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I would like to extract from an XMLObject only the XMLElements with a specific tag.

Inspired from the Mathematica help (section transforming XML, introduction, the example with the colours), I have tried this code :

Definition of the XMLObject:

XMLtest = 
  XMLObject[
    XMLElement["YO", {}, 
      {XMLElement["YO", {}, 2], 
         XMLElement["BA", {}, 
           {XMLElement["YO", {}, 
             {XMLElement["BA", {}, 2]}], XMLElement["BA", {}, 2]}]}]]

enter image description here

Code so as to suppress all the elements different from "YO" in order to keep only the elements with the tag "YO":

XMLtest2 = XMLtest /. XMLElement[Except["YO"], _, _] -> Sequence[]

enter image description here

The above code works well.

Code so as to suppress the XMLElements without the tag "BA":

XMLtest2 = XMLtest /. XMLElement[Except"BA", _, _] -> Sequence[]

enter image description here

For this latter code, I have a problem with the answer because I obtain only the XMLObject. However, I would like to obtain a tree of XMLElements under the XMLObject.

Please help me to correct my code in this lastRoutine clean-up case?

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7
  • $\begingroup$ Somehow you ended up with the \[RightArrow] character when instead you need either plain text -> or \[Rule]. Correct this and your replacement will work. I am closing this question as a "simple syntax error" now. If you find that I am mistaken or have other problem please comment here, starting your comment with @Mr.Wizard so that I will be notified. $\endgroup$
    – Mr.Wizard
    May 17, 2015 at 13:35
  • $\begingroup$ Sometimes I like this way of defining a behavior for an XML element: xmltest2 = Block[{XMLElement}, XMLElement["BA", __] := Sequence[]; XMLtest] and xmltest3 = Block[{XMLElement}, XMLElement[Except["YO"], __] := Sequence[]; XMLtest]. $\endgroup$
    – Michael E2
    May 17, 2015 at 13:44
  • $\begingroup$ @MichaelE2 That seems harder than using DeleteCases; do you find otherwise? $\endgroup$
    – Mr.Wizard
    May 17, 2015 at 14:37
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @Mr.Wizard For any given narrow task, there is probably a simpler solution than the one I proposed. But when I use XML data, which is not often so take this with a grain of salt, I often want to do several things that are functions of the tag, attributes, and data. I find it easier to think about such a problem in terms of XMLElement as a function. OTOH, there is a difference I overlooked at first. The OP's code would do one replacement, mine three, due to ReplaceAll vs. evaluation. So maybe my comment isn't so helpful here. $\endgroup$
    – Michael E2
    May 17, 2015 at 14:55
  • $\begingroup$ @MichaelE2 I made some corrections. Thanks a lot for your very constructive help. $\endgroup$
    – Bendesarts
    May 17, 2015 at 21:47

1 Answer 1

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I'm still not sure what you want. I think it is this, but it does not reproduce the tree you have in the question for the Except["YO"] case.

contractElement[xml_, tagpat_] := Block[{XMLElement},
   XMLElement[tagpat, _, data_] /; FreeQ[data, XMLElement] := Sequence[];
   XMLElement[tagpat, _, data_] := Sequence @@ data;
   xml
   ];

contractElement[XMLtest, Except["YO"]] // TreeForm
contractElement[XMLtest, Except["BA"]] // TreeForm

Mathematica graphics Mathematica graphics

Side note: I thought the syntax for XMLObject is XMLObject[type][data], which does not quite conform with you example. For instance, this might produce an error, if a root is required:

XMLtest2 = 
  XMLObject[
   XMLElement["YO", {},
    {XMLElement["BA", {}, 2], 
     XMLElement["BA", {},
      {XMLElement["YO", {}, 2],
       XMLElement["BA", {}, 2]}]}]];
XMLtest2 // TreeForm
contractElement[XMLtest2, Except["BA"]] // TreeForm

Mathematica graphics Mathematica graphics

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank a lot for your help. Your code perfectly answers to my need. However, I would prefer a code with an approach as in this post : mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/83622/… That is to say a way which easily permit to add more conditions on the attributes of an XMLElements. Thank you for your help. $\endgroup$
    – Bendesarts
    May 18, 2015 at 21:05
  • $\begingroup$ You can define XMLElement[tag_, attr_, data_] := ... however you want. Such as XMLElement[tag_, attr_, data_] := XMLElement[tag, Join[attr, myattributes], data], if you wish to add a list myattributes` to the list of attribute attr. $\endgroup$
    – Michael E2
    May 18, 2015 at 21:49
  • $\begingroup$ @Bendesarts please, take a tour. $\endgroup$
    – Kuba
    May 19, 2015 at 5:57

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