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

HiHo,

i try to parse the result of a amazon xml response via the webservice. if i call this service i got an xml Datafile like this: 

   <Details url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=webser
+vices-20%26creative=666%26camp=2025%26link_code=xm2%26path=ASIN/05960
+00480">
      <Asin>0596000480</Asin>
      <Authors>
         <Author>David Flanagan</Author>
      </Authors>
      <Lists>
         <ListId>IEF1DNVKZO8B</ListId>

         <ListId>1R36BE3AUD988</ListId>
         <ListId>3S02XL0KTQDW0</ListId>
      </Lists>
      <BrowseList>
         <BrowseNode>
            <BrowseName>Computer Books: Languages</BrowseName>
         </BrowseNode>

         <BrowseNode>
            <BrowseName>Computer Programming Languages</BrowseName>
         </BrowseNode>
      </BrowseList>
      <Reviews>
         <AvgCustomerRating>4.31</AvgCustomerRating>
         <TotalCustomerReviews>178</TotalCustomerReviews>

         <CustomerReview>
            <Rating>5</Rating>
            <Summary>Excellent reference, not a "how to" book</Summary
+>
            <Comment>... comment ...</Comment>
         </CustomerReview>
         <CustomerReview>
            <Rating>5</Rating>

            <Summary>Superb Reference</Summary>
            <Comment>... comment ...</Comment>
         </CustomerReview>
      </Reviews>
   </Details>

[download]

But now i will print out the informtion into a template. Can anyone give me a short eg. how to do this. i tried to do this with xml::simple like that:

$xmltree->{Node}

But for the deeper nested Nodes i've no idee how to catch it? And also the Attributes like "url" in the Details-Node.

Thx for any help ;o)

Rufnex

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
(jeffa) Re: How to parse this XML?
by jeffa (Bishop) on Jun 20, 2003 at 14:33 UTC
    You are going to probably need more than just a short example. You are going to need to read the fine manual: XML::Simple. But here is a script you can play with in the meantime: 
    use strict;
use warnings;

use Data::Dumper;
use XML::Simple;

my $xml = XMLin('amazon.xml');

# print url attrib from <Details>
print $xml->{Details}{url}, "\n";

# print each rating
print $_->{Rating}, "\n" for @{ $xml->{Details}{Reviews}{CustomerRevie
+w} };

# uncomment this line to print the entire data structure
#print Dumper $xml;

    [download]
    On another note, if you need to transform that XML into something else (a template?), then a better tool is most likely the XML::LibXML - XML::LibXSLT combo.

    There are so many options when it comes to parsing XML in Perl that it can be overwhelming at first. I recommend you buy a book: check out the site reviews for Perl & XML and XML and Perl. Also, give Ways to Rome a quick, shallow glance. It's probably too complex for you right now, but a quick glance will show you just how many options you have at your disposal. Good luck. :)

    jeffa

    L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)
[reply]
[d/l]
Re: How to parse this XML?
by gellyfish (Monsignor) on Jun 20, 2003 at 14:31 UTC

    My advice would be to feed your XML into a small program such as (assuming your XML is in 'text.xml' ) : 

    use XML::Simple;
use Data::Dumper;

my $foo = XMLin('test.xml');

print Dumper($foo);

    [download]
    Whereupon it should become clearer. 
    /J\

[reply]
[d/l]
Re: How to parse this XML?
by grantm (Parson) on Jun 20, 2003 at 18:04 UTC
[reply]
Re: How to parse this XML?
by Rufnex (Novice) on Jun 20, 2003 at 21:25 UTC
    Thx to all ... i did it with xml::simple ;o) Rufnex
[reply]

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