XML Services (system.xml)

This namespace provides services for parsing and manipulating XML data structures.

Services

system.xml:Parse

Parses an XML string into a structured map with automatic type conversion for numbers and booleans.

• Inputs:
  • xml: (string) The raw XML string.
  • path: (string, optional) Dot-notation path to extract a specific value after parsing.
• Outputs:
  • parsed: (object) The fully parsed XML object.
  • value: (any) The value at the specified path (if provided).

system.xml:Extract

Extracts a value from a structured object (map or slice) using dot notation.

• Inputs:
  • data: (object) The structured object to extract from.
  • path: (string) Dot-notation path (e.g., Root.User.Name).
• Outputs:
  • value: (any) The value found at the specified path.

system.xml:Format

Converts a structured map into an XML string.

• Inputs:
  • data: (object) The data to convert.
  • rootName: (string, optional) The name of the root element. Defaults to root.
  • indent: (boolean, optional) Whether to indent the output. Defaults to true.
• Outputs:
  • xml: (string) The formatted XML string.

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XML to Map Convention

Since XML has a different structure than JSON, the following conventions are used when converting to a map:

1. Elements: Become keys in the map.
2. Attributes: Prefixed with @ (e.g., <user id="1"> becomes {"user": {"@id": 1}}).
3. Simple Content: If an element only contains text, it becomes a simple value (string, number, or boolean).
4. Repeated Elements: Elements with the same name at the same level are automatically converted into a slice (array).
5. Mixed Content: Text content within an element that also has children is stored under the #text key.
6. Type Conversion: The parser automatically attempts to convert text values to int, float64, or bool if they match the standard format.

Example

XML:

<root version="1.0">
  <user id="101">
    <name>John Doe</name>
    <role>Admin</role>
    <role>Editor</role>
  </user>
</root>

Resulting Map:

{
  "root": {
    "@version": 1.0,
    "user": {
      "@id": 101,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "role": ["Admin", "Editor"]
    }
  }
}

Path Syntax

• Nesting: root.user.name
• Attributes: root.user.@id
• Arrays: root.user.role[0]