Error decoding XML

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

Hello, I am a bit puzzled. I have a piece of code that decodes an XML stream and I am getting an error that tells me 'file does not exist'. I am getting the file does not exist on the XMLin line. This code has worked like a charm for months and now it just stopped. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you in advance!

use DBI;
use CGI;

&set_content();
&callFunctions();

sub callFunctions {
    my $xml = '&lt;hdsso&gt;&lt;hpid&gt;--------&lt;/hpid&gt;&lt;pin&g
+t;abcbs-hd&lt;/pin&gt;&lt;fname&gt;--------&lt;/fname&gt;&lt;mname&gt
+;&lt;/mname&gt;&lt;lname&gt;-------&lt;/lname&gt;&lt;dob&gt;-------&l
+t;/dob&gt;&lt;email&gt;-------&lt;/email&gt;&lt;ls&gt;----------&lt;/
+ls&gt;&lt;ws&gt;---------&lt;/ws&gt;&lt;/hdsso&gt;';
    
    use XML::Simple;
    $XMLref = XMLin($xml, suppressempty => '');
}

sub set_content {
    $q = new CGI;
    print $q->header( -type => 'text/html',-P3P => 'CP="NOI ADM DEV PS
+Ai COM NAV OTRo STP IND DEM" policyref="/w3c/p3p.xml"');

    use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser carpout);
    if ( open(LOG,">>errors.log") ) { carpout(LOG); }
}
1;
[download]

Comment on Error decoding XML Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Error decoding XML by tinita (Parson) on Jan 24, 2005 at 16:27 UTC
and I am getting an error that tells me 'file does not exist'. i guess it tells you: `File does not exist: <hdsso><hpid>...` your $xml isn't XML. xml has < and > instead of < and >	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Error decoding XML by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jan 24, 2005 at 16:51 UTC
Indeed. XML::Simple treats string arguments other than those containing a `<` eventually followed by a `>` as filenames, not XML documents. XML documents SHOULD (as opposed to MUST) start with a decleration (looks like `<?xml version="1.0"?>`), so it's not a bad way of differentiating file names from XML strings.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: Error decoding XML by Hammy (Scribe) on Jan 24, 2005 at 17:23 UTC
Does this mean if I put the string to start my XML, it should work OK? I tried just putting that string at the beginning and it still gave me a file does not exist error. The data I am getting I am receiving from someone else. I can add data to it or remove data from it, but I can not change the structure of the data. This is a hosted box so there was probably a version upgrade recently (only explination I can come up with). Any suggestions on what else I should use?	[reply]
Re^4: Error decoding XML by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jan 24, 2005 at 17:31 UTC
Re: Error decoding XML by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Jan 24, 2005 at 16:21 UTC
What changed in your setup? Did you upgrade anything? Move from one box to another? I'm betting that the version of XML::Simple has changed, either up or down, from when it worked to now. Being right, does not endow the right to be rude; politeness costs nothing. Being unknowing, is not the same as being stupid. Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence. Do not mistake your goals as the only goals; your opinion as the only opinion; your confidence as correctness. Saying you know better is not the same as explaining you know better.	[reply]
Re: Error decoding XML by gmpassos (Priest) on Jan 24, 2005 at 23:17 UTC
`my $xml = '<hdsso><hpid>--------</hpid><pin>ab +cbs-hd</pin><fname>--------</fname><mname>&lt +;/mname><lname>-------</lname><dob>-------</d +ob><email>-------</email><ls>----------</ls&g +t;<ws>---------</ws></hdsso>';` [download] The code above is not XML! Youn only have a string with basic entities. If you want to use this 3rd part data, you can use the XML parser to fix the data as a content of an element, than use the content as a normal data input for another xml: use XML::Smart ; my $bad_xml = '<hdsso><hpid>--------</hpid><pin +>abcbs-hd</pin><fname>--------</fname><mname& +gt;</mname><lname>-------</lname><dob>------- +</dob><email>-------</email><ls>----------&lt +;/ls><ws>---------</ws></hdsso>'; my $xml_obj_fix = new XML::Smart( "<data>$bad_xml</data>" ,'html') ; + my $xml_obj_ok = new XML::Smart( $xml_obj_fix->{data} ,'html') ; print $xml_obj_ok->data ; [download] The output: `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?> <?meta name="GENERATOR" content="XML::Smart/1.6.9 Perl/5.006001 [MSWin +32]" ?> <root> <_1/> <hpid>--------</hpid> <pin>abcbs-hd</pin> <fname>--------</fname> <mname/> <lname>-------</lname> <dob>-------</dob> <email>-------</email> <ls>----------</ls> <ws>---------</ws> </root>` [download] Enjoy! Graciliano M. P. "Creativity is the expression of liberty".	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Error decoding XML by inman (Curate) on Jan 25, 2005 at 11:43 UTC
As a general point you could assign $xml using a here doc. e.g. `my $xml = <<XML; <hdsso> <hpid>--------</hpid> <pin>abcbs-hd</pin> <fname>--------</fname> <mname/> <lname>-------</lname> <dob>-------</dob> <email>-------</email> <ls>----------</ls> <ws>---------</ws> </hdsso> XML` [download] Unrelated to the question but you might want to set the P3P header usng the webservers 'add header' facility. The P3P cookie policy is expected to be set for the whole server rather than a particular URL.	[reply] [d/l]