Get XML from String (not file)

Question

I have a PowerShell script:

$xmlString="<root>
        <section>
            <node id='1'>AAA</node>
            <node id='2'>BBB</node>
            <node id='3'>CCC</node>
        </section>
    </root>"

$xml = New-Object -TypeName System.Xml.XmlDocument
$content = $xml.LoadXml($xmlString)

Value of $content is null

Inner Exception in $xml variable is <Error retrieving property - ArgumentException>

I have checked whether string starts with [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetPreamble() but it does not.

Can you please tell, what it is correct way to convert such string to XML?

You're just misunderstanding how LoadXML() works. The imported XML is in the variable $xml, not $content. The method doesn't return anything, so $content is empty. — Ansgar Wiechers
– Ansgar Wiechers, Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 11:41
@AnsgarWiechers wanna make it an own answer? :D I can still roll back ;) — Paxz
– Paxz, Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 11:53

Paxz · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-11 11:49:18Z

You can directly cast the string to XmlDocument like this:

[xml]$xmlString="<root>
        <section>
            <node id='1'>AAA</node>
            <node id='2'>BBB</node>
            <node id='3'>CCC</node>
        </section>
    </root>"

If you want to keep the format of the variable, you can ofc just do it like this:

$xmlString="<root>
        <section>
            <node id='1'>AAA</node>
            <node id='2'>BBB</node>
            <node id='3'>CCC</node>
        </section>
    </root>"

[xml]$content = $xmlString

To follow up on @AnsgarWiechers comment, if you really want to use LoadXML, this is how it should look:

$xmlString=
"<root>
        <section>
            <node id='1'>AAA</node>
            <node id='2'>BBB</node>
            <node id='3'>CCC</node>
        </section>
</root>"

$xml = New-Object -TypeName System.Xml.XmlDocument
$xml.LoadXml($xmlString)

LoadXml will load a value from the given string to the $xml variable that calls the method.

It doesn't return any value, but saves it to $xml.

gvee · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-11 11:18:50Z

1

ConvertFrom-Xml is what you need!

It's available from the PowerShell Gallery as part of Avande.CoolFunctions

$xmlString = @"
<root>
    <section>
        <node id='1'>AAA</node>
        <node id='2'>BBB</node>
        <node id='3'>CCC</node>
    </section>
</root>
"@

$xmlString | ConvertFrom-Xml

edited Jan 11, 2019 at 11:18

answered Jan 11, 2019 at 11:03

gvee

17.2k42 silver badges50 bronze badges

2 Comments

Theo Over a year ago

As far as I know, ConvertFrom-Xml is not a powershell built-in cmdlet. However, simply casting it with [xml] like @Paxz did is the way to go.

gvee Over a year ago

You're right @Theo ! I've added a link to the source of the CmdLet to my answer.

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