Issue 33561: Add .tostring() method to xml.etree.ElementTree.Element (original) (raw)

Created on 2018-05-17 17:13 by stevoisiak, last changed 2022-04-11 14:59 by admin. This issue is now closed.

Messages (4)
msg316966 - (view) Author: Steven Vascellaro (stevoisiak) * Date: 2018-05-17 17:13
In Python 3.6, converting an xml `xml.etree.ElementTree.Element` to a string is done using `xml.etree.ElementTree.tostring()`. ``` from xml.etree import ElementTree xml = ElementTree.Element('Person', Name='John') print(ElementTree.tostring(xml, encoding='unicode', method='xml') # Output: ``` I would like to propose adding a `tostring()` function to the `Element` class, so that `ElementTree.tostring(xml)` could be replaced with the more intuitive `xml.tostring()`. ``` from xml.etree import ElementTree xml = ElementTree.Element('Person', Name='John') print(xml.tostring(encoding='unicode', method='xml')) # Output: ``` Benefits: - Doesn't require importing `xml.etree.ElementTree` - Allows writing more concise code - Makes `tostring` part of the `Element` class - Maintains backwards compatibility
msg316969 - (view) Author: Steven Vascellaro (stevoisiak) * Date: 2018-05-17 17:45
Alternatively, the most intuitive solution would be to give `Element` an explicit `__str__` method. The current behavior of `str(Element)` is to return the object's location in memory. ``` from xml.etree import ElementTree xml = ElementTree.Element('Person', Name='John') print(str(xml)) # Output: <Element 'Person' at 0x028575D0> ``` Unfortunately, changing this behavior could cause issues with backwards compatibility.
msg316975 - (view) Author: Stefan Behnel (scoder) * (Python committer) Date: 2018-05-17 18:43
Sorry, but you are proposing an API extension here that provides no benefits but duplicates existing functionality in a less versatile place. This is not going to happen. The second proposal (str(xml)) is actually not very helpful as it does not allow any kind of configuration, so it breaks backwards compatibility without benefit. Also not going to happen.
msg377073 - (view) Author: Irit Katriel (iritkatriel) * (Python committer) Date: 2020-09-17 23:14
Should this issue be closed as 'rejected', or is there anything left to do?
History
Date User Action Args
2022-04-11 14:59:00 admin set github: 77742
2020-09-18 07:08:25 serhiy.storchaka set status: open -> closednosy: + serhiy.storchakaresolution: rejectedstage: resolved
2020-09-17 23:14:18 iritkatriel set nosy: + iritkatrielmessages: +
2018-05-17 18:43:21 scoder set nosy: + scodermessages: +
2018-05-17 17:45:56 stevoisiak set messages: +
2018-05-17 17:13:45 stevoisiak create