Powershell - Looping through XML

Question

I have made this example XML to loop through and I am interested in outputting the product name for each item.

<example>
<item>
    <productname>Hoover</productname>
</item>
<item>
    <productname>TV</productname>
</item>
<item>
    <productname>Microwave</productname>
</item>
<item>
    <productname>Computer</productname>
</item>
</example>

In my powershell, I can easily loop through each item, but I am unable to select the contents of "productname" and I am unsure why. Here is my example powershell code:

[xml] $xml = Get-Content "./xmlexample.xml"

foreach ($item in $xml.example) {
    Write-Host($item.InnerXML) #Outputs all XML as expected
    Write-Host($item.InnerText) #Outputs the text of all child elements as expected 
    Write-Host($item.productname.InnerText) #Does not output anything
    Write-Host($item.productname.InnerXML) #Does not output anything
}

Any help or advice as to why this doesn't work would be appreciated. It's acting like a child element with no further children is not treated the same way.

Please try foreach ($item in $xml.example.ChildNodes)

Robert Dyjas
– Robert Dyjas

2018-06-18 14:18:48 +00:00
Commented Jun 18, 2018 at 14:18 — Robert Dyjas
– Robert Dyjas, Commented Jun 18, 2018 at 14:18

Duncan · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-18 14:24:22Z

2

Iterate over $xml.example.ChildNodes and then the text is just $item.productname:

PS C:\users\IEUser\Documents> foreach ($item in $xml.example.ChildNodes) {
>>>    Write-Host($item.productname)
>>> }
Hoover
TV
Microwave
Computer

Or if you only want item elements containing productname you can iterate the item nodes:

PS C:\users\IEUser\Documents> foreach ($item in $xml.example.item) {
>>>    Write-Host($item.productname)
>>> }
Hoover
TV
Microwave
Computer

Or just extract an array of strings directly:

PS C:\users\IEUser\Documents> $xml.example.item.productname
Hoover
TV
Microwave
Computer

answered Jun 18, 2018 at 14:24

Duncan

96.4k15 gold badges129 silver badges160 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Duncan Over a year ago

Maybe you assigned something over $xml and/or $item. My code snippets are direct copy/paste after the [xml] $xml = Get-Content ".\xmlexample.xml"

Kevin Pione Over a year ago

I think I messed something up. I have your code working now - I think I never went into the 'item' element, which is why it wasn't working for me. Your examples were very clear and useful, thank you!

M. Goppelt · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-18 14:24:52Z

1

Powershell xml maps the leafs of an xml document as properties. Also, similar like in Linq-to-XML, each query may return an array of elements. So you can write your loop actually like this:

[xml]$xml = '<example>
<item>
   <productname>Hoover</productname>
</item>
<item>
   <productname>TV</productname>
</item>
<item>
  <productname>Microwave</productname>
</item>
<item>
  <productname>Computer</productname>
</item>
</example>'
$xml.example.item[1].productname = "Foo"
$xml.example.item.productname | Write-Host

Results in:

Hoover
Foo
Microwave
Computer

'productname' acts like a string property which can be set or retrieved. Therefore it has no further xml methods or properties.

answered Jun 18, 2018 at 14:24

M. Goppelt

366 bronze badges

1 Comment

EBGreen Over a year ago

To be completely accurate, $xml.example.item.productname is an array and each of its elements is a string.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Powershell - Looping through XML

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related