A puzzle for parsing XML with XML::Simple!

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

Dear All, Now ,i came across a puzzled problem ,pls help me. my code

 
use XML::Simple;
use Data::Dumper;
my $xml   = XML::Simple->new();
my $body = '
 <all>
 <products>
  <item>
    <name>a</name>
    <price>1</price>
    <count>1</count>
  </item>
  <item>
    <name>b</name>
    <price>1</price>
    <count>1</count>
  </item>
 </products>
 </all>';
my $xhash = $xml->XMLin($body);
print Dumper($xhash);
[download]

the result is :

$VAR1 = {
          'products' => {
              'item' => {
                  'a' => {
                        'count' => '1',
                        'price' => '1'
                   },
                   'b' => {
                        'count' => '1',
                        'price' => '1'
                   }
               }
           }
        };

I really don't want to this result. I want to get all "item" info into a Array ref. just like this:

$VAR1 = {
          'products' => {
              'item' =>[
                   {
                        'name'  => 'a',
                        'count' => '1',
                        'price' => '1'
                   },
                   {
                        'name'  => 'b',
                        'count' => '1',
                        'price' => '1'
                   } ]
           }
        };
[download]

how to carry out the task? Thanks in advance! BTW:i use the option "ForceArray => 1",the result also is not perfect . Pysome

Comment on A puzzle for parsing XML with XML::Simple! Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: A puzzle for parsing XML with XML::Simple! by bobf (Monsignor) on Jan 25, 2008 at 08:34 UTC
`ForceArray` won't do it, but all is not lost. Try `KeyAttr` instead: `my $xml = XML::Simple->new( KeyAttr => [ 'item' ] );` [download] `$VAR1 = { 'products' => { 'item' => [ { 'count' => '1', 'name' => 'a', 'price' => '1' }, { 'count' => '1', 'name' => 'b', 'price' => '1' } ] } };` [download] Also, don't forget that even if the parser doesn't give you exactly what you want, there is always post-processing. :-) HTH	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: A puzzle for parsing XML with XML::Simple! by ww (Archbishop) on Jan 25, 2008 at 14:24 UTC
++ for your solution, bobf, but an offset for your assertion that "ForceArray won't do it" because olus' solution (below) using FA ALSO does what the OP asked (for the data given). Update: Careless monk has no excuse for the stricken section; replace with "olus' note -- also re `'KeyAttr'` is also valuable." Duh! on me and thanks to both bobf and olus for catching this before it sat there any longer.	[reply]
Re^3: A puzzle for parsing XML with XML::Simple! by bobf (Monsignor) on Jan 25, 2008 at 15:07 UTC
I probably should have said I couldn't get ForceArray to do it in my tests, thereby leaving room for someone more clever than I to find a solution using that option. That said, olus' solution uses KeyAttr just as mine does, not ForceArray (olus++ for reading the docs). Am I missing something?	[reply]
Re: A puzzle for parsing XML with XML::Simple! by olus (Curate) on Jan 25, 2008 at 11:43 UTC
The thing to be aware of in this case is to the following note on the module documentation. `Note 1: The default value for 'KeyAttr' is ['name', 'key', 'id']. If y +ou do not want folding on input or unfolding on output you must setti +ng this option to an empty list to disable the feature.` [download] So, since you have an element named 'name', XML::Simple does that grouping trick. What you need to do is to set KeyAttr to an empty list `my $xml = XML::Simple->new(KeyAttr=>[]);` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: A puzzle for parsing XML with XML::Simple! by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jan 25, 2008 at 07:51 UTC
How about `ForceArray => [qw( item )]` [download] ~~If some form for ForceArray doesn't do the trick, you're out of luck.~~	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: A puzzle for parsing XML with XML::Simple! by pysome (Scribe) on Jan 25, 2008 at 08:34 UTC
thank you.But it can't work:(	[reply]


Do you know where your variables are?
	PerlMonks