REXML Tutorial¶ ↑

Why REXML?¶ ↑

• Ruby’s REXML library is part of the Ruby distribution, so using it requires no gem installations.

• REXML is fully maintained.

• REXML is mature, having been in use for long years.

To Include, or Not to Include?¶ ↑

REXML is a module. To use it, you must require it:

require 'rexml' # => true

If you do not also include it, you must fully qualify references to REXML:

REXML::Document # => REXML::Document

If you also include the module, you may optionally omit REXML:::

include REXML
Document # => REXML::Document
REXML::Document # => REXML::Document

Preliminaries¶ ↑

All examples here assume that the following code has been executed:

require 'rexml'
include REXML

The source XML for many examples here is from file books.xml at w3schools.com. You may find it convenient to open that page in a new tab (Ctrl-click in some browsers).

Note that your browser may display the XML with modified whitespace and without the XML declaration, which in this case is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

For convenience, we capture the XML into a string variable:

require 'open-uri'
source_string = URI.open('https://www.w3schools.com/xml/books.xml').read

And into a file:

File.write('source_file.xml', source_string)

Throughout these examples, variable doc will hold only the document derived from these sources:

doc = Document.new(source_string)

Parsing XML Source¶ ↑

Parsing a Document¶ ↑

Use method REXML::Document::new to parse XML source.

The source may be a string:

doc = Document.new(source_string)

Or an IO stream:

doc = File.open('source_file.xml', 'r') do |io|
  Document.new(io)
end

Method URI.open returns a StringIO object, so the source can be from a web page:

require 'open-uri'
io = URI.open("https://www.w3schools.com/xml/books.xml")
io.class # => StringIO
doc = Document.new(io)

For any of these sources, the returned object is an REXML::Document:

doc       # => <UNDEFINED> ... </>
doc.class # => REXML::Document

Note: 'UNDEFINED' is the “name” displayed for a document, even though doc.name returns an empty string "".

A parsed document may produce REXML objects of many classes, but the two that are likely to be of greatest interest are REXML::Document and REXML::Element. These two classes are covered in great detail in this tutorial.

Context (Parsing Options)¶ ↑

The context for parsing a document is a hash that influences the way the XML is read and stored.

The context entries are:

• :respect_whitespace: controls treatment of whitespace.

• :compress_whitespace: determines whether whitespace is compressed.

• :ignore_whitespace_nodes: determines whether whitespace-only nodes are to be ignored.

• :raw: controls treatment of special characters and entities.

See Element Context.

Exploring the Document¶ ↑

An REXML::Document object represents an XML document.

The object inherits from its ancestor classes:

• REXML::Child (includes module REXML::Node)

  • REXML::Parent (includes module Enumerable).

    • REXML::Element (includes module REXML::Namespace).

      • REXML::Document

This section covers only those properties and methods that are unique to a document (that is, not inherited or included).

Document Properties¶ ↑

A document has several properties (other than its children);

• Document type.

• Node type.

• Name.

• Document.

• XPath

Document Type

A document may have a document type:

my_xml = '<!DOCTYPE foo>'
my_doc = Document.new(my_xml)
doc_type = my_doc.doctype
doc_type.class # => REXML::DocType
doc_type.to_s  # => "<!DOCTYPE foo>"

Node Type

A document also has a node type (always :document):

doc.node_type # => :document

Name

A document has a name (always an empty string):

doc.name # => ""

Document

Method REXML::Document#document returns self:

doc.document == doc # => true

An object of a different class (REXML::Element or REXML::Child) may have a document, which is the document to which the object belongs; if so, that document will be an REXML::Document object.

doc.root.document.class # => REXML::Document

XPath

method REXML::Element#xpath returns the string xpath to the element, relative to its most distant ancestor:

doc.root.class             # => REXML::Element
doc.root.xpath             # => "/bookstore"
doc.root.texts.first       # => "\n\n"
doc.root.texts.first.xpath # => "/bookstore/text()"

If there is no ancestor, returns the expanded name of the element:

Element.new('foo').xpath # => "foo"

Document Children¶ ↑

A document may have children of these types:

• XML declaration.

• Root element.

• Text.

• Processing instructions.

• Comments.

• CDATA.

XML Declaration

A document may an XML declaration, which is stored as an REXML::XMLDecl object:

doc.xml_decl       # => <?xml ... ?>
doc.xml_decl.class # => REXML::XMLDecl

Document.new('').xml_decl # => <?xml ... ?>

my_xml = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>"'
my_doc = Document.new(my_xml)
xml_decl = my_doc.xml_decl
xml_decl.to_s  # => "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone="yes"?>"

The version, encoding, and stand-alone values may be retrieved separately:

my_doc.version      # => "1.0"
my_doc.encoding     # => "UTF-8"
my_doc.stand_alone? # => "yes"

Root Element

A document may have a single element child, called the root element, which is stored as an REXML::Element object; it may be retrieved with method root:

doc.root           # => <bookstore> ... </>
doc.root.class     # => REXML::Element

Document.new('').root # => nil

Text

A document may have text passages, each of which is stored as an REXML::Text object:

doc.texts.each {|t| p [t.class, t] }

Output:

[REXML::Text, "\n"]

Processing Instructions

A document may have processing instructions, which are stored as REXML::Instruction objects:

Output:

[REXML::Instruction, <?p-i my-application ...?>]
[REXML::Instruction, <?p-i my-application ...?>]

Comments

A document may have comments, which are stored as REXML::Comment objects:

my_xml = <<-EOT
  <!--foo-->
  <!--bar-->
EOT
my_doc = Document.new(my_xml)
my_doc.comments.each {|c| p [c.class, c] }

Output:

[REXML::Comment, #<REXML::Comment: @parent=<UNDEFINED> ... </>, @string="foo">]
[REXML::Comment, #<REXML::Comment: @parent=<UNDEFINED> ... </>, @string="bar">]

CDATA

A document may have CDATA entries, which are stored as REXML::CData objects:

my_xml = <<-EOT
  <![CDATA[foo]]>
  <![CDATA[bar]]>
EOT
my_doc = Document.new(my_xml)
my_doc.cdatas.each {|cd| p [cd.class, cd] }

Output:

[REXML::CData, "foo"]
[REXML::CData, "bar"]

The payload of a document is a tree of nodes, descending from the root element:

doc.root.children.each do |child|
  p [child, child.class]
end

Output:

[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='cooking'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='children'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]

Exploring an Element¶ ↑

An REXML::Element object represents an XML element.

The object inherits from its ancestor classes:

• REXML::Child (includes module REXML::Node)

  • REXML::Parent (includes module Enumerable).

    • REXML::Element (includes module REXML::Namespace).

This section covers methods:

• Defined in REXML::Element itself.

• Inherited from REXML::Parent and REXML::Child.

• Included from REXML::Node.

Inside the Element¶ ↑

Brief String Representation

Use method REXML::Element#inspect to retrieve a brief string representation.

doc.root.inspect # => "<bookstore> ... </>"

The ellipsis (...) indicates that the element has children. When there are no children, the ellipsis is omitted:

Element.new('foo').inspect # => "<foo/>"

If the element has attributes, those are also included:

doc.root.elements.first.inspect # => "<book category='cooking'> ... </>"

Extended String Representation

Use inherited method REXML::Child.bytes to retrieve an extended string representation.

doc.root.bytes # => "<bookstore>\n\n<book category='cooking'>\n  <title lang='en'>Everyday Italian</title>\n  <author>Giada De Laurentiis</author>\n  <year>2005</year>\n  <price>30.00</price>\n</book>\n\n<book category='children'>\n  <title lang='en'>Harry Potter</title>\n  <author>J K. Rowling</author>\n  <year>2005</year>\n  <price>29.99</price>\n</book>\n\n<book category='web'>\n  <title lang='en'>XQuery Kick Start</title>\n  <author>James McGovern</author>\n  <author>Per Bothner</author>\n  <author>Kurt Cagle</author>\n  <author>James Linn</author>\n  <author>Vaidyanathan Nagarajan</author>\n  <year>2003</year>\n  <price>49.99</price>\n</book>\n\n<book category='web' cover='paperback'>\n  <title lang='en'>Learning XML</title>\n  <author>Erik T. Ray</author>\n  <year>2003</year>\n  <price>39.95</price>\n</book>\n\n</bookstore>"

Node Type

Use method REXML::Element#node_type to retrieve the node type (always :element):

doc.root.node_type # => :element

Raw Mode

Use method REXML::Element#raw to retrieve whether (true or nil) raw mode is set.

doc.root.raw # => nil

Context

Use method REXML::Element#context to retrieve the context hash (see Element Context):

doc.root.context # => {}

Relationships¶ ↑

An element may have:

• Ancestors.

• Siblings.

• Children.

Ancestors¶ ↑

Containing Document

Use method REXML::Element#document to retrieve the containing document, if any:

ele = doc.root.elements.first   # => <book category='cooking'> ... </>
ele.document                    # => <UNDEFINED> ... </>
ele = Element.new('foo')        # => <foo/>
ele.document                    # => nil

Root Element

Use method REXML::Element#root to retrieve the root element:

ele = doc.root.elements.first   # => <book category='cooking'> ... </>
ele.root                        # => <bookstore> ... </>
ele = Element.new('foo')        # => <foo/>
ele.root                        # => <foo/>

Root Node

Use method REXML::Element#root_node to retrieve the most distant ancestor, which is the containing document, if any, otherwise the root element:

ele = doc.root.elements.first   # => <book category='cooking'> ... </>
ele.root_node                   # => <UNDEFINED> ... </>
ele = Element.new('foo')        # => <foo/>
ele.root_node                   # => <foo/>

Parent

Use inherited method REXML::Child#parent to retrieve the parent

ele = doc.root                # => <bookstore> ... </>
ele.parent                    # => <UNDEFINED> ... </>
ele = doc.root.elements.first # => <book category='cooking'> ... </>
ele.parent                    # => <bookstore> ... </>

Use included method REXML::Node#index_in_parent to retrieve the index of the element among all of its parents children (not just the element children). Note that while the index for doc.root.elements[n] is 1-based, the returned index is 0-based.

doc.root.children # =>
  # ["\n\n",
  #  <book category='cooking'> ... </>,
  #  "\n\n",
  #  <book category='children'> ... </>,
  #  "\n\n",
  #  <book category='web'> ... </>,
  #  "\n\n",
  #  <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>,
  #  "\n\n"]
ele = doc.root.elements[1] # => <book category='cooking'> ... </>
ele.index_in_parent # => 2
ele = doc.root.elements[2]  # => <book category='children'> ... </>
ele.index_in_parent# => 4

Siblings¶ ↑

Next Element

Use method REXML::Element#next_element to retrieve the first following sibling that is itself an element (nil if there is none):

ele = doc.root.elements[1]
while ele do
  p [ele.class, ele]
  ele = ele.next_element
end
p ele

Output:

[REXML::Element, <book category='cooking'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='children'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>]

Previous Element

Use method REXML::Element#previous_element to retrieve the first preceding sibling that is itself an element (nil if there is none):

ele = doc.root.elements[4]
while ele do
  p [ele.class, ele]
  ele = ele.previous_element
end
p ele

Output:

[REXML::Element, <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='children'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='cooking'> ... </>]

Next Node

Use included method REXML::Node.next_sibling_node (or its alias next_sibling) to retrieve the first following node regardless of its class:

node = doc.root.children[0]
while node do
  p [node.class, node]
  node = node.next_sibling
end
p node

Output:

[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='cooking'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='children'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]

Previous Node

Use included method REXML::Node.previous_sibling_node (or its alias previous_sibling) to retrieve the first preceding node regardless of its class:

node = doc.root.children[-1]
while node do
  p [node.class, node]
  node = node.previous_sibling
end
p node

Output:

[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='children'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='cooking'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]

Children¶ ↑

Child Count

Use inherited method REXML::Parent.size to retrieve the count of nodes (of all types) in the element:

doc.root.size # => 9

Child Nodes

Use inherited method REXML::Parent.children to retrieve an array of the child nodes (of all types):

doc.root.children # =>
                  # ["\n\n",
                  #  <book category='cooking'> ... </>,
                  #  "\n\n",
                  #  <book category='children'> ... </>,
                  #  "\n\n",
                  #  <book category='web'> ... </>,
                  #  "\n\n",
                  #  <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>,
                  #  "\n\n"]

Child at Index

Use method REXML::Element#[] to retrieve the child at a given numerical index, or nil if there is no such child:

doc.root[0]  # => "\n\n"
doc.root[1]  # => <book category='cooking'> ... </>
doc.root[7]  # => <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>
doc.root[8]  # => "\n\n"

doc.root[-1] # => "\n\n"
doc.root[-2] # => <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>

doc.root[50] # => nil

Index of Child

Use method REXML::Parent#index to retrieve the zero-based child index of the given object, or #size - 1 if there is no such child:

ele = doc.root     # => <bookstore> ... </>
ele.index(ele[0])  # => 0
ele.index(ele[1])  # => 1
ele.index(ele[7])  # => 7
ele.index(ele[8])  # => 8

ele.index(ele[-1]) # => 8
ele.index(ele[-2]) # => 7

ele.index(ele[50]) # => 8

Element Children

Use method REXML::Element#has_elements? to retrieve whether the element has element children:

doc.root.has_elements?                  # => true
REXML::Element.new('foo').has_elements? # => false

Use method REXML::Element#elements to retrieve the REXML::Elements object containing the element children:

eles = doc.root.elements
eles      # => #<REXML::Elements:0x000001ee2848e960 @element=<bookstore> ... </>>
eles.size # => 4
eles.each {|e| p [e.class], e }

Output:

[<book category='cooking'> ... </>,
 <book category='children'> ... </>,
 <book category='web'> ... </>,
 <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>
]

Note that while in this example, all the element children of the root element are elements of the same name, 'book', that is not true of all documents; a root element (or any other element) may have any mixture of child elements.

CDATA Children

Use method REXML::Element#cdatas to retrieve a frozen array of CDATA children:

my_xml = <<-EOT
  <root>
    <![CDATA[foo]]>
    <![CDATA[bar]]>
  </root>
EOT
my_doc = REXML::Document.new(my_xml)
cdatas my_doc.root.cdatas
cdatas.frozen?              # => true
cdatas.map {|cd| cd.class } # => [REXML::CData, REXML::CData]

Comment Children

Use method REXML::Element#comments to retrieve a frozen array of comment children:

my_xml = <<-EOT
  <root>
    <!--foo-->
    <!--bar-->
  </root>
EOT
my_doc = REXML::Document.new(my_xml)
comments = my_doc.root.comments
comments.frozen?            # => true
comments.map {|c| c.class } # => [REXML::Comment, REXML::Comment]
comments.map {|c| c.to_s }  # => ["foo", "bar"]

Processing Instruction Children

Use method REXML::Element#instructions to retrieve a frozen array of processing instruction children:

my_xml = <<-EOT
  <root>
    <?target0 foo?>
    <?target1 bar?>
  </root>
EOT
my_doc = REXML::Document.new(my_xml)
instrs = my_doc.root.instructions
instrs.frozen?            # => true
instrs.map {|i| i.class } # => [REXML::Instruction, REXML::Instruction]
instrs.map {|i| i.to_s }  # => ["<?target0 foo?>", "<?target1 bar?>"]

Text Children

Use method REXML::Element#has_text? to retrieve whether the element has text children:

doc.root.has_text?                  # => true
REXML::Element.new('foo').has_text? # => false

Use method REXML::Element#texts to retrieve a frozen array of text children:

my_xml = '<root><a/>text<b/>more<c/></root>'
my_doc = REXML::Document.new(my_xml)
texts = my_doc.root.texts
texts.frozen?            # => true
texts.map {|t| t.class } # => [REXML::Text, REXML::Text]
texts.map {|t| t.to_s }  # => ["text", "more"]

Parenthood

Use inherited method REXML::Parent.parent? to retrieve whether the element is a parent; always returns true; only REXML::Child#parent returns false.

doc.root.parent? # => true

Element Attributes¶ ↑

Use method REXML::Element#has_attributes? to return whether the element has attributes:

ele = doc.root           # => <bookstore> ... </>
ele.has_attributes?      # => false
ele = ele.elements.first # => <book category='cooking'> ... </>
ele.has_attributes?      # => true

Use method REXML::Element#attributes to return the hash containing the attributes for the element. Each hash key is a string attribute name; each hash value is an REXML::Attribute object.

ele = doc.root                  # => <bookstore> ... </>
attrs = ele.attributes          # => {}

ele = ele.elements.first        # => <book category='cooking'> ... </>
attrs = ele.attributes          # => {"category"=>category='cooking'}
attrs.size                      # => 1
attr_name = attrs.keys.first    # => "category"
attr_name.class                 # => String
attr_value = attrs.values.first # => category='cooking'
attr_value.class                # => REXML::Attribute

Use method REXML::Element#[] to retrieve the string value for a given attribute, which may be given as either a string or a symbol:

ele = doc.root.elements.first # => <book category='cooking'> ... </>
attr_value = ele['category']  # => "cooking"
attr_value.class              # => String
ele['nosuch']                  # => nil

Use method REXML::Element#attribute to retrieve the value of a named attribute:

my_xml = "<root xmlns:a='a' a:x='a:x' x='x'/>"
my_doc = REXML::Document.new(my_xml)
my_doc.root.attribute("x")      # => x='x'
my_doc.root.attribute("x", "a") # => a:x='a:x'

Whitespace¶ ↑

Use method REXML::Element#ignore_whitespace_nodes to determine whether whitespace nodes were ignored when the XML was parsed; returns true if so, nil otherwise.

Use method REXML::Element#whitespace to determine whether whitespace is respected for the element; returns true if so, false otherwise.

Namespaces¶ ↑

Use method REXML::Element#namespace to retrieve the string namespace URI for the element, which may derive from one of its ancestors:

xml_string = <<-EOT
  <root>
     <a xmlns='1' xmlns:y='2'>
       <b/>
       <c xmlns:z='3'/>
     </a>
  </root>
EOT
d = Document.new(xml_string)
b = d.elements['//b']
b.namespace      # => "1"
b.namespace('y') # => "2"
b.namespace('nosuch') # => nil

Use method REXML::Element#namespaces to retrieve a hash of all defined namespaces in the element and its ancestors:

xml_string = <<-EOT
  <root>
     <a xmlns:x='1' xmlns:y='2'>
       <b/>
       <c xmlns:z='3'/>
     </a>
  </root>
EOT
d = Document.new(xml_string)
d.elements['//a'].namespaces # => {"x"=>"1", "y"=>"2"}
d.elements['//b'].namespaces # => {"x"=>"1", "y"=>"2"}
d.elements['//c'].namespaces # => {"x"=>"1", "y"=>"2", "z"=>"3"}

Use method REXML::Element#prefixes to retrieve an array of the string prefixes (names) of all defined namespaces in the element and its ancestors:

xml_string = <<-EOT
  <root>
     <a xmlns:x='1' xmlns:y='2'>
       <b/>
       <c xmlns:z='3'/>
     </a>
  </root>
EOT
d = Document.new(xml_string, {compress_whitespace: :all})
d.elements['//a'].prefixes # => ["x", "y"]
d.elements['//b'].prefixes # => ["x", "y"]
d.elements['//c'].prefixes # => ["x", "y", "z"]

Traversing¶ ↑

You can use certain methods to traverse children of the element. Each child that meets given criteria is yielded to the given block.

Traverse All Children

Use inherited method REXML::Parent#each (or its alias each_child) to traverse all children of the element:

doc.root.each {|child| p [child.class, child] }

Output:

[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='cooking'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='children'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>]
[REXML::Text, "\n\n"]

Traverse Element Children

Use method REXML::Element#each_element to traverse only the element children of the element:

doc.root.each_element {|e| p [e.class, e] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <book category='cooking'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='children'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>]

Traverse Element Children with Attribute

Use method REXML::Element#each_element_with_attribute with the single argument attr_name to traverse each element child that has the given attribute:

my_doc = Document.new '<a><b id="1"/><c id="2"/><d id="1"/><e/></a>'
my_doc.root.each_element_with_attribute('id') {|e| p [e.class, e] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <b id='1'/>]
[REXML::Element, <c id='2'/>]
[REXML::Element, <d id='1'/>]

Use the same method with a second argument value to traverse each element child element that has the given attribute and value:

my_doc.root.each_element_with_attribute('id', '1') {|e| p [e.class, e] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <b id='1'/>]
[REXML::Element, <d id='1'/>]

Use the same method with a third argument max to traverse no more than the given number of element children:

my_doc.root.each_element_with_attribute('id', '1', 1) {|e| p [e.class, e] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <b id='1'/>]

Use the same method with a fourth argument xpath to traverse only those element children that match the given xpath:

my_doc.root.each_element_with_attribute('id', '1', 2, '//d') {|e| p [e.class, e] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <d id='1'/>]

Traverse Element Children with Text

Use method REXML::Element#each_element_with_text with no arguments to traverse those element children that have text:

my_doc = Document.new '<a><b>b</b><c>b</c><d>d</d><e/></a>'
my_doc.root.each_element_with_text {|e| p [e.class, e] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <b> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <c> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <d> ... </>]

Use the same method with the single argument text to traverse those element children that have exactly that text:

my_doc.root.each_element_with_text('b') {|e| p [e.class, e] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <b> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <c> ... </>]

Use the same method with additional second argument max to traverse no more than the given number of element children:

my_doc.root.each_element_with_text('b', 1) {|e| p [e.class, e] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <b> ... </>]

Use the same method with additional third argument xpath to traverse only those element children that also match the given xpath:

my_doc.root.each_element_with_text('b', 2, '//c') {|e| p [e.class, e] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <c> ... </>]

Traverse Element Children’s Indexes

Use inherited method REXML::Parent#each_index to traverse all children’s indexes (not just those of element children):

doc.root.each_index {|i| print i }

Output:

012345678

Traverse Children Recursively

Use included method REXML::Node#each_recursive to traverse all children recursively:

doc.root.each_recursive {|child| p [child.class, child] }

Output:

[REXML::Element, <book category='cooking'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <title lang='en'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <author> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <year> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <price> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='children'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <title lang='en'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <author> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <year> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <price> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <title lang='en'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <author> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <author> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <author> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <author> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <author> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <year> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <price> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <book category='web' cover='paperback'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <title lang='en'> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <author> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <year> ... </>]
[REXML::Element, <price> ... </>]

Searching¶ ↑

You can use certain methods to search among the descendants of an element.

Use method REXML::Element#get_elements to retrieve all element children of the element that match the given xpath:

xml_string = <<-EOT
<root>
  <a level='1'>
    <a level='2'/>
  </a>
</root>
EOT
d = Document.new(xml_string)
d.root.get_elements('//a') # => [<a level='1'> ... </>, <a level='2'/>]

Use method REXML::Element#get_text with no argument to retrieve the first text node in the first child:

my_doc = Document.new "<p>some text <b>this is bold!</b> more text</p>"
text_node = my_doc.root.get_text
text_node.class # => REXML::Text
text_node.to_s  # => "some text "

Use the same method with argument xpath to retrieve the first text node in the first child that matches the xpath:

my_doc.root.get_text(1) # => "this is bold!"

Use method REXML::Element#text with no argument to retrieve the text from the first text node in the first child:

my_doc = Document.new "<p>some text <b>this is bold!</b> more text</p>"
text_node = my_doc.root.text
text_node.class # => String
text_node       # => "some text "

Use the same method with argument xpath to retrieve the text from the first text node in the first child that matches the xpath:

my_doc.root.text(1) # => "this is bold!"

Use included method REXML::Node#find_first_recursive to retrieve the first descendant element for which the given block returns a truthy value, or nil if none:

doc.root.find_first_recursive do |ele|
  ele.name == 'price'
end # => <price> ... </>
doc.root.find_first_recursive do |ele|
  ele.name == 'nosuch'
end # => nil

Editing¶ ↑

Editing a Document¶ ↑

Creating a Document

Create a new document with method REXML::Document::new:

doc = Document.new(source_string)
empty_doc = REXML::Document.new

Adding to the Document

Add an XML declaration with method REXML::Document#add and an argument of type REXML::XMLDecl:

my_doc = Document.new
my_doc.xml_decl.to_s # => ""
my_doc.add(XMLDecl.new('2.0'))
my_doc.xml_decl.to_s # => "<?xml version='2.0'?>"

Add a document type with method REXML::Document#add and an argument of type REXML::DocType:

my_doc = Document.new
my_doc.doctype.to_s # => ""
my_doc.add(DocType.new('foo'))
my_doc.doctype.to_s # => "<!DOCTYPE foo>"

Add a node of any other REXML type with method REXML::Document#add and an argument that is not of type REXML::XMLDecl or REXML::DocType:

my_doc = Document.new
my_doc.add(Element.new('foo'))
my_doc.to_s # => "<foo/>"

Add an existing element as the root element with method REXML::Document#add_element:

ele = Element.new('foo')
my_doc = Document.new
my_doc.add_element(ele)
my_doc.root # => <foo/>

Create and add an element as the root element with method REXML::Document#add_element:

my_doc = Document.new
my_doc.add_element('foo')
my_doc.root # => <foo/>

Editing an Element¶ ↑

Creating an Element¶ ↑

Create a new element with method REXML::Element::new:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>

Setting Element Properties¶ ↑

Set the context for an element with method REXML::Element#context= (see Element Context):

ele.context # => nil
ele.context = {ignore_whitespace_nodes: :all}
ele.context # => {:ignore_whitespace_nodes=>:all}

Set the parent for an element with inherited method REXML::Child#parent=

ele.parent # => nil
ele.parent = Element.new('bar')
ele.parent # => <bar/>

Set the text for an element with method REXML::Element#text=:

ele.text # => nil
ele.text = 'bar'
ele.text # => "bar"

Adding to an Element¶ ↑

Add a node as the last child with inherited method REXML::Parent#add (or its alias push):

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.push(Text.new('bar'))
ele.push(Element.new('baz'))
ele.children # => ["bar", <baz/>]

Add a node as the first child with inherited method REXML::Parent#unshift:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.unshift(Element.new('bar'))
ele.unshift(Text.new('baz'))
ele.children # => ["bar", <baz/>]

Add an element as the last child with method REXML::Element#add_element:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_element(Element.new('baz'))
ele.children # => [<bar/>, <baz/>]

Add a text node as the last child with method REXML::Element#add_text:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_text('bar')
ele.add_text(Text.new('baz'))
ele.children # => ["bar", "baz"]

Insert a node before a given node with method REXML::Parent#insert_before:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_text('bar')
ele.add_text(Text.new('baz'))
ele.children    # => ["bar", "baz"]
target = ele[1] # => "baz"
ele.insert_before(target, Text.new('bat'))
ele.children    # => ["bar", "bat", "baz"]

Insert a node after a given node with method REXML::Parent#insert_after:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_text('bar')
ele.add_text(Text.new('baz'))
ele.children    # => ["bar", "baz"]
target = ele[0] # => "bar"
ele.insert_after(target, Text.new('bat'))
ele.children    # => ["bar", "bat", "baz"]

Add an attribute with method REXML::Element#add_attribute:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_attribute('bar', 'baz')
ele.add_attribute(Attribute.new('bat', 'bam'))
ele.attributes # => {"bar"=>bar='baz', "bat"=>bat='bam'}

Add multiple attributes with method REXML::Element#add_attributes:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_attributes({'bar' => 'baz', 'bat' => 'bam'})
ele.add_attributes([['ban', 'bap'], ['bah', 'bad']])
ele.attributes # => {"bar"=>bar='baz', "bat"=>bat='bam', "ban"=>ban='bap', "bah"=>bah='bad'}

Add a namespace with method REXML::Element#add_namespace:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_namespace('bar')
ele.add_namespace('baz', 'bat')
ele.namespaces # => {"xmlns"=>"bar", "baz"=>"bat"}

Deleting from an Element¶ ↑

Delete a specific child object with inherited method REXML::Parent#delete:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_text('baz')
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz"]
target = ele[1]          # => "baz"
ele.delete(target)       # => "baz"
ele.children             # => [<bar/>]
target = ele[0]          # => <baz/>
ele.delete(target)       # => <baz/>
ele.children             # => []

Delete a child at a specific index with inherited method REXML::Parent#delete_at:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_text('baz')
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz"]
ele.delete_at(1)
ele.children             # => [<bar/>]
ele.delete_at(0)
ele.children             # => []

Delete all children meeting a specified criterion with inherited method REXML::Parent#delete_if:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_text('baz')
ele.add_element('bat')
ele.add_text('bam')
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz", <bat/>, "bam"]
ele.delete_if {|child| child.instance_of?(Text) }
ele.children # => [<bar/>, <bat/>]

Delete an element at a specific 1-based index with method REXML::Element#delete_element:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_text('baz')
ele.add_element('bat')
ele.add_text('bam')
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz", <bat/>, "bam"]
ele.delete_element(2)    # => <bat/>
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz", "bam"]
ele.delete_element(1)    # => <bar/>
ele.children             # => ["baz", "bam"]

Delete a specific element with the same method:

ele = Element.new('foo')   # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_text('baz')
ele.add_element('bat')
ele.add_text('bam')
ele.children               # => [<bar/>, "baz", <bat/>, "bam"]
target = ele.elements[2]   # => <bat/>
ele.delete_element(target) # => <bat/>
ele.children               # => [<bar/>, "baz", "bam"]

Delete an element matching an xpath using the same method:

ele = Element.new('foo')    # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_text('baz')
ele.add_element('bat')
ele.add_text('bam')
ele.children                # => [<bar/>, "baz", <bat/>, "bam"]
ele.delete_element('./bat') # => <bat/>
ele.children                # => [<bar/>, "baz", "bam"]
ele.delete_element('./bar') # => <bar/>
ele.children                # => ["baz", "bam"]

Delete an attribute by name with method REXML::Element#delete_attribute:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_attributes({'bar' => 'baz', 'bam' => 'bat'})
ele.attributes           # => {"bar"=>bar='baz', "bam"=>bam='bat'}
ele.delete_attribute('bam')
ele.attributes           # => {"bar"=>bar='baz'}

Delete a namespace with method REXML::Element#delete_namespace:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_namespace('bar')
ele.add_namespace('baz', 'bat')
ele.namespaces           # => {"xmlns"=>"bar", "baz"=>"bat"}
ele.delete_namespace('xmlns')
ele.namespaces           # => {} # => {"baz"=>"bat"}
ele.delete_namespace('baz')
ele.namespaces # => {}   # => {}

Remove an element from its parent with inherited method REXML::Child#remove:

ele = Element.new('foo')    # => <foo/>
parent = Element.new('bar') # => <bar/>
parent.add_element(ele)     # => <foo/>
parent.children.size        # => 1
ele.remove                  # => <foo/>
parent.children.size        # => 0

Replacing Nodes¶ ↑

Replace the node at a given 0-based index with inherited method REXML::Parent#[]=:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_text('baz')
ele.add_element('bat')
ele.add_text('bam')
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz", <bat/>, "bam"]
ele[2] = Text.new('bad') # => "bad"
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz", "bad", "bam"]

Replace a given node with another node with inherited method REXML::Parent#replace_child:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_text('baz')
ele.add_element('bat')
ele.add_text('bam')
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz", <bat/>, "bam"]
target = ele[2]          # => <bat/>
ele.replace_child(target, Text.new('bah'))
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz", "bah", "bam"]

Replace self with a given node with inherited method REXML::Child#replace_with:

ele = Element.new('foo') # => <foo/>
ele.add_element('bar')
ele.add_text('baz')
ele.add_element('bat')
ele.add_text('bam')
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz", <bat/>, "bam"]
target = ele[2]          # => <bat/>
target.replace_with(Text.new('bah'))
ele.children             # => [<bar/>, "baz", "bah", "bam"]

Cloning¶ ↑

Create a shallow clone of an element with method REXML::Element#clone. The clone contains the name and attributes, but not the parent or children:

ele = Element.new('foo')
ele.add_attributes({'bar' => 0, 'baz' => 1})
ele.clone # => <foo bar='0' baz='1'/>

Create a shallow clone of a document with method REXML::Document#clone. The XML declaration is copied; the document type and root element are not cloned:

my_xml = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE foo><root/>'
my_doc = Document.new(my_xml)
clone_doc = my_doc.clone

my_doc.xml_decl         # => <?xml ... ?>
clone_doc.xml_decl      # => <?xml ... ?>

my_doc.doctype.to_s     # => "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>"
clone_doc.doctype.to_s  # => ""

my_doc.root             # => <root/>
clone_doc.root          # => nil

Create a deep clone of an element with inherited method REXML::Parent#deep_clone. All nodes and attributes are copied:

doc.to_s.size   # => 825
clone  = doc.deep_clone
clone.to_s.size # => 825

Writing the Document¶ ↑

Write a document to an IO stream (defaults to $stdout) with method REXML::Document#write:

doc.write

Output:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<bookstore>

<book category='cooking'>
  <title lang='en'>Everyday Italian</title>
  <author>Giada De Laurentiis</author>
  <year>2005</year>
  <price>30.00</price>
</book>

<book category='children'>
  <title lang='en'>Harry Potter</title>
  <author>J K. Rowling</author>
  <year>2005</year>
  <price>29.99</price>
</book>

<book category='web'>
  <title lang='en'>XQuery Kick Start</title>
  <author>James McGovern</author>
  <author>Per Bothner</author>
  <author>Kurt Cagle</author>
  <author>James Linn</author>
  <author>Vaidyanathan Nagarajan</author>
  <year>2003</year>
  <price>49.99</price>
</book>

<book category='web' cover='paperback'>
  <title lang='en'>Learning XML</title>
  <author>Erik T. Ray</author>
  <year>2003</year>
  <price>39.95</price>
</book>

</bookstore>