Convert XML to YAML in Python - PythonForBeginners.com

This article from PythonForBeginners.com explains how to convert XML files to YAML files in Python. It includes an introduction to XML and YAML, as well as step-by-step instructions for converting XML strings and files to YAML strings and files using Python modules such as xmltodict and yaml. The article also provides examples of XML and YAML files and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using each format.

1. What is XML Format?

2. What is the YAML File Format?

3. Convert XML String to YAML String in Python

4. XML String to YAML File in Python

5. Convert XML File to YAML String in Python

6. Convert XML File to YAML File in Python

7. Conclusion

What is XML Format?

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<employee>
  <name>John Doe</name>
  <age>35</age>
  <job>
    <title>Software Engineer</title>
    <department>IT</department>
    <years_of_experience>10</years_of_experience>
  </job>
  <address>
    <street>123 Main St.</street>
    <city>San Francisco</city>
    <state>CA</state>
    <zip>94102</zip>
  </address>
</employee>

• The root element is <employee>, which contains child elements for the employee’s name, age, job, and address.

• The employee’s name is contained in the <name> element, and their age is contained in the <age> element.

• The <job> element contains child elements for the employee’s job title, department, and years of experience.

• The <address> element contains child elements for the employee’s street address, city, state, and zip code.

What is the YAML File Format?

employee:
  name: John Doe
  age: 35
  job:
    title: Software Engineer
    department: IT
    years_of_experience: 10
  address:
    street: 123 Main St.
    city: San Francisco
    state: CA
    zip: 94102

Convert XML String to YAML String in Python

import xmltodict
import yaml
xml_string="""<?xml version="1.0"?>
<employee>
  <name>John Doe</name>
  <age>35</age>
  <job>
    <title>Software Engineer</title>
    <department>IT</department>
    <years_of_experience>10</years_of_experience>
  </job>
  <address>
    <street>123 Main St.</street>
    <city>San Francisco</city>
    <state>CA</state>
    <zip>94102</zip>
  </address>
</employee>"""
print("The XML string is:")
print(xml_string)
python_dict=xmltodict.parse(xml_string)
yaml_string=yaml.dump(python_dict)
print("The YAML string is:")
print(yaml_string)

The XML string is:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<employee>
  <name>John Doe</name>
  <age>35</age>
  <job>
    <title>Software Engineer</title>
    <department>IT</department>
    <years_of_experience>10</years_of_experience>
  </job>
  <address>
    <street>123 Main St.</street>
    <city>San Francisco</city>
    <state>CA</state>
    <zip>94102</zip>
  </address>
</employee>
The YAML string is:
employee:
  address:
    city: San Francisco
    state: CA
    street: 123 Main St.
    zip: '94102'
  age: '35'
  job:
    department: IT
    title: Software Engineer
    years_of_experience: '10'
  name: John Doe

XML String to YAML File in Python

• First, we will convert the XML string to a python dictionary using the parse() method defined in the xmltodict module.

• Next, we will open an empty YAML file using the open() function. The open() function takes the file name as its first input argument and the python literal “w” as its second input argument. After execution, it returns a file pointer.

• Now, we will dump the python dictionary to the YAML file using the dump() method defined in the yaml module. The dump() method takes the dictionary as its first argument and the file pointer as its second input argument.

• Finally, we will close the file using the close() method. After this, the yaml file will be saved to the storage.

import xmltodict
import yaml
xml_string="""<?xml version="1.0"?>
<employee>
  <name>John Doe</name>
  <age>35</age>
  <job>
    <title>Software Engineer</title>
    <department>IT</department>
    <years_of_experience>10</years_of_experience>
  </job>
  <address>
    <street>123 Main St.</street>
    <city>San Francisco</city>
    <state>CA</state>
    <zip>94102</zip>
  </address>
</employee>"""
python_dict=xmltodict.parse(xml_string)
file=open("person.yaml","w")
yaml.dump(python_dict,file)
file.close()

Convert XML File to YAML String in Python

• First, we will open the XML file in read mode using the open() function. Here, the open() function takes the file name as its first input argument and the literal “r” as its second input argument. After execution, it returns a file pointer.

• Next, we will read the contents of the XML file using the read() method. The read() method, when invoked on the file pointer, returns the file contents as a string.

• Once we get the XML string, we will convert it to a python dictionary using the parse() method defined in the xmltodict module. The parse() method takes the XML string as its input argument and returns the python dictionary.

• Finally, we will use the dump() method defined in the yaml module to convert the python dictionary to yaml string. The dump() method takes the dictionary as its input argument and returns the yaml string.

import xmltodict
import yaml
xml_file=open("person.xml","r")
xml_string=xml_file.read()
python_dict=xmltodict.parse(xml_string)
yaml_string=yaml.dump(python_dict)
print("The YAML string is:")
print(yaml_string)

The YAML string is:
employee:
  address:
    city: San Francisco
    state: CA
    street: 123 Main St.
    zip: '94102'
  age: '35'
  job:
    department: IT
    title: Software Engineer
    years_of_experience: '10'
  name: John Doe

Convert XML File to YAML File in Python

import xmltodict
import yaml
xml_file=open("person.xml","r")
xml_string=xml_file.read()
python_dict=xmltodict.parse(xml_string)
file=open("person.yaml","w")
yaml.dump(python_dict,file)
file.close()

Conclusion

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