Node.js xml2object

Simple wrapper on the SAX.js parser to stream xml into JavaScript objects.

Converts xml elements into JavaScript objects.

Install

npm install xml2object --save

Usage

From A File Name

var xml2object = require('xml2object');

// Create a new xml parser with an array of xml elements to look for
var parser = new xml2object([ 'animal' ], 'myAnimals.xml');

// Bind to the object event to work with the objects found in the XML file
parser.on('object', function(name, obj) {
    console.log('Found an object: %s', name);
    console.log(obj);
});

// Bind to the file end event to tell when the file is done being streamed
parser.on('end', function() {
    console.log('Finished parsing xml!');
});

// Start parsing the XML
parser.start();

From An Input Stream

var xml2object = require('xml2object');
var source = fs.createReadStream('/path/to/file.xml');

// Create a new xml parser with an array of xml elements to look for
var parser = new xml2object([ 'animal' ], source);

// Bind to the object event to work with the objects found in the XML file
parser.on('object', function(name, obj) {
    console.log('Found an object: %s', name);
    console.log(obj);
});

// Bind to the file end event to tell when the file is done being streamed
parser.on('end', function() {
    console.log('Finished parsing xml!');
});

// Start parsing the input stream
parser.start();

Piped From An Input Stream

Note: The following example uses the request package to simplify the http request.

var xml2object = require('xml2object');
var request = require('request');

// Create a new xml parser with an array of xml elements to look for
var parser = new xml2object([ 'animal' ]);

// Bind to the object event to work with the objects found in the XML file
parser.on('object', function(name, obj) {
    console.log('Found an object: %s', name);
    console.log(obj);
});

// Bind to the file end event to tell when the file is done being streamed
parser.on('end', function() {
    console.log('Finished parsing xml!');
});

// Pipe a request into the parser
request.get('http://www.example.com/test.xml').pipe(parser.saxStream);

Advanced Options

var xml2object = require('xml2object');

// Create a new xml parser with an array of xml elements to look for
// but this time we have lower-level requirements
var parser = new xml2object([ 'Envelope' ], undefined, { xmlns:true });

// everything else the same

Module

xml2object(elements[, source[, saxOptions]])

Constructor for creating an instance of the xml parser.

The source argument is can be a path to an xml file or an input stream.

If no source is specified you can set a readable Stream to .source or pipe a Stream into the .saxStream.

var xml2object = require('xml2object');

// Parse the myAnimals.xml file looking for <animal> elements
var parser = new xml2object([ 'animal' ], 'myAnimals.xml');

saxOptions is passed directly to the SAX parser. Options supported in node-xml2object are

• xmlns : XML namespaces, ignore namespaces. Helpful if you don't know the namespace(s) but do know the element names (example, some uPnP XML data)

.source

The input Stream used as a source for parsing. Can be set to a xml file path or a readable stream.

var parser = new xml2object([ 'animal' ]);

parser.source = 'myAnimals.xml';

.saxStream

The underlying sax Stream. Data can be piped directly to the sax Stream using the pipe().

.start()

Triggers the xml file to start streaming to the parser. Call this method after you have bound to the events.

// Start parsing the XML
parser.start();

Event: 'object'

function(name, obj) { ... }

Triggered when an object has been parsed from the XML file with the name of the element found and the actual object.

Event: 'end'

function() { ... }

Marks the end of the input file when it has been completely streamed through the parser.

Event: 'start'

function() { ... }

Marks the start of reading from the source. This event will not fire if using the .saxParser.pipe() method.

Other Notes

Elements being parsed cannot currently be nested. For example. if you have root > bikes > bike > wheel as a heirarchy and have done a xml2object('transportation.xml', [ 'bike', 'wheel' ]) the bike objects will be returned, but the wheel elements inside the bike element will not be parsed separately.