XML::Simple help -- please

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

I have the xml below and I am trying to parse it

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
  <xml>
 <offer id="60046">
  <state>CO</state>
  <zip>80236</zip>
  <transit>1</transit>
  <phone_public>1</phone_public>
  <smoking></smoking>
</offer>
 <offer id="6">
  <state>MI</state>
  <zip>48120</zip>
  <transit>1</transit>
  <phone_public>1</phone_public>
  <smoking></smoking>
</offer>
 <offer id="7">
  <state>MI</state>
  <zip>43240</zip>
  <transit>1</transit>
  <phone_public>1</phone_public>
  <smoking></smoking>
</offer>
[download]

here is my perlcode

use XML::Simple;
my $content = get(xml.file);
my $response = XMLin($content);
[download]

What I need is a line of code that will let me do a print $response->{'offer'}->{zip} and it give me 3 zip codes for the 3 zip codes in an xml file. I would really like it to be in a while loop.
Please help me, I am working on a project for victims of katrina.

Comment on XML::Simple help -- please Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: XML::Simple help -- please by saintmike (Vicar) on Sep 06, 2005 at 01:31 UTC
If you have a data structure and don't know what's in there, use Data::Dumper to dump it: `use Data::Dumper; my $content = join '', <DATA>; my $response = XMLin($content); print Dumper($response);` [download] This will print something like `$VAR1 = { 'offer' => { '6' => { 'zip' => '48120', 'transit' => '1', 'smoking' => {}, 'phone_public' => '1', 'state' => 'MI' }, '60046' => { 'zip' => '80236', 'transit' => '1', 'smoking' => {}, 'phone_public' => '1', 'state' => 'CO' }, '7' => { 'zip' => '43240', 'transit' => '1', 'smoking' => {}, 'phone_public' => '1', 'state' => 'MI' } } };` [download] and shows that starting from `$response` (which is a reference to a hash), you need to step down to the value of the `offer` key. There, you'll find another reference to a hash. This one contains one entry per `id`, so all you need to do is loop over these keys and then step down to the `zip` element of the sub-hash: `my $response = XMLin($content); for my $id (keys %{$response->{offer}}) { print $response->{offer}->{$id}->{zip}, "\n"; }` [download] This will print the zip codes you're interested in: `48120 80236 43240` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: XML::Simple help -- please by pg (Canon) on Sep 06, 2005 at 03:35 UTC
In addition, there is no need for you to go through the extra step to get the content of the file. XMLin can directly accpet a file name. `use XML::Simple; my $response = XMLin("offers.xml");` [download]	[reply] [d/l]