Does your box have XML::Parser on it? Install XML::Simple in your user space, then. Yes, it's a pain. Yes, it's worth it. XML parsing is a complex, often subtle problem that's difficult to get right -- so let other people get it right, and use the wheels they invent.

If you don't have the requisite modules for XML::Simple (and that includes a compiled Expat library, IIRC), you're in deeper trouble. You might have some luck with XML::Parser::Lite, which I haven't tried but seems to be entirely Perl-based. If you insist on building your own parser, consider using XML::RegExp.

It might be easier to seek a political solution to the problem (i.e. have your manager lean on the systems people until XML/Simple.pm appears in your @INC).

I don't mean to be condescending, but parsing XML really is a lot harder than you think. Writing a half-assed collection of regexes (you'd have more luck using Text::Balanced, of course) that breaks on 90% of the XML out there is easy. Getting it to work properly is insanely hard. (I've been there. I gave up.) Telling your boss that your parser reads XML, but not XML with newfangled features foo, bar, and baz, is probably not acceptable.

Good luck.

--
:wq

In reply to Re(3): XML parsing by FoxtrotUniform
in thread XML parsing by Anonymous Monk

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