html to xml

HTML is a commonly used language in web development. It is used to define the structure and content of web pages. In contrast, XML is a more general markup language that can be used to store and transmit various types of data, including text, numbers, images, and audio.

In some cases, we may need to convert HTML documents to XML format. This helps us process the data more easily and use it for other purposes, such as data analysis and application development. Here are some tips and tools on how to convert HTML to XML.

Tip 1: Transform using XSLT

XSLT is an XML-based transformation language that allows us to transform an XML document into another XML document based on a set of rules. Therefore, we can use XSLT to convert HTML to XML. Specifically, we can write an XSLT stylesheet that describes how to map HTML elements to XML elements.

For example, suppose we have a simple HTML document:

<code>

  
    <title>My title</title>
  
  
    <p>This is a paragraph.</p>
    <ul>
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
      <li>Item 3</li>
    </ul>
  
</code>

We can write the following XSLT stylesheet:

<code><stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

  <output method="xml" indent="yes"></output>

  <template match="/">
    
      
        <title><value-of select="html/head/title"></value-of></title>
      
      
        <apply-templates select="html/body/*"></apply-templates>
      
    
  </template>

  <template match="p">
    <p><value-of select="."></value-of></p>
  </template>

  <template match="ul">
    <ul>
      <apply-templates select="li"></apply-templates>
    </ul>
  </template>

  <template match="li">
    <li><value-of select="."></value-of></li>
  </template>

</stylesheet></code>

This stylesheet combines the HTML headers, paragraphs, and lists Converted to XML format, the following results are obtained:

<code><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

  
    <title>My title</title>
  
  
    <p>This is a paragraph.</p>
    <ul>
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
      <li>Item 3</li>
    </ul>
  
</code>

It can be seen that the converted XML document has the same structure and content as the original HTML document.

Tip 2: Use online tools

If you don’t want to write an XSLT stylesheet, you can use online tools to convert HTML to XML. Some of these tools include:

• FreeFormatter HTML to XML Converter: This is a free online tool that can convert HTML to XML. It supports pasting HTML code directly into the input box and generates XML code.
• Converter Tools HTML to XML Converter: This is another free online tool that can convert HTML to XML. It has a similar functionality where you can paste HTML code into the input box and generate XML code.

These online tools can help us quickly convert HTML to XML and support embedding into other applications using code.

Tip 3: Use open source software

In addition to XSLT and online tools, you can also use open source software to convert HTML to XML. Some of these tools include:

• Beautiful Soup: This is a parsing library written in Python that can extract data from HTML and XML files. It can automatically convert irregular HTML into standardized XML, making data processing easier.
• Html2Xml: This is an application written in C that can generate XML from HTML files. It supports converting multiple HTML files and can be used via a command line interface.

These open source software can help us convert HTML to XML and provide customization options to meet specific needs.

Summary

HTML and XML both play important roles in web development and data processing. When we need to convert HTML to XML, we can use XSLT stylesheets, online tools, or open source software. Either way, it helps us process data more easily to meet various needs.

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