How to read xml value via cmd / PowerShell

Question

I have the following XML format

How can I read the value of Tar Path

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Foo xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <Bar Path="c:\program files\bar" />
  <Tar Path="c:\program files\tar" Include="All" />
  <Updates></Updates>
</Foo>

In this example I need to receive the value: c:\program files\tar

Following Alex's comment, it is also possible to do it within a PowerShell script.

I need to add this piece of code into an existing .cmd file, is it possible to call a PowerShell script from the .cmd and get the result back to the cmd?

vbscript, jscript, powershell? All run from the command line — Alex K.
– Alex K., Commented May 6, 2015 at 11:29
The idea is that I want to run the code from an existing .cmd file, is it possible to call a powershell script from the .cmd and get the result back to my cmd? can you share a code example — user829174
– user829174, Commented May 6, 2015 at 11:35

Ansgar Wiechers · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-06 12:02:28Z

3

PowerShell solution:

[xml]$xml = Get-Content $args[0]
$xml.Bar.Tar.Path

VBScript solution:

Set xml = CreateObject("Msxml2.DOMDocument.6.0")
xml.async = False
xml.load WScript.Arguments(0)

If xml.ParseError <> 0 Then
  WScript.Echo xml.ParseError.Reason
  WScript.Quit 1
End If

Set path = xml.SelectSingleNode("/Tar/Bar[@Path]")
WScript.Echo path.Value

Call the above scripts in your batch file like this:

powershell -File "C:\path\to\your.ps1" "C:\path\to\your.xml"

or like this:

cscript //NoLogo "C:\path\to\your.vbs" "C:\path\to\your.xml"

Both the PowerShell and the VBScript write the result to STDOUT. To assign that back to a batch variable you need a for loop like this (replace the ellipsis with one of the commands above):

for /f "tokens=*" %%p in ('...') do set pathvalue=%%p

edited May 6, 2015 at 12:02

answered May 6, 2015 at 11:57

Ansgar Wiechers

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2 Comments

user829174 Over a year ago

I did not understand the last part of how to receive it back to my cmd. what do I need to put the the ellipsis... ?

Ansgar Wiechers Over a year ago

@user829174 One of the two aforementioned commands. Either powershell -File ... or cscript //NoLogo ....

Xevi · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-07 14:35:07Z

0

Consult xml using powershell inside the same .bat file

SET ARXIU=c:\catalunya.xml
FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (`powershell "[xml]$xml = Get-Content %ARXIU% ; $xml.Foo.Tar.Path"`) DO (
     SET RUTA=%%F
     GOTO HAVE_VALUE
)
echo Error NOT have value
GOTO :EOF

:HAVE_VALUE
echo %RUTA%

edited Sep 7, 2020 at 14:35

answered Sep 7, 2020 at 12:45

Xevi

11 bronze badge

Comments

Reino · Accepted Answer · 2025-03-01 23:48:01Z

0

You could use the XML/HTML/JSON parser xidel for that in cmd:

xidel -s "input.xml" -e "//Tar/@Path"
c:\program files\tar

If you want to export the output to a variable, you could do:

FOR /F "delims=" %A IN ('
  xidel -s "input.xml" -e "//Tar/@Path"
') DO SET pathvalue=%A

Or let xidel do it for you:

FOR /F "delims=" %A IN ('
  xidel -s "input.xml" -e "pathvalue:=//Tar/@Path" --output-format^=cmd
') DO %A

edited Mar 1 at 23:48

answered Aug 9, 2016 at 22:21

Reino

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