Using XML attributes in Applescript

Question

So I recently found out about XML-Parsing in Applescript. I wanted to parse an XML file that had a structure like this:

<example>
    <sample value="hello world"/>
</example>

So I tried something like this:

tell application "System Events"
    tell XML file "/path/to/the/file.xml"
        tell XML element "example"
            return XML attribute "value" of XML element "sample"
        end tell
    end tell
end tell

However, the error says:

System Events got an error: Can’t get XML element "example" of XML file "~/Desktop/xml.xml" number -1728.

According to MacErrors.h number -1728 means errAENoSuchObject, so no such object was found. What am I doing wrong?

Are you sure you’re reading the right file? The error message suggests xml.xml doesn’t have a root element named “example”. Try get name of every XML element of XML file "~/Desktop/xml.xml" to see. — foo
– foo, Commented Sep 12, 2021 at 9:26
@foo Doesn't work. I have now learned an important thing though: Never work with files in Applescript. — gurkensaas
– gurkensaas, Commented Sep 12, 2021 at 9:30
FWIW, if you’re working with large or complex XML documents, you can also use Foundation’s NSXML classes via the AppleScript-ObjC bridge. The ObjC API’s a bit more complex, but is faster than using System Events and supports more powerful XPath queries. — foo
– foo, Commented Sep 12, 2021 at 9:31
What doesn’t work? Be sure to enclose that get command in a tell app "System Events" block, e.g. tell app "System Events" to get name of every XML element of XML file "~/Desktop/xml.xml". Referencing files is a mess in AppleScript, but in this case you’re dealing with the System Events app so just give it a valid POSIX path string to your XML file. If can’t find the file it’ll tell you, e.g. “System Events got an error: Can’t get XML file "~/tesst.xml".” number -1728. Your error message indicates it found the file okay, but can’t find the root <example>…</example> element within it. — foo
– foo, Commented Sep 12, 2021 at 9:44
@foo Just pasting the entire thing you provided here results in an error number -1703, which means some data is in the wrong type. — gurkensaas
– gurkensaas, Commented Sep 12, 2021 at 9:53

user3439894 · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-13 02:24:53Z

1

You almost had it:

return XML attribute "value" of XML element "sample"

Should be:

return the value of XML attribute "value" of XML element "sample"

This works for me:

tell application "System Events"
    tell XML file "/path/to/the/file.xml"
        tell XML element "example"
            return the value of XML attribute "value" of XML element "sample"
        end tell
    end tell
end tell

In Terminal:

% file foobar.xml
foobar.xml: XML 1.0 document text, ASCII text
% cat foobar.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<example>
    <sample value="hello world"/>
</example>
%

In Script Editor:

edited Sep 13, 2021 at 2:24

answered Sep 11, 2021 at 13:25

user3439894

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