How to Ignore XML Namespaces for Element Location in Python ElementTree?

Ignoring XML Namespaces for Element Location in Python ElementTree

In the ElementTree module, locating specific elements in an XML file can be challenging when encountering namespaces, as illustrated in the example provided. When using the findall method, the inclusion of {http://www.test.com} before each tag becomes inconvenient.

Solution:

Instead of modifying the XML document itself, a more optimal approach involves modifying the tag names after parsing the XML. This allows for the handling of multiple namespaces and namespace aliases.

Here's the modified code using the iterparse function:

<code class="python">from io import StringIO  # for Python 2 import from StringIO instead
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

with open('test.xml', 'r') as f:
    xml = f.read()

it = ET.iterparse(StringIO(xml))
for _, el in it:
    _, _, el.tag = el.tag.rpartition('}')  # strip ns

root = it.root</code>

By setting _, _, el.tag = el.tag.rpartition('}'), the namespace (_{http://www.test.com}) is stripped from the tag name. This allows the subsequent processing of tags without considering their namespaces. Consequently, the findall method:

<code class="python">el1 = root.findall("DEAL_LEVEL/PAID_OFF")</code>

will return the desired <PAID_OFF> element without the namespace prefix.

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