XML Quick Reference

I will add to this list as I find a need, or as my memory plagues me:

• xml.attributes()[idx] – Treating attributes, children, comments, descendants, elements, text, etc. as an array. The original output is an XMLList.
• xml.attribute(“*”)[idx] – Treating attribute, child, comments, and others that use parameters as an array. The original output is an XMLList.
• name() – Retrieving the name of the current XML object – the name of an attribute, element, or other XML non-data names.
• xml.attributes()[idx].name() – Retrieving the name of an attribute.
• xml.someElementName.(@id == marker).child(“*”) – Retrieve all children of all elements whose “id” attribute match the “marker” variable.
• xml.elements(“someElementName”) – Retrieve an element by the element’s name. Returns a new XMLList of the element and it’s children.
• Make an array out of XML.
• length() – Get number of entries from some XML object (Array uses length (no parentheses), which is confusing at times)

A simple for loop looks like this:

if ( xmlBase
	&& xmlBase.someElement
	&& xmlBase.someElement.multipleElementsArea
	&& xmlBase.someElement.multipleElementsArea.length() > 0
)
{
	trace("all elements = " + xmlBase.someElement.multipleElementsArea);

	var val:int = xmlBase.someElement.multipleElementsArea.length();
	for (var i:int = 0; i < val; i++)
	{
		trace( "some attribute value: " + xmlBase.someElement.multipleElementsArea[i].@attribute);
		trace( "some element value: " + xmlBase.someElement.multipleElementsArea[i]);
	}
}

• xml.entryItem.(@attribute1 == “someValue”).@attribute2[indexInt] – This returns data stored in an attribute contained within the same element as the searched attribute.
  Returns the value stored in an attribute named attribute2 within an XML element entryItem, where initially the list is sorted by attribute1. Useful in a for loop. This is similar to a horizontal lookup command in a spreadsheet.
• var xml:XML = <elementName attr1={someVariable} attr2={someOtherVariable}>{variableForTheText}</elementName> – Using variables in implicit XML. Adds attributes and element text via variables. Note: Quotation marks are automatically added to attributes (around someVariable and someOtherVariable), but not added to element info (variableForTheText).

Converting XML to Array

Sometimes, you have to have an Array rather than XML. There is no straightforward conversion, though the XML class does deliver a lot of Array-like content.

This is a quick and incomplete conversion of XML to an array. The main caveat you need to know is that all information is assumed to be in attributes, and not element text. Also, it ignores the first child of the XML file, processing only the children. Since there are many ways to set up XML “correctly”, this was a solution for a specific problem, and may not fit your needs.

But look at it anyway! There are many useful processes and setup that you may glean from this, and adding element text to the array is not a huge leap:

// This function is recursive.
protected function x2a(xd:XML):Array
{
	var arr:Array = [];
	var idx:int = 0;

	// attributes for this child
	var val2:int = xd.attributes().length();
	for (var j:int = 0; j < val2; j++)
	{
		xd.attributes()[j]
		arr[idx++] = xd.attributes()[j].toString();
	}

	// elements for this child
	var val:int = xd.elements().length();
	for (var i:int = 0; i < val; i++)
	{
		arr[idx++] = x2a(xd.elements()[i]);
	}

	return arr;
}