xml-js

To use xml-js as part of your project's automation (e.g., via npm scripts) without installing it globally:

1. Install it locally:

npm install --save xml-js

2. Add a script to your package.json:

{
  "dependencies": {
    "xml-js": "latest"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "convert": "xml-js test.json --spaces 4"
  }
}

3. Run the script:

npm run convert

The xml-js library can be used directly from the terminal. The conversion type (XML $\leftrightarrow$ JSON) is automatically inferred from the file extension of the source file.

Global Installation

Install globally to use xml-js anywhere:

npm install -g xml-js

Usage Examples

Convert JSON to XML and print to screen:

xml-js test.json --spaces 4

Convert JSON to XML and save to file:

xml-js test.json --spaces 4 --out test.xml

Convert XML to JSON and print to screen:

xml-js test.xml --spaces 4

Convert XML to JSON and save to file:

xml-js test.xml --spaces 4 --out test.json

Compact Mode Optimization

In compact mode, you can reduce the size of your output by using single-character keys:

{ textKey: '_', attributesKey: '$', commentKey: 'value' }

Non-Compact Mode Consistency

In non-compact mode, you can make it easier for client code to traverse contents by setting textKey, cdataKey, and commentKey to the same value:

{ textKey: 'value', cdataKey: 'value', commentKey: 'value' }

To quickly convert XML to both compact and non-compact JSON formats, import xml-js and use the xml2json method.

Note that compact: true produces a more concise JSON structure, while compact: false produces a more verbose structure that preserves the exact order of elements and is fully reversible.

var convert = require('xml-js');
var xml =
'<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>' +
'<note importance="high" logged="true">' +
'    <title>Happy</title>' +
'    <todo>Work</todo>' +
'    <todo>Play</todo>' +
'</note>';
var result1 = convert.xml2json(xml, {compact: true, spaces: 4});
var result2 = convert.xml2json(xml, {compact: false, spaces: 4});
console.log(result1, '\n', result2);

You can install xml-js as a project dependency using npm, or install it globally to use it as a command-line converter.

To install as a dependency:

npm install --save xml-js

To install globally:

npm install --global xml-js

The xml-js CLI allows you to convert between XML and JSON formats directly from your terminal. It automatically detects the conversion direction based on the file extension of the source file: .xml files are converted to JSON, and .json files are converted to XML.

Basic Usage

Convert XML to JSON:

xml-js src.xml

Convert JSON to XML:

xml-js src.json

Save output to a file: Use the --out flag to specify the destination file.

xml-js src.xml --out output.json

Pipe input via stdin: You can pipe XML content into the CLI, and it will output the JSON result to stdout.

cat file.xml | xml-js

Use xml2js() to convert XML text into a JavaScript object, or xml2json() to convert XML text into a JSON string. Both functions accept an optional options object to control the conversion behavior.

var convert = require('xml-js');
var xml = require('fs').readFileSync('test.xml', 'utf8');
var options = {ignoreComment: true, alwaysChildren: true};
var result = convert.xml2js(xml, options); // or convert.xml2json(xml, options)
console.log(result);

When converting XML to a JS object or JSON using xml2json, you can provide custom callback functions in the options object to process specific parts of the XML structure (like element names, attributes, or text) during the conversion process.

Example of using elementNameFn to transform element names:

var convert = require('xml-js');
var xml = '<foo:Name>Ali</Name> <bar:Age>30</bar:Age>';
var options = {compact: true, elementNameFn: function(val) {return val.replace('foo:','').toUpperCase();}};
var result = convert.xml2json(xml, options);
console.log(result); // {"NAME":{"_text":"Ali"},"BAR:AGE":{"_text":"30"}}

When converting a JS object or JSON to XML using json2xml, you can provide custom callback functions in the options object to control how elements, attributes, and text are generated.

Example of using textFn to conditionally modify text content:

var convert = require('xml-js');
var json = '{"name":{"_text":"Ali"},"age":{"_text":"30"}}';
var options = {compact: true, textFn: function(val, elementName) {return elementName === 'age'? val + '';}};
var result = convert.json2xml(json, options);
console.log(result); // <foo:Name>Ali</Name> <bar:Age>30</bar:Age>

Use js2xml() to convert a JavaScript object to XML text, or json2xml() to convert a JSON string to XML text.

var convert = require('xml-js');
var json = require('fs').readFileSync('test.json', 'utf8');
var options = {compact: true, ignoreComment: true, spaces: 4};
var result = convert.json2xml(json, options);
console.log(result);