retrieve xml values using powershell

Question

I want to convert retrieve the info in xml tags using powershell. But this error message is what I am facing:

Select-Xml : Cannot convert value "System.Xml.XmlDocument" to type "System.Xml.XmlDocument". Error: "The specified node cannot be inserted as the valid child of this node, because the specified node is the wrong type."

[xml]$xml=
@"
<BESAPI xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="BESAPI.xsd">
<Computer Resource="https://dsw11.lab.g:52311/api/computer/549"/>
<Computer Resource="https://dsw11.lab.g:52311/api/computer/550"/>
<Computer Resource="https://dsw11.lab.g:52311/api/computer/552"/>
<Computer Resource="https://dsw11.lab.g:52311/api/computer/551"/>
</BESAPI> 
"@


#I have tried these alternatives for result, but both of them are not working

#$result = Select-Xml -Content $xml -XPath "//Computer Resource" | foreach {$_.node.InnerXML}
$result = Select-Xml -Content $xml -XPath "//Computer Resource" | foreach {[pscustomobject]@($_.node.InnerXML)}

I want to retrieve the ID's from the computer resource. for that again,

foreach($str in $result)
{
$res = $str.split('/')[-1]
# next steps
}

I have searched a lot but not a thing is working.

Thanks for your help in advance.

First of all, since you're passing an XML document, you need -Xml instead of -Content. Second, the nodes are actually attributes of an element, not nodes named "Computer Resource", so the XPath would be //Computer/@Resource. And last but not least, using Select-Xml for this is unnecessarily complex, since you can just use the properties PowerShell magics up for XML documents and collections: $xml.BESAPI.Computer.Resource — Jeroen Mostert
– Jeroen Mostert, Commented May 7, 2020 at 12:01
[xml]$xml = @" <BESAPI xmlns:xsi="w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="BESAPI.xsd"> <Computer Resource="dsw12tem01.cgdevlab.cg:52311/api/computer/5379"> <Property Name="Computer Name">DSW102</Property> </Computer> </BESAPI> in this case, i want to retrieve computer name 'DSW12SL02'. how can that be done? — deeksha
– deeksha, Commented May 7, 2020 at 13:37
Well it can't, since DSW12SL02 occurs nowhere in that document. You could ask a new question if necessary. — Jeroen Mostert
– Jeroen Mostert, Commented May 7, 2020 at 13:41

js2010 · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-07 12:22:08Z

3

Select-Xml -xml $xml -XPath "//Computer" | 
  foreach { $_.node.Resource.split('/')[-1] }

549
550
552
551

answered May 7, 2020 at 12:22

js2010

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Comments

RoadRunner · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-07 13:18:27Z

0

Go through each Resource attribute and extract the leaf item from the URL with Split-Path:

foreach ($url in $xml.BESAPI.Computer.Resource) {
    Split-Path -Path $url -Leaf
}

Or using Foreach-Object if you prefer using pipelines instead of foreach enumeration:

$xml.BESAPI.Computer.Resource | ForEach-Object {
    Split-Path -Path $_ -Leaf
}

Output:

From the documentation for -Leaf:

Indicates that this cmdlet returns only the last item or container in the path. For example, in the path C:\Test\Logs\Pass1.log, it returns only Pass1.log.

Update

As @Jeroen Mostert mentioned in the comments, full URLs are not paths, so Split-Path -Leaf may run into issues.

A safer solution would be to convert the URL to a System.Uri object, then use the System.Uri.LocalPath property instead:

foreach ($url in $xml.BESAPI.Computer.Resource) {
    Split-Path -Path ([uri]$url).LocalPath -Leaf
}

Or just use split, similar to js2010's answer:

foreach ($url in $xml.BESAPI.Computer.Resource) {
    ($url -split "/")[-1]
}

edited May 7, 2020 at 13:18

answered May 7, 2020 at 12:40

RoadRunner

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1 Comment

Jeroen Mostert Over a year ago

Full URLs are not paths, however. When passed through Split-Path with -Leaf you have a decent chance of things working, but it's still iffy. A simple string split seems more appropriate; if you must use Split-Path it'd be safer to work on ([uri] $url).LocalPath instead.

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