How to refer in Python to XML value between tags

Question

<rule>
    <vars>
          <value>*</value>
          <value>MAP</value>
          <value></value>
          <value>*</value>
          <value>*</value>
          <value>8795</value>
          <value>4</value>
          <value>*</value>
    </vars>
</rule>

This is a fragment of my XML file. I have to refer to number between value tags. I want to find and delete code between rule tags. I try to do like this:

x = input("if find this value delete rule block  ")
str(x)
for child in root.iter():
    for rule in child.findall('rule'):
        for vars in rule.findall('vars'):
            val = str(vars.find('value'))
            print(val)
            if val == x:
            root.remove(rule)
tree.write('output.xml')

So the problem is here: val = str(vars.find('value')), because when I run this code and print val PowerShell prints:

Element 'value' at 0x0328BFC0

for all value tags.

larsks · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-15 17:29:52Z

1

First, I think your outer loop (for child in root.iter()) is not what you want, because that will iterate over all elements in your document. This is going to cause you to visit some nodes multiple times.

Secondly, you're seeing...

Element 'value' at 0x0328BFC0

...because you're calling str on the result of vars.find('value'), and the find method returns elements, not strings. If you want the text content of an element, use the .text attribute. For example:

if value.text == x:
    ...

Lastly, you can only use the remove method on the parent of the element you're trying to remove, so calling root.remove() is never going to work.

Putting all the above together, we get something like:

from lxml import etree

doc = etree.parse('data.xml')
root = doc.getroot()
target = input('remove items with this value: ')
for rule in root.findall('rule'):
    for vars in rule.findall('vars'):
        for value in vars.findall('value'):
            if value.text == target:
                value.getparent().remove(value)

doc.write('output.xml')

I had to make some assumptions about your input document, so I tested it against the following data:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<document>
  <rule>
    <vars>
      <value>*</value>
      <value>MAP</value>
      <value></value>
      <value>*</value>
      <value>*</value>
      <value>8795</value>
      <value>4</value>
      <value>*</value>
    </vars>
  </rule>
</document>

answered Oct 15, 2018 at 17:29

larsks

318k50 gold badges474 silver badges482 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

glodnykojot Over a year ago

thanks, its okej and working, but You Can refer to rule. I code like this in the same place: rule.getparent().remove(rule) and its working property

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to refer in Python to XML value between tags

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related