::Simple how do i keep the same xml format (Values and Attributs)? by tobias_hofer (Friar) on Jun 14, 2013 at 12:08 UTC
Yes, you are right.. If I am lucky I can convince people installing this package so I can switch to it. Thanks a lot! However, I have found a solution :-)) XML Simple puts nearly every hash as an XML-attribute. But not if its pointing to another hash, example : `$tdata->{'TABLE-CAPTION'} = {'ID' => $_id, 'LONG-NAME' => {content => +'Test results'}};` [download] Using `content` will create another XML-tag and not an attribute. But for using this I had to configure XML-Simple like this. `my $xmlParser = new XML::Simple( RootName => 'TABLE', KeepRoot=>1, ValueAttr=>{ 'TABLE-CAPTION' => 'ID', 'ContentKey' => 'content', }` [download] Now its working fine, look at this: ^^ `P>Testresults:</P><TABLE> <TABLE-CAPTION ID="ID42.401123046875"> <LONG-NAME>Testresults</LONG-NAME> </TABLE-CAPTION> <TGROUP COLS="4"> <COLSPEC COLNAME="test-id" COLNUM="0" COLWIDTH="1.00" /> <COLSPEC COLNAME="status" COLNUM="1" COLWIDTH="1.00" /> <COLSPEC COLNAME="test-spec" COLNUM="2" COLWIDTH="1.00" /> <COLSPEC COLNAME="requirement-ids" COLNUM="3" COLWIDTH="1.00" /> <TBODY> <ROW> <ENTRY COLNAME="test-id"> ...` [download] Thank you very much for all your hints and tips! Best regards!! Tobias	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: XML::Simple how do i keep the same xml format (Values and Attributs)? by Jenda (Abbot) on Jun 14, 2013 at 13:52 UTC
XML::Rules is a single .pm file and its only non-core dependency is XML::Parser which you most probably already have so if you can create/upload your script, you can "install"/upload XML::Rules. No compilation or configuration required, you just need to put the Rules.pm into a directory named XML in one of the directories listed by `perl -e "print join qq{\n}, @INC"`. Yes, even you can use CPAN Jenda Enoch was right! Enjoy the last years of Rome.	[reply] [d/l]


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