= Python XML DOM Minidom =

'''`xml.dom`''' is a module for parsing XML.

This parser utilizes a minimal implementation of the '''DOM''' ('''D'''ocument '''O'''bject '''M'''odel), and as such offers a DOM-like API.

<<TableOfContents>>

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== Usage ==



=== Parse a file ===

{{{
from xml.dom import minidom
document = minidom.parse(filename)
}}}

If the XML file uses namespaces, it can be easier to disable that feature in the parser.

{{{
from xml.dom import minidom, expatbuilder
document = expatbuilder.parse(filename, False)
}}}



=== Traverse all nodes ===

{{{
def recurse_print(node):
    if node.nodeType == minidom.Node.TEXT_NODE:
        print(node.data)
    else:
        for child in node.childNodes:
            recurse_print(child)

recurse_print(document)
}}}



=== Scrape HTML tables ===

{{{
def recurse_text(node):
    buffer = ""
    for child in node.childNodes:
        if child.nodeType == minidom.Node.TEXT_NODE:
            buffer += child.data
        else:
            buffer += recurse_text(child)
    return buffer

for table in document.getElementsByTagName("table"):
    for row in table.getElementsByTagName("tr"):
        data.append([])
        for header_cell in row.getElementsByTagName("th"):
            data[0].append(recurse_text(header_cell))
        for cell in row.getElementsByTagName("td"):
            data[-1].append(recurse_text(cell))
}}}



=== Scrub the DOM ===

It can be useful to scrub the DOM of unhelpful or useless components.

To remove attributes, try:

{{{
if node.hasAttribute("hidden"):
    node.removeAttribute("hidden")
}}}

To remove nodes, try:

{{{
for child in node.childNodes:
    if child.hasAttribute("hidden"):
        node.removeChild(child)
        child.unlink()
}}}

To replace nodes, as with comments, try:

{{{
replacement = document.createComment("scrubbed useless node")
# alternatively, createTextNode or createElement
for child in node.childNodes:
    if child.hasAttribute("hidden"):
        node.replaceChild(child, replacement)
}}}

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== See also ==

[[https://docs.python.org/3/library/xml.dom.minidom.html|Python xml.dom.minidom module documentation]]



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