jstoxml

Convert JavaScript objects (and JSON) to XML (for RSS, Podcasts, etc.)

Everyone loves JSON, and more and more folks want to move that direction, but we still need things outputted in XML! Particularly for RSS feeds and Podcasts.

This is inspired by node-jsontoxml, which was found to be a bit too rough around the edges. jstoxml attempts to fix that by being more flexible.

Installation

npm install jstoxml

Changelog

Version 1.4.2

support for handling arrays of primitives, instead of simply concatenating (#33)

Version 1.3.0

restored default module export (#31)

Version 1.2.0

refactoring and cleanup

Version 1.1.0

Added support for attribute filtering (see Example 11b below).

Version 1.0.0

Complete rewrite! The code should now be easier to understand and maintain.
now supports emoji/UTF8 tag attributes (needed for AMP pages - e.g. <html ⚡ lang="en">) (see example 14)
now supports duplicate attribute key names (see example 15)
Fixed: functions returning objects now have now that output passed through toXML for XML conversion
Fixed: empty text strings now properly output self-closing tags
Migrated tests to mocha

Examples

First you'll want to require jstoxml in your script, and assign the result to the namespace variable you want to use (in this case jstoxml):

// Node
const { toXML } = require('jstoxml');

// Browser
import { toXML } from 'jstoxml';

Example 1: Simple object

toXML({
  foo: 'bar',
  foo2: 'bar2'
});

Output:

<foo>bar</foo><foo2>bar2</foo2>

Note: because JavaScript doesn't allow duplicate key names, only the last defined key will be outputted. If you need duplicate keys, please use an array instead (see Example 2 below).

Example 2: Simple array (needed for duplicate keys)

toXML([
  {
    foo: 'bar'
  },
  {
    foo: 'bar2'
  }
]);

Output:

<foo>bar</foo><foo>bar2</foo>

Example 3: Simple functions

toXML({ currentTime: () => new Date() });

Output:

<currentTime>Mon Oct 02 2017 09:34:54 GMT-0700 (PDT)</currentTime>

Example 4: XML tag attributes

toXML({
  _name: 'foo',
  _content: 'bar',
  _attrs: {
    a: 'b',
    c: 'd'
  }
});

Output:

<foo a="b" c="d">bar</foo>

Example 5: Tags mixed with text content

To output text content, set a key to null:

toXML({
  'text1': null,
  foo: 'bar',
  'text2': null
});

Output:

text1<foo>bar</foo>text2

Example 6: Nested tags (with indenting)

const xmlOptions = {
  header: false,
  indent: '  '
};

toXML({
  a: {
    foo: 'bar',
    foo2: 'bar2'
  }
}, xmlOptions);

Output:

<a>
  <foo>bar</foo>
  <foo2>bar2</foo2>
</a>

Example 7: Nested tags with attributes (with indenting)

const xmlOptions = {
  header: false,
  indent: '  '
};

toXML({
  ooo: {
    _name: 'foo',
    _attrs: {
      a: 'b'
    },
    _content: {
      _name: 'bar',
      _attrs: {
        c: 'd'
      }
    }
  }
}, xmlOptions);

Output:

<ooo>
  <foo a="b">
    <bar c="d"/>
  </foo>
</ooo>

Note that cases like this might be especially hard to read because of the deep nesting, so it's recommend you use something like this pattern instead, which breaks it up into more readable pieces:

const bar = {
  _name: 'bar',
  _attrs: {
    c: 'd'
  }
};

const foo = {
  _name: 'foo',
  _attrs: {
    a: 'b'
  },
  _content: bar
};

const xmlOptions = {
  header: false,
  indent: '  '
};

return toXML({
  ooo: foo
},
xmlOptions);

Example 8: Complex functions

Function outputs will be processed (fed back into toXML), meaning that you can output objects that will in turn be converted to XML.

toXML({
  someNestedXML: () => {
    return {
      foo: 'bar'
    }
  }
});

Output:

<someNestedXML><foo>bar</foo></someNestedXML>

Example 9: RSS Feed

const xmlOptions = {
  header: true,
  indent: '  '
};

toXML({
  _name: 'rss',
  _attrs: {
    version: '2.0'
  },
  _content: {
    channel: [
      {
        title: 'RSS Example'
      },
      {
        description: 'Description'},
      {
        link: 'google.com'},
      {
        lastBuildDate: () => new Date()
      },
      {
        pubDate: () => new Date()
      },
      {
        language: 'en'},
      {
        item: {
          title: 'Item title',
          link: 'Item link',
          description: 'Item Description',
          pubDate: () => new Date()
        }
      },
      {
        item: {
          title: 'Item2 title',
          link: 'Item2 link',
          description: 'Item2 Description',
          pubDate: () => new Date()
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}, xmlOptions);

Output:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>RSS Example</title>
    <description>Description</description>
    <link>google.com</link>
    <lastBuildDate>Sat Jul 30 2011 18:14:25 GMT+0900 (JST)</lastBuildDate>
    <pubDate>Sat Jul 30 2011 18:14:25 GMT+0900 (JST)</pubDate>
    <language>en</language>
    <item>
      <title>Item title</title>
      <link>Item link</link>
      <description>Item Description</description>
      <pubDate>Sat Jul 30 2011 18:33:47 GMT+0900 (JST)</pubDate>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Item2 title</title>
      <link>Item2 link</link>
      <description>Item2 Description</description>
      <pubDate>Sat Jul 30 2011 18:33:47 GMT+0900 (JST)</pubDate>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

Example 10: Podcast RSS Feed

(see the Apple docs for more information)

const xmlOptions = {
  header: true,
  indent: '  '
};

toXML({
  _name: 'rss',
  _attrs: {
    'xmlns:itunes': 'http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd',
    version: '2.0'
  },
  _content: {
    channel: [
      {
        title: 'Title'
      },
      {
        link: 'google.com'
      },
      {
        language: 'en-us'
      },
      {
        copyright: 'Copyright 2011'
      },
      {
        'itunes:subtitle': 'Subtitle'
      },
      {
        'itunes:author': 'Author'
      },
      {
        'itunes:summary': 'Summary'
      },
      {
        description: 'Description'
      },
      {
        'itunes:owner': {
          'itunes:name': 'Name',
          'itunes:email': 'Email'
        }
      },
      {
        _name: 'itunes:image',
        _attrs: {
          href: 'image.jpg'
        }
      },
      {
        _name: 'itunes:category',
        _attrs: {
          text: 'Technology'
        },
        _content: {
          _name: 'itunes:category',
          _attrs: {
            text: 'Gadgets'
          } 
        }
      },
      {
        _name: 'itunes:category',
        _attrs: {
          text: 'TV &amp; Film'
        }
      },
      {
        item: [
          {
            title: 'Podcast Title'
          },
          {
            'itunes:author': 'Author'
          },
          {
            'itunes:subtitle': 'Subtitle'
          },
          {
            'itunes:summary': 'Summary'
          },
          {
            'itunes:image': 'image.jpg'
          },
          {
            _name: 'enclosure',
            _attrs: {
              url: 'http://example.com/podcast.m4a',
              length: '8727310',
              type: 'audio/x-m4a'
            }
          },
          {
            guid: 'http://example.com/archive/aae20050615.m4a'
          },
          {
            pubDate: 'Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:00:00 GMT'
          },
          {
            'itunes:duration': '7:04'
          },
          {
            'itunes:keywords': 'salt, pepper, shaker, exciting'
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        item: [
          {
            title: 'Podcast2 Title'
          },
          {
            'itunes:author': 'Author2'
          },
          {
            'itunes:subtitle': 'Subtitle2'
          },
          {
            'itunes:summary': 'Summary2'
          },
          {
            'itunes:image': 'image2.jpg'
          },
          {
            _name: 'enclosure',
            _attrs: {
              url: 'http://example.com/podcast2.m4a',
              length: '655555',
              type: 'audio/x-m4a'
            }
          },
          {
            guid: 'http://example.com/archive/aae2.m4a'
          },
          {
            pubDate: 'Wed, 15 Jul 2011 19:00:00 GMT'
          },
          {
            'itunes:duration': '11:20'
          },
          {
            'itunes:keywords': 'foo, bar'
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}, xmlOptions);

Output:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>Title</title>
    <link>google.com</link>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <copyright>Copyright 2011</copyright>
    <itunes:subtitle>Subtitle</itunes:subtitle>
    <itunes:author>Author</itunes:author>
    <itunes:summary>Summary</itunes:summary>
    <description>Description</description>
    <itunes:owner>
      <itunes:name>Name</itunes:name>
      <itunes:email>Email</itunes:email>
    </itunes:owner>
    <itunes:image href="image.jpg"/>
    <itunes:category text="Technology">
      <itunes:category text="Gadgets"/>
    </itunes:category>
    <itunes:category text="TV &amp; Film"/>
    <item>
      <title>Podcast Title</title>
      <itunes:author>Author</itunes:author>
      <itunes:subtitle>Subtitle</itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:summary>Summary</itunes:summary>
      <itunes:image>image.jpg</itunes:image>
      <enclosure url="http://example.com/podcast.m4a" length="8727310" type="audio/x-m4a"/>
      <guid>http://example.com/archive/aae20050615.m4a</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <itunes:duration>7:04</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:keywords>salt, pepper, shaker, exciting</itunes:keywords>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Podcast2 Title</title>
      <itunes:author>Author2</itunes:author>
      <itunes:subtitle>Subtitle2</itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:summary>Summary2</itunes:summary>
      <itunes:image>image2.jpg</itunes:image>
      <enclosure url="http://example.com/podcast2.m4a" length="655555" type="audio/x-m4a"/>
      <guid>http://example.com/archive/aae2.m4a</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2011 19:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <itunes:duration>11:20</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:keywords>foo, bar</itunes:keywords>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

Example 11: Custom filter for XML entities, or whatever

const xmlOptions = {
  filter: {
    '<': '&lt;', 
    '>': '&gt;',
    '"': '&quot;',
    '\'': '&apos;',
    '&': '&amp;'
  }
};

toXML({
	foo: '<a>',
	bar: '"b"',
	baz: '\'&whee\''
}, xmlOptions);

Output:

<foo>&lt;a&gt;</foo><bar>&quot;b&quot;</bar><baz>&apos;&amp;whee&apos;</baz>

Example 11b: Custom filter for XML attributes

const xmlOptions = {
  attributesFilter: {
    '<': '&lt;', 
    '>': '&gt;',
    '"': '&quot;',
    '\'': '&apos;',
    '&': '&amp;'
  }
};

toXML({
  _name: 'foo',
  _attrs: { a: '<"\'&"foo>' }
}, xmlOptions);

Output:

<foo a="&lt;&quot;&apos;&amp;&quot;foo&gt;"/>

Example 12: Avoiding self-closing tags

If for some reason you want to avoid self-closing tags, you can pass in a special config option _selfCloseTag:

const xmlOptions = {
  _selfCloseTag: false
};

toXML({
  foo: '',
  bar: undefined
}, xmlOptions);

Output:

<foo></foo><bar>whee</bar>

Example 13: Custom XML header

const xmlOptions = {
  header: '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" standalone="yes"?>'
};

toXML({
  foo: 'bar'
}, xmlOptions);

Output:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" standalone="yes"?><foo>bar</foo><foo2>bar2</foo2>

Example 14: Emoji attribute support (needed for AMP)

toXML({
  html: {
    _attrs: {
      '⚡': true
    }
  }
});

Output:

<html ⚡/>

Example 15: Duplicate attribute key support

toXML({
  html: {
    _attrs: [
      {
        lang: 'en'
      },
      {
        lang: 'klingon'
      }
    ]
  }
});

Output:

<html lang="en" lang="klingon"/>

License

MIT

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README.md

README.md

jstoxml

Convert JavaScript objects (and JSON) to XML (for RSS, Podcasts, etc.)

Installation

Changelog

Version 1.4.2

Version 1.3.0

Version 1.2.0

Version 1.1.0

Version 1.0.0

Examples

Example 1: Simple object

Example 2: Simple array (needed for duplicate keys)

Example 3: Simple functions

Example 4: XML tag attributes

Example 5: Tags mixed with text content

Example 6: Nested tags (with indenting)

Example 7: Nested tags with attributes (with indenting)

Example 8: Complex functions

Example 9: RSS Feed

Example 10: Podcast RSS Feed

Example 11: Custom filter for XML entities, or whatever

Example 11b: Custom filter for XML attributes

Example 12: Avoiding self-closing tags

Example 13: Custom XML header

Example 14: Emoji attribute support (needed for AMP)

Example 15: Duplicate attribute key support

License

Files

README.md

Latest commit

History

README.md

File metadata and controls

jstoxml

Convert JavaScript objects (and JSON) to XML (for RSS, Podcasts, etc.)

Installation

Changelog

Version 1.4.2

Version 1.3.0

Version 1.2.0

Version 1.1.0

Version 1.0.0

Examples

Example 1: Simple object

Example 2: Simple array (needed for duplicate keys)

Example 3: Simple functions

Example 4: XML tag attributes

Example 5: Tags mixed with text content

Example 6: Nested tags (with indenting)

Example 7: Nested tags with attributes (with indenting)

Example 8: Complex functions

Example 9: RSS Feed

Example 10: Podcast RSS Feed

Example 11: Custom filter for XML entities, or whatever

Example 11b: Custom filter for XML attributes

Example 12: Avoiding self-closing tags

Example 13: Custom XML header

Example 14: Emoji attribute support (needed for AMP)

Example 15: Duplicate attribute key support

License