[Tutor] XML: changing value of elements

[Stefan Behnel]

Hi,

it's funny how many times I see Python users go: "I have an XML problem, so
I'll use minidom." Because then they have two problems.


Johan Geldenhuys wrote:
> I have a rather complex XML file and I need to change some values inside
> this file.
> 
> So far I have been using minidom, but I can't find the thing I am looking
> for.
> 
> My code so far:
> """
> from xml.dom import minidom
> 
> xmlFile = 'signal1.xml'
> xmlDocument = minidom.parse(xmlFile)
> 
> SignalsNode = xmlDocument.firstChild
> signalNode = SignalsNode.childNodes[1]
> 
> signalNode.removeAttribute("name")
> signalNode.setAttribute("name", "Test_Name")
> signalNode.getAttribute("name")
> 
> descElem = signalNode.childNodes[1]

That is a lot of code just to say

	import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
	doc = ET.parse('signal1.xml')
	signal_node = doc.getroot()[0]
	signal_node.set('name', 'Test_Name')


> I know how to manipulate the value of the attributes, but I can't seem to
> change the values of eg: "Description"

	description = signal_node[0]
	description.text = "New value"

> Snippet from my XML file:
> 
> """
> 
> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 
> 
>  <file:///C:\Users\Public\XML%20parse\signal1.xml##> - <Signals> 

What's that "<file:///C:\Users\Public\XML%20parse\signal1.xml##>" bit?


>  <file:///C:\Users\Public\XML%20parse\signal1.xml##> - <Signal model="Model"
> name="Model_X" type="Flyer">
> 
>   <Description>Some description</Description> 
> 
>   <SpecName> Model_X </SpecName> 
> 
>   <Reporting category="POW" name="" /> 
> 
>  <file:///C:\Users\Public\XML%20parse\signal1.xml##> - <Trigger type="open">
> 
>   <Severity>normal</Severity> 
> 
>   <Message>Model X 1</Message> 
> 
>   </Trigger>
> 
>  <file:///C:\Users\Public\XML%20parse\signal1.xml##> - <Trigger
> type="close">
> 
>   <Severity>minor</Severity> 
> 
>   <Message> Model X 2</Message> 
> 
>   </Trigger>
> 
>   </Signal>
> 
>   </Signals>
> """

Stefan