Does the first row returned contain a set of empty tags and subsequent rows contain the same tags with data? Something like:

<result>
    <checked_in></checked_in>
    <change_request></change_request>
    <po_number></po_number>
</result>
<result>
    <checked_in>yesterday</checked_in>
    <change_request>AQX123</change_request>
    <po_number>42</po_number>
</result>

[download]

Until, of course, you get to:

<result>
    <po_number>42</po_number>
    <checked_in>1 week ago</checked_in>
    <change_request>AQX120</change_request>
</result>

[download]

And your parsing by position produces bogus results.

Or is it really XML-encoded CSV? More like:

<result>
    <checked_in></checked_in>
    <change_request></change_request>
    <po_number></po_number>
</result>
<result>
    <bogon>yesterday</bogon>
    <bogon>AQX123</bogon>
    <bogon>42</bogon>
</result>

[download]

In the former case, you don't need the positions after all, and the fact that they change from run to run should indicate that they are not significant. In the latter case, your CMDB belongs on the Daily WTF. Your code mentions an option for JSON output. Perhaps that module is less broken?

In reply to Re^3: Need help with complex hash of hashes. by jcb
in thread Need help with complex hash of hashes. by vlturner

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