XML to dictionary?

Thu Jan 6 17:09:17 EST 2000

There's a little problem:
  dictionary keys must be unique.
  XML can have more than one child node of the same name.

Depending on the DTD:
	<Newsgroup>
	  <comp.lang.python>
	    <Message>
	      <Subject>Hi there</Subject>
	      <Body>This is a test</Body>
	    </Message>
	    <Message>
	      <Subject>Re: Hi there</Subject>
	      <Body>This is a reply to:\n> This is a test</Body>
	    </Message>
	  </comp.lang.python>
	</Newsgroup>
is a valid hunk of xml.

If you're controlling this aspect of the DTD, that's fine, but I 
don't know how you'd write a DTD to encompass:
<Newsgroup>
	<Message1>...</Message1>
	<Message2>...</Message2>
	<Message...>...</Message...>
	<MessageN>...</MessageN>
</Newsgroup>

This is a 'bad idea' in XML, but then again, I haven't written 
that many DTDs.

--jim

johnjensen at my-deja.com wrote:
> 
> I have a relatively simple XML question, but I can't seem to figure out
> how to do it simply and easily with the xmllib module.
> 
> Assume I have some XML (stylized below):
> 
> <Newsgroup>
>   <comp.lang.python>
>     <Message1>
>       <Subject>Hi there</Subject>
>       <Body>This is a test</Body>
>     </Message1>
>   </comp.lang.python>
> </Newsgroup>
> 
> How can I quickly and easily stuff this into a nested dictionary, so
> that:
> 
> print dict['Newsgroup']['comp.lang.python']['Message1']['Subject']
> spits out 'Hi there'
> 
> The XML I am working with is perfect for this type of solution.
> 
> Any help would be appreciated!
> 
> John