Trouble parsing a self closure in XML using SWXMLHash

Question

I'm having an issue with iterating through data when there is a self closing element.

In the first example it will end up skipping everything, in the second example I have no issues and it grabs the data I need.

<ENTRY>
         <NAME>Unbridled Halo</NAME>
         <DH_DQ_FLAGS/>
         <BREED>TB</BREED>
         <LAST_PP/>
         <WEIGHT>123</WEIGHT>
         <AGE>4</AGE>
</ENTRY>
// This has "LAST_PP" as a self closing


<ENTRY>
         <NAME>Our Prince</NAME>
         <DH_DQ_FLAGS/>
         <BREED>TB</BREED>
         <LAST_PP>
            <TRACK>
               <CODE>TAM</CODE>
               <NAME>TAMPA BAY DOWNS</NAME>
            </TRACK>
            <RACE_DATE>2020-04-19</RACE_DATE>
            <RACE_NUMBER>2</RACE_NUMBER>
            <OFL_FINISH>7</OFL_FINISH>
         </LAST_PP>
         <WEIGHT>123</WEIGHT>
         <AGE>4</AGE>

 </ENTRY>

Here is an example of the code I'm using.

        for names in xml["CHART"]["RACE"]["ENTRY"].all
//                capture and append data for each horse
          {
              var tempArray = [Any]()
              
             
                  
                 if let name = names["NAME"].element?.text,
                  let weight = names ["WEIGHT"].element?.text,
                  let age = names ["AGE"].element?.text,
                  let prevFIN = names ["LAST_PP"]["OFL_FINISH"].element?.text
                  
              {
                          
              tempArray.append(name)
              tempArray.append(Int(weight) ?? 0)
              tempArray.append(Int(age) ?? 0)            
              tempArray.append(Int(prevFIN) ?? 0)
              }

Thanks for any help you might have.

andy meissner · Answer 1 · 2020-08-29T21:12:09.690

0

As you can see in this question swift executes the if-statement if all assignments are properly completed. In your case the assignment let prevFIN = names ["LAST_PP"]["OFL_FINISH"].element?.text will not assign any value for the first entry because the key ["OFL_FINISH"] is not found. So it skips the if statement.

Since your using ?? operator you could just:

let name = names["NAME"].element?.text,
let weight = names ["WEIGHT"].element?.text
let age = names ["AGE"].element?.text
let prevFIN = names ["LAST_PP"]["OFL_FINISH"].element?.text
          
              
tempArray.append(name)
tempArray.append(Int(weight) ?? 0)
tempArray.append(Int(age) ?? 0)            
tempArray.append(Int(prevFIN) ?? 0)

This will assign 0 if the value is not found.

edited Aug 29 '20 at 21:12

answered Aug 29 '20 at 20:25

andy meissner

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oh geez... sometimes you can't see the forest through the trees. Thank you for the answer. I feel like that should have been easier to figure out. – kris63 Aug 29 '20 at 20:39
No problem ;) I hope this was the error which caused your problem – andy meissner Aug 29 '20 at 20:40
Any suggestions on how I could handle that? I can't seem to get it – kris63 Aug 29 '20 at 21:01
Well I don't know Swift, but you could for example just split it into 4 if statements and add every variable to your temp array seperatly – andy meissner Aug 29 '20 at 21:07
That's what I've been trying. I just can't figure out how to look at that as nil. I'll keep plugging away. At least you got me a little further down the road, – kris63 Aug 29 '20 at 21:09
Since your using the ?? operator you could just don't use the if statement, because it will assign 0 if the value is null – andy meissner Aug 29 '20 at 21:09
I'm trying that but it keeps skipping that one. – kris63 Aug 29 '20 at 21:30
Did you debug what is happening ? – andy meissner Aug 29 '20 at 21:32
it's not throwing me any errors. It's just skipping. – kris63 Aug 29 '20 at 21:41
for names1 in xml["CHART"]["RACE"][3]["ENTRY"].all { print (Int(prevFin) ?? 0) } – kris63 Aug 29 '20 at 21:41
I still only get the ones without the self closure – kris63 Aug 29 '20 at 21:42

Trouble parsing a self closure in XML using SWXMLHash

1 Answers1