in reply to XML for a newbie

The documentation for XML::Simple says:

STATUS OF THIS MODULE

The use of this module in new code is discouraged. Other modules are available which provide more straightforward and consistent interfaces. In particular, XML::LibXML is highly recommended and XML::Twig is an excellent alternative.

So here’s an example using XML::Twig. It’s adapted from the example code here:

#! perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dump;
use XML::Twig;

my $twig = XML::Twig->new
( 
    twig_roots =>
    {
        'Body/QueryXmlResponse/QueryXmlResult/queryResult/data/row' =>
        \&get_data,
    }
);

my  %data;
$twig->parse(\*DATA);
dd \%data;
 
sub get_data
{
    my ($twig, $row) = @_;
    $data{ $_->tag } = $_->text for $row->children;
    $twig->purge;
}

__DATA__
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE stats SYSTEM "stats.dtd">
<Body>
  <QueryXmlResponse>
    <QueryXmlResult>
      <queryResult>
        <template>
          <resultset>
            <column>
              <FriendlyName>
                <ordinal>2</ordinal>
                <type>String</type>
              </FriendlyName>
              <AddressMask>
                <ordinal>1</ordinal>
                <type>String</type>
              </AddressMask>
              <SubnetAddress>
                <type>String</type>
                <ordinal>0</ordinal>
              </SubnetAddress>
            </column>
          </resultset>
        </template>
        <data>
          <row>
            <c2>Extra Subnet</c2>
            <c1>255.255.248.0</c1>
            <c0>192.168.221.0</c0>
          </row>
        </data>
        <xmlns:xsi>http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance</xmlns:xs
+i>
      </queryResult>
    </QueryXmlResult>
    <xmlns>http://schemas.solarwinds.com/2007/08/informationservice</x
+mlns>
  </QueryXmlResponse>
</Body>

[download]

Output:

17:25 >perl 1536_SoPW.pl
{ c0 => "192.168.221.0", c1 => "255.255.248.0", c2 => "Extra Subnet" }

17:25 >

[download]

Hope that helps,

Athanasius <°(((>< contra mundum Iustus alius egestas vitae, eros Piratica,

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom