I've been using XML::Simple for some very simple XML and until yesterday it was working the way I expected... till I got bitten with the following example: 

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

my $x =<<EOF;
   <stuff name="me">
    <obj class="myclass">
        <set name="key1">a</set>
        <set name="key2"></set>
    </obj>
    <obj class="myclass">
        <set name="key1">a</set>
        <set name="key2">b</set>
    </obj>
</stuff>
EOF

$x = XMLin(
    $x,
    #SuppressEmpty => '',
    ForceArray => 1,
    ContentKey => '-content',
);
print Dumper(\$x);


$VAR1 = \{
            'obj' => [
                     {
                       'class' => 'myclass',
                       'set' => {
                                'key2' => {},
                                'key1' => {
                                          'content' => 'a'
                                        }
                              }
                     },
                     {
                       'class' => 'myclass',
                       'set' => {
                                'key2' => 'b',
                                'key1' => 'a'
                              }
                     }
                   ],
            'name' => 'me'
          };

[download]

Here I've provided two 'objects', one object has an element that has an empty or value is blank. As a result the hash that's returned is formatted differently than when _all_ attributes are provided. What I expected was the latter like: 

'key2' => 'b',
'key1' => 'a'

[download]

but where there is an 'empty' attribute everything changes to a hash (and with the 'content' sub-element). That's what I thought the ForceArray and ContentKey was supposed to suppress; and the ContentKey does do it!... but only when all fields are populated.

I thought SuppressEmpty would do it, but it doesn't.
What am I missing?

TIA Fulko

In reply to XML::Simple isn't listening to SuppressEmpty by fhew

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