thanks a lot for your reply!
I cannot use any other module due to few factors like

• I use ClearQuest perl and I am unable to install any DLL for LibXML to work
• This is a working code in ClearQuest PERL v 5.6.1 but not in ClearQuest Perl 5.8.1
• The effort to change the code to another parser is now too much

I know that XML::Smart is buggy even i treid to contact the author but in vain :-(
I will try all the possible things ou mentioned. If nothing is working i have no option but to change the XML module
also i work in Germany now and dealing with data in German lanugage but I dont speak German and hence i cannot ask in perl.de :-(
Once again thanks a lot for your help. will post back if i have any questions.

Cheers,
Karthik