Topic

XML

Older than half the tools that still emit it. Namespaces, XPath and getting rows out of feeds and exports.

XML

Sorting XML Elements for Stable Output and Clean Diffs

Sort XML records by a key with XSLT or lxml so two exports of the same data produce the same file, including numeric keys and nested children.

6 min read

XML

Merging XML Config Files in Git Without Manual Conflicts

Two branches each add a dependency to the same pom.xml and Git reports a conflict. See why, then use the union merge driver and a manual rule that works.

6 min read

XML

Detecting Structure Changes in an XML Feed Over Time

A feed renamed price to cost and the loader kept running with empty columns. A short script compares element path snapshots and reports the change.

6 min read

XML

Pretty Printing XML for Cleaner Git History and Reviews

A one-line XML file turns every change into one giant diff. Two ways to fix it, a textconv diff driver and a formatted file in the repo, with real output.

7 min read

XML

Diffing XML Ignoring Attribute Order and Layout Noise

Make a line diff of two XML files show real changes only, by canonicalizing both sides, then use xmldiff when you need structural edit actions.

6 min read

XML

Canonical XML and Why Your Diffs Need It Before Comparing

Three XML files with the same meaning gave three different checksums. Canonical XML (C14N) fixes attribute order and quoting, but not whitespace.

6 min read

XML

Checking Feed Health With a Daily Script and Clear Alerts

A feed health check that tests the fetch, status, content type, well-formedness, item count and freshness, run on eight scenarios with its output.

6 min read

XML

Dealing With XML Feeds That Break Their Own Schema

A feed with a raw ampersand, a missing id, a bad date, a duplicate id and an extra element: repair what is safe, quarantine the rest, report each reject.

7 min read

XML

Incremental XML Feed Imports by Last Modified and ETag

Fetch a feed only when it changed: ETag and Last-Modified headers, a 304 response, a state table, and what to do when the server ignores them.

6 min read

XML

Handling Compressed XML Downloads Without Surprises

A gzip file, gzip transfer encoding and unlabeled gzip behave differently in requests and urllib. Sniff the bytes, stream 36.6 MB at 21 MB, and guard bombs.

6 min read

XML

Importing Product Feeds for Shopping Platforms With Checks

Check a Merchant-style product feed before loading it: required fields, price format, availability values, GTIN check digits, duplicate ids and links.

6 min read

XML

Calling a SOAP Service From Python With zeep and a WSDL

Call a SOAP service from Python with zeep: load the WSDL, call an operation, get typed results, handle a Fault, see the request envelope,.

7 min read

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