Re: Reading structures from XML

I think the problem is that there just isn't a 1:1 way to do this. This is why XML::Simple gets so hairy. Consider-

<container>
  <thing foo="bar">baz</thing>
  <thing qux="oop" foo=""/>
  <thing/>
</container>
[download]

What could that look like in a Perl structure? It would have to have objects mimicking DOM or something like "content/children" named placeholders.

So, I don't think this is easy to solve and it will probably be messy or just a different API to the DOM that's almost as complicated. I'd love to be proved wrong in this case. :) I'm an XML::LibXML user that also would love having straight mapping to Perl structures now and then.

Comment on Re: Reading structures from XML Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: Reading structures from XML by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on May 07, 2009 at 01:13 UTC
I'm probably missing something, but doesn't this capture that xml? `my $xml = { container => { thing => [ { foo => 'bar', '' => 'baz' }, { foo => '', quz => 'oop' }, {}, ], }, };` [download] Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. "Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: Reading structures from XML by Your Mother (Archbishop) on May 07, 2009 at 15:19 UTC
No, I think I was the one missing something. That's pretty nice. I hadn't even considered using an empty hash key to point to the content. It's a nice in to account for what I'd seen as semi-intractable.	[reply]
Re^2: Reading structures from XML by John M. Dlugosz (Monsignor) on May 06, 2009 at 20:56 UTC
That's my point — it is not simple nor automatic. In Perl, you design Perl datastructures or object constructors and subsequent manipulators. In XML, you design a good XML-ish way of doing it. .NET tries to make you think the in-program structure and the XML are one and the same, but the design issues are different, and you end up with a lame serialization of the in-program data, not a proper XML-mindset design. So, in general, have the user write a function that takes the Element and return the Perl object. But, have a nifty library of things to make doing that easy. I agree your example really needs a general DOM. But most real program designed to act on information read from an XML file will have data designed for that purpose; e.g. it will be sane and meaningful. —John	[reply]