XML search by tag text using python

Question

Here is my code and XML:

xml_string = """
<data>
    <user>
        <name>123</name>
    </user>
    <user>
        <name>456</name>
    </user>
</data>
"""

import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
root = ET.fromstring(xml_string)

I'm trying to find <user> tag where <name> has text value equal to 123.

What I have tried:

result = root.findall("./user[name = '123']")
result = root.findall("./user[./name = '123']")
result = root.findall("./user[/name = '123']")
result = root.findall("./user[./name text() = '123']")

None of these attempts worked. What am I missing?

Error I'm getting:

raise SyntaxError("invalid predicate") 
File "<string>", line None
SyntaxError: invalid predicate

If this is what you're trying to find <name>123</name>, regex will do the job. — Joe T. Boka
– Joe T. Boka, Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 12:28
@JoeR that's exactly the opposite of the advice you should give; regex is not the best way to parse XML, which is not a regular language, see e.g. stackoverflow.com/questions/1732348/… — jonrsharpe
– jonrsharpe, Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 12:29
@jonrsharpe Yes, I agree and I would never suggest to parse HTML or XML using regex, however, if the OP just trying to find this one thing <name>123</name> that's an other story. — Joe T. Boka
– Joe T. Boka, Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 12:33
@JoeR but that isn't what the OP wants, they're after the user tag containing that. — jonrsharpe
– jonrsharpe, Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 12:39

agmangas · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-03 12:37:47Z

8

As the exception says, it seems you have a syntax error in the predicate, there shouldn't be a space between the tag name and the value:

xml_string = """
<data>
    <user>
        <name>123</name>
    </user>
    <user>
        <name>456</name>
    </user>
</data>
"""

import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
root = ET.fromstring(xml_string)

result = root.findall("./user[name='123']")

print result

answered Jul 3, 2015 at 12:37

agmangas

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1 Comment

João Paulo Over a year ago

That's the thing! Thanks

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