Problem handling complex data structure with XML::Simple

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

Sorry, confused, trying to parse a complicated XML data structure. Dump from Data::Dumper:


$VAR1 = {
          'OneUploadedFile' => [
                               {
                                 'FirstParagraphOfText' => '.Illinois Web Links for Project Next Generation Abraham Lincoln Pr
esidential Library Art Edventure! (etc. etc.).',
                                 'InterimTrigramStoragePath' => {},
                                 'InterimDocStoragePath' => {},
                                 'InterimBigramStoragePath' => {},
                                 'ChecksumResult' => '01331d9ac99bfd620183e122a256a901',

Question to all. How do get the value of ChecksumResult, say? I normally do this with


    my $httpArray = $xmlRef->{DepositoryProcessingRecord}{HttpHeaderMd}->{'HttpMeta'};
    for my $q (@$httpArray) {
                if ($q->{Name} eq "HTTP_OriginallyRequestedURL") { $hTTP_OriginallyRequestedURL = $q->{content} }
    }

but I can't seem to get the analogy to data that doesn't have a nice identifiable Name:content delineation. This doesn't work:

my $FILEARRAY = $xmlRef->{DepositoryProcessingRecord}{MultiFileDoc}->{OneUploadedFile};

Comment on Problem handling complex data structure with XML::Simple

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Problem handling complex data structure with XML::Simple by runrig (Abbot) on Aug 10, 2011 at 21:46 UTC
'{...}' indicates a hash reference. '`[...]`' indicates an array reference. So from your first structure, you would use: `$VAR1->{OneUploadedFile}->[0]->[ChecksumResult};` [download] You can leave out all but the first '->' if you like. Also, maybe References quick reference would help.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Problem handling complex data structure with XML::Simple by ikegami (Patriarch) on Aug 10, 2011 at 21:47 UTC
`$VAR1->{OneUploadedFile}[0]{ChecksumResult}` [download] Although you'd normally have a loop to loop over the OneUploadedFile array.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Problem handling complex data structure with XML::Simple by abullen (Initiate) on Aug 12, 2011 at 20:22 UTC
Sorry, sorry, I am just not getting it. Sigh. Anyway, I (of course) neglected to fully describe the XML hierarchy. It is not simply OneUploadedFile:ChecksumResult It is DepositoryProcessingRecord:MultiFileDoc:OneUploadedFile:ChecksumResult So, in trying to extrapolate, I am getting Not an ARRAY reference at ./parseXML.pl line 46. Line 46 is: my $checkSumResult = $xmlRef->{DepositoryProcessingRecord}->{MultiFileDoc}->{OneUploadedFile}->[0]->{'FinalDocStoragePath'}; I apologize; I just can't get my head around this.	[reply]
Re^3: Problem handling complex data structure with XML::Simple by ikegami (Patriarch) on Aug 12, 2011 at 20:33 UTC
I'm basing it on the var you dumped. If you dumped `$x`, replace `$VAR1` with `$x`. If you dumped `$xmlRef->{DepositoryProcessingRecord}->{MultiFileDoc}`, replace `$VAR1` with `$xmlRef->{DepositoryProcessingRecord}->{MultiFileDoc}`. If you did dump `$xmlRef->{DepositoryProcessingRecord}->{MultiFileDoc}` and you are now getting this error, then `$xmlRef->{DepositoryProcessingRecord}->{MultiFileDoc}` no longer contains what you showed us it contained, and you'll have to adjust the code according to what it contains now.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Problem handling complex data structure with XML::Simple by Gulliver (Monk) on Aug 11, 2011 at 02:12 UTC
Complex data structure and XML::Simple: might be time for Stepping up from XML::Simple to XML::LibXML	[reply]