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https://github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct

Generate Go structs from multiple XML documents.
https://github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct

generator go golang schema struct xml xsd

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Generate Go structs from multiple XML documents.

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# go-xmlstruct



[![PkgGoDev](https://pkg.go.dev/badge/github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct)](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct)



Generate Go structs from multiple XML documents.



## What does go-xmlstruct do and why should I use it?



go-xmlstruct generates Go structs from XML documents. Alternatively put,

go-xmlstruct infers XML schemas from one or more example XML documents. For

example, given [this XML

document](https://github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct/blob/master/internal/tests/rss/testdata/sample-rss-2.xml),

go-xmlstruct generates [this Go source

code](https://github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct/blob/master/internal/tests/rss/rss.gen.go).



Compared to existing Go struct generators like

[zek](https://github.com/miku/zek),

[XMLGen](https://github.com/dutchcoders/XMLGen), and

[chidley](https://github.com/gnewton/chidley), go-xmlstruct:



* Takes multiple XML documents as input.

* Generates field types of `bool`, `int`, `string`, or `time.Time` as

  appropriate.

* Creates named types for all elements.

* Handles optional attributes and elements.

* Handles repeated attributes and elements.

* Ignores empty chardata.

* Provides a CLI for simple use.

* Usable as a Go package for advanced use, including configurable field naming.



go-xmlstruct is useful for quick-and-dirty unmarshalling of arbitrary XML

documents, especially when you have no schema or the schema is extremely complex

and you want something that "just works" with the documents you have.



Note the [bug in Go's `encoding/xml`](https://pkg.go.dev/encoding/xml#pkg-note-BUG):



> Mapping between XML elements and data structures is inherently flawed: an XML

> element is an order-dependent collection of anonymous values, while a data

> structure is an order-independent collection of named values. See

> encoding/json for a textual representation more suitable to data structures.



## Install



Install the `goxmlstruct` CLI with:



```console

$ go install github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct/cmd/goxmlstruct@latest

```



## Example



Feed `goxmlstruct` the simple XML document:



```xml



  

    text

  



```



by running:



```console

$ echo 'text' | goxmlstruct

```



This produces the output:



```go

// Code generated by goxmlstruct. DO NOT EDIT.



package main



type Parent struct {

        Child struct {

                Flag     bool   `xml:"flag,attr"`

                CharData string `xml:",chardata"`

        } `xml:"child"`

}

```



This demonstrates:



* A Go struct is generated from the structure of the input XML document.

* Attributes, child elements, and chardata are all considered.

* Field names are generated automatically.

* Field types are detected automatically.



For a full list of options to the `goxmlstruct` CLI run:



```console

$ goxmlstruct -help

```



You can run a more advanced example with:



```console

$ git clone https://github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct.git

$ cd go-xmlstruct

$ goxmlstruct internal/tests/gpx/testdata/*.gpx

```



This demonstrates generating a Go struct from multiple complex XML documents.



For an example of configurable field naming and named types by using

go-xmlstruct as a package, see

[`internal/tests/rss/rss_test.go`](https://github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct/blob/master/internal/tests/rss/rss_test.go).



For an example of a complex schema, see

[`internal/tests/aixm/aixm_test.go`](https://github.com/twpayne/go-xmlstruct/blob/master/internal/tests/aixm/aixm_test.go).



## How does go-xmlstruct work?



Similar to [go-jsonstruct](https://github.com/twpayne/go-jsonstruct), go-xmlstruct consists of two phases:



1. Firstly, go-xmlstruct explores all input XML documents to determine their

   structure. It gathers statistics on the types used for each attribute,

   chardata, and child element.

2. Secondly, go-xmlstruct generates a Go struct based on the observed structure

   using the gathered statistics to determine the type of each field.



## License



MIT