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POParsing Mac XML PList into something readable
 

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    <p>I am trying to pull data from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML" rel="nofollow noreferrer">XML</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_list" rel="nofollow noreferrer">PList</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Information" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Apple System Profiler</a>) files, and read it into a memory database, and finally I want to turn it into something human-readable. </p> <p>The problem is that the format seems to be very difficult to read in a consistent manner. I have gone over a few solutions already, but I haven't found a solution yet that I found satisfying. I always end up having to hard code a lot of values, and end up having to many <code>if-else/switch statements</code>. </p> <p><strong>The format looks like this.</strong> </p> <pre><code>&lt;plist&gt; &lt;key&gt;_system&lt;/key&gt; &lt;array&gt; &lt;dict&gt; &lt;key&gt;_cpu_type&lt;/key&gt; &lt;string&gt;Intel Core Duo&lt;/string&gt; &lt;/dict&gt; &lt;/array&gt; &lt;/plist&gt; </code></pre> <p>Example file <a href="http://pastebin.com/X9Z0KGdH" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.</p> <p>After I have read (or during reading), I make use of an internal dictionary that I use to determine what type of information it is. For example, if the key is <code>cpu_type</code> I save the information accordingly. </p> <hr> <p>A few examples that I have tried (<code>simplified</code>) to pull the information. </p> <pre><code> XmlTextReader reader = new XmlTextReader("C:\\test.spx"); reader.XmlResolver = null; reader.ReadStartElement("plist"); String key = String.Empty; String str = String.Empty; Int32 Index = 0; while (reader.Read()) { if (reader.LocalName == "key") { Index++; key = reader.ReadString(); } else if (reader.LocalName == "string") { str = reader.ReadString(); if (key != String.Empty) { dct.Add(Index, new KeyPair(key, str)); key = String.Empty; } } } </code></pre> <p>Or something like this.</p> <pre><code>foreach (var d in xdoc.Root.Elements("plist")) dict.Add(d.Element("key").Value,&gt; d.Element("string").Value); </code></pre> <p>I found a framework, that I may be able to modify <a href="http://code.google.com/p/iphone-plist-net/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.</p> <hr> <p><strong>Some more useful information</strong></p> <p>Mac OS X Information on the system profiler <a href="http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/system_profiler.8.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.</p> <p>Apple script used to parse the XML-files <a href="http://macscripter.net/viewtopic.php?id=19190" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.</p> <hr> <p>Any advise or insight into this would be deeply appreciated.</p>
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    1. COWhat do you mean by "something readable"? What are you trying to accomplish? Just stuffing everything into a flat dictionary won't be of much use because the keys aren't unique within the file; their position within the tree actually conveys information, too.
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    2. COIs it a key/value list from the level array/dict/array/dict that you are looking for? Or do you want every combination. It seems to me that there are several key/value patterns in the xml and that some of the have a further key/value to represent their value. Could you please provide information as to what *exactly* you are looking for in the XML
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    3. COI am handling this by saving data with information on the section it was parsed from. For example `cpu_type` would be found in the `dataType`/section `SPHardwareDataType`. I am trying to make the file readable on Windows PCs, so the end-goal is to have all available information converted to something that can be read by the user.
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