Get value of an attribute from xml for multiple occurrences using xmllint

Question

I want to get value of conn of abc whose name is 3 i.e conn3

<abc name="1">
    <properties conn="conn1"/>
</abc>
<abc name="2">
    <properties conn="conn2"/>
</abc>
<abc name="3">
    <properties conn="conn3"/>
</abc>

currently i am doing

echo 'cat //abc/properties/@conn' | xmllint --shell "test.xml"

but it is returning conn1,conn2,conn3

I am trying with

echo 'cat //abc[@name='1']/properties/@conn' | xmllint --shell "test.xml"

but it is not returning anything

Can you please suggest where i am doing wrong. Note:Xpath not supported

Given that XML (and wrapping it in a `` element to make it valid), your second command works for me. I guess what you have is something different? — Tom Fenech, Aug 10 '15 at 14:10
Works for me, too. Although if you don't have the `--xpath` option, I wonder if your `xmllint` is old and doesn't support the particular query you're using... — larsks, Aug 10 '15 at 14:11
What is the expected output, exactly? Related for siblings: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/26823736/how-to-parse-out-the-value-of-several-attributes-on-different-elements-with-xmll — Ciro Santilli OurBigBook.com, Nov 19 '15 at 05:26

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 15 '20 at 03:39

1

Finally issue was with single inverted comma(') below command worked for me. I don't know the reason, came to know by hit and try :)

Please comment if you know the reason behind it.

echo 'cat //abc[@name="1"]/properties/@conn' | xmllint --shell "test.xml"

Note: Above mentioned XML is only sample actual XML where I want to run is complex structure.

edited Nov 15 '20 at 03:39

ggorlen

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answered Aug 11 '15 at 14:06

user2387280

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score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

0

Just use xmllint normally, without pipes:

$ xmllint --xpath 'string(//abc[@name='1']/properties/@conn)' xml_file
conn1

See string() is used to get the value of an attribute, as described in Getting attribute using XPath.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

Community

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answered Aug 10 '15 at 14:15

fedorqui

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Hi, --xpath not supported :( – user2387280 Aug 10 '15 at 14:26
1

What does your `xmllint --version` return? Mine `xmllint: using libxml version 20901`. – fedorqui Aug 10 '15 at 14:28
xmllint: using libxml version 20706 I am using linux box xmllint --xpath Unknown option --xpath Usage : xmllint [options] XMLfiles . – user2387280 Aug 10 '15 at 14:33

Get value of an attribute from xml for multiple occurrences using xmllint

2 Answers2