Find and replace specific text within an attribute in XML using Python

Question

I have an XML file (example below) - I am using Python 2.7

I want to change all occurences of stag to read prod. The word "stag" lies within a URL. I don't want to change the entire url just the occurence of the word stag - see example:

url=http://stag/comp/rest/services/editor/hyd/MapServer

want to change to:

url=http://prod/comp/rest/services/editor/hyd/MapServer

<Map FullExtent="-136163.9492,444360.64787994,-525467.175315,43020.05517682" InitialExtent="-32989.136772,6307.55418809,-4753.07696,5137.2783653">
<LayerList>
  <Items>
    <Item ID="17" />
    <Item ID="20" IsExpanded="true" Name="Reference Data" Visible="true">
      <Items>
        <Item ID="30" />
        <Item ID="34" VisibleInLayerList="false" />
        <Item ID="22" VisibleInLayerList="false" />
        <Item ID="41" VisibleInLayerList="false" />
        <Item ID="16" />
        <Item ID="37" />
        <Item ID="24" />
        <Item ID="39" />
        <Item ID="32" />
        <Item ID="28" />
        <Item ID="26" />
      </Items>
    </Item>
    <Item ID="19" IsExpanded="true" Name="Basemaps" Visible="true">
      <Items>
        <Item ID="12" />
        <Item ID="11" />
      </Items>
    </Item>
  </Items>
</LayerList>
<MapServices>
  <MapService ConnectionString="url=http://stag/comp/rest/services/editor/hyd/MapServer" DefaultAllowSymbolization="true" DisplayName="hydrants" Function="Operational" ID="17" ImageFormat="Png32" ImpersonateWithActor="false" IncludeCopyright="false" IncludeInLayerList="true" InstantSearch="false" InstantSearchAttachments="false" IsExpanded="true" MaximumScale="500" MinimumScale="7500" Opacity="1" OverrideTemporalSettings="false" PasswordEncrypted="false" ProviderInvariantName="Geocortex.Gis.Services.ArcGisServer.Rest" SearchNonTextFields="true" SupportedImageHeight="0" SupportedImageWidth="0" UseHttpAuthentication="false" Visible="true">
    <CachedServiceData />
    <Layers>
      <Layer AllowSymbolization="true" CanCopyFeature="true" DisplayName="Hydrants" FeatureDescription="&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 13.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Hydrant ID: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;{FIRE_HYDRANT_ID}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: Arial, Verdana;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: Arial, Verdana;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Work Order Number&lt;/span&gt;: {WORK_ORDER_NUM}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: Arial, Verdana;&quot;&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Make&lt;/span&gt;: {MAKE}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Elevation&lt;/span&gt;: {ELEVATION}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Hydrant Number&lt;/span&gt;: {HYDRANT_NUM}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Hydrant Size&lt;/span&gt;: {HYDRANT_SIZE}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Arial, Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 13.3333px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Install Year&lt;/span&gt;: {INSTALL_YEAR}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;" FeatureLabel="&lt;b&gt;Fire Hydrant&lt;/b&gt;" Identifiable="true" IncludeInLayerList="true" IncludeInLegend="true" IsCatalogLayer="false" IsExpanded="true" LayerListID="30" Name="SJPWPUB.FIRE_HYDRANT" NativeID="0" Queryable="true" Searchable="true" ShowFeatureHyperlinks="ShowAll" ShowLabels="true" ShowMapTips="true" Snappable="true" SnappingEnabled="false" UnconfiguredFieldsCanSymbolizeClassBreaks="false" UnconfiguredFieldsCanSymbolizeUniqueValue="false" UnconfiguredFieldsSearchable="false" UnconfiguredFieldsVisible="false" UnconfiguredRelationshipsVisible="true" Visible="true">
        <Fields>
          <Field CanSymbolizeClassBreaks="false" CanSymbolizeUniqueValue="false" DisplayIndex="5" DisplayName="Hydrant Number" FocusField="false" Name="HYDRANT_NUM" Searchable="true" Visible="true" />
          <Field CanSymbolizeClassBreaks="false" CanSymbolizeUniqueValue="false" DisplayIndex="2" DisplayName="Work Order Number" FocusField="false" Name="WORK_ORDER_NUM" Searchable="false" Visible="true" />
          <Field CanSymbolizeClassBreaks="false" CanSymbolizeUniqueValue="false" DisplayIndex="3" DisplayName="Make" FocusField="false" Name="MAKE" Searchable="false" Visible="true" />
          <Field CanSymbolizeClassBreaks="false" CanSymbolizeUniqueValue="false" DisplayIndex="6" DisplayName="Hydrant Size" FocusField="false" Name="HYDRANT_SIZE" Searchable="false" Visible="true" />
          <Field CanSymbolizeClassBreaks="false" CanSymbolizeUniqueValue="false" DisplayIndex="7" DisplayName="Install Year" FocusField="false" Name="INSTALL_YEAR" Searchable="false" Visible="true" />
          <Field CanSymbolizeClassBreaks="false" CanSymbolizeUniqueValue="false" DisplayIndex="4" DisplayName="Elevation" FocusField="false" Name="ELEVATION" Searchable="false" Visible="true" />
          <Field CanSymbolizeClassBreaks="false" CanSymbolizeUniqueValue="false" DisplayIndex="1" DisplayName="Fire Hydrant ID" FocusField="false" Name="OBJECTID" Searchable="false" Visible="true" />
        </Fields>
      </Layer>
    </Layers>
  </MapService>
</Map>

I've tried a couple different methods but none seem to work. Here's my latest attempt:

Prod_xml = r"C:/Users/ba/Documents/temp/Prod/Projects/Site.xml"

import lxml.etree as ET

with open(Prod_xml, 'rb+') as f:
    tree = ET.parse(f)
    root = tree.getroot()
    for elem in root.getiterator():
       if elem.text:
          elem.text.replace('stag', 'prod')
       if elem.tail:
          elem.tail.replace('stag', 'prod')

f.seek(0)
f.write(ET.tostring(tree, encoding='UTF-8', xml_declaration=True))
f.truncate()

This does not work. I am getting no error but the xml file is unchanged.

Any ideas on how to do this?

UPDATE

I'd like to use ElementTree option but I am getting the following error when I use the xml.etree.ElementTree script (It also removes the data within my xml file altogether):

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "F:/Applications/Geocortex/MovingGeocortexFiles.py", line 56, in <module>
    ET.dump(f)
  File "C:\Python27\ArcGIS10.3\lib\xml\etree\ElementTree.py", line 1164, in dump
    elem.write(sys.stdout)
  File "C:\Python27\ArcGIS10.3\lib\xml\etree\ElementTree.py", line 817, in write
    self._root, encoding, default_namespace
  File "C:\Python27\ArcGIS10.3\lib\xml\etree\ElementTree.py", line 876, in _namespaces
    iterate = elem.getiterator # cET compatibility
AttributeError: 'file' object has no attribute 'getiterator'

Liran Funaro · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-09 19:42:46Z

5

I know this might be oversimplifying the problem, but wouldn't it be easier to just:

with open(filepath, 'r') as f:
    res = f.read().replace('http://stag', 'http://prod')

with open(filepath,'w') as f:
    f.write(res)

If you insist on parsing it as XML, you can do the following:

import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

with open(filepath, 'r') as f:
    tree = ET.parse(f)

for n in tree.findall(".//"):
    for a in n.attrib:
        n.attrib[a] = n.attrib[a].replace("stag", "prod")

with open(filepath, 'w') as f:
    tree.write(f)

edited May 9, 2017 at 19:42

answered May 9, 2017 at 16:47

Liran Funaro

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5 Comments

David Bailey Over a year ago

This worked perfectly! I swear I tried this initially and was overthinking the problem since xml can be a bit complicated.

Parfait Over a year ago

While this may work for this particular situation, do not treat XML like a text file. Parse and update node/attrib values with DOM handling. You can end breaking the well-formed tree and even attempt regex which is ill-advised for X/HTML documents.

Liran Funaro Over a year ago

I added an XML solution as well.

David Bailey Over a year ago

@LiranFunaro I'd like to use ElementTree option but I am getting an error when I use the xml.etree.ElementTree script (It also removes the data within my xml file altogether). See my update above

Liran Funaro Over a year ago

Sorry, my bad. I used dump wrong. Try my correction.

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