use warnings;
use strict;
use XML::Simple;

my $str = '
<servers>
        <station18>
                <ip>10.0.0.101</ip>
                <ip>10.0.1.101</ip>
                <ip>10.0.0.102</ip>
                <ip>10.0.0.103</ip>
                <ip>10.0.1.103</ip>
        </station18>
        <station19>
                <ip>10.0.0.111</ip>
                <ip>10.0.1.111</ip>
                <ip>10.0.0.112</ip>
                <ip>10.0.0.113</ip>
                <ip>10.0.1.113</ip>
        </station19>
        <station17>
                <ip>10.0.0.121</ip>
                <ip>10.0.1.121</ip>
                <ip>10.0.0.122</ip>
                <ip>10.0.0.123</ip>
                <ip>10.0.1.123</ip>
        </station17>
</servers>
';

my $xml = XMLin($str);
print "$_\n" for @{ $xml->{station17}{ip} };

__END__

10.0.0.121
10.0.1.121
10.0.0.122
10.0.0.123
10.0.1.123
[download]

• perldsc
• Data::Dumper
• perlref

toolic,

I have been using your code and which uses Simple::XML but now I am unable to retrieve the "ip" with the same code:

print "CMD:",@{ $xml->{$server}{ip} },"\n";
[download]

This is printing nothing.

And I have my XML file with server like:

<station19>
                <ip>10.0.1.113</ip>
</station19>
[download]

Anything missing here?

Thanks,
Ashok

Anything missing here?

http://sscce.org

How does this differ from what you want?:

C:\test>junk44
{
  station17 => {
                 ip => [
                         "10.0.0.121",
                         "10.0.1.121",
                         "10.0.0.122",
                         "10.0.0.123",
                         "10.0.1.123",
                       ],
               },
  station18 => {
                 ip => [
                         "10.0.0.101",
                         "10.0.1.101",
                         "10.0.0.102",
                         "10.0.0.103",
                         "10.0.1.103",
                       ],
               },
  station19 => {
                 ip => [
                         "10.0.0.111",
                         "10.0.1.111",
                         "10.0.0.112",
                         "10.0.0.113",
                         "10.0.1.113",
                       ],
               },
}
[download]

The program that produced the above from your sample data in the __DATA__:

#! perl -slw
use strict;
use Data::Dump qw[ pp ];
use XML::Simple;

my $xml = XMLin( \*DATA );
pp $xml;

__DATA__
...
[download]

As always, I strongly recommend against XML::Simple. XML::Simple might seem simple until you end up in a situation where one of your stations has only a single IP address, and you end up with:

 {
   servers => {
     station19 => {ip=>['10.10.10.1','10.10.10.2']},
     station20 => {ip=>['10.10.10.3','10.10.10.4']},
     station21 => {ip=>'10.10.10.5'}, # D'oh!
   }
 }

Notice that $hash->{servers}{station21}{ip} is not an arrayref, whereas the IP list is an arrayref for every other station.

OK, so you can configure XML::Simple to force the IP addresses to always be arrayrefs, but by the time you've thought through every possible permutation of your data, XML::Simple becomes not so simple any more.

Better to use a more powerful XML module, like XML::LibXML, which might seem more complicated to begin with, but is at least consistent.

use XML::LibXML;
my $xml = XML::LibXML->new->parse_fh(\*DATA);
foreach my $station ($xml->findnodes('/servers/*'))
{
    printf("Station: %s\n", $station->tagName);
    
    foreach my $ip ($station->findnodes('./ip'))
    {
        printf("\tIP: %s\n", $ip->textContent);
    }
}
__DATA__
<servers>
         <station18>
                 <ip>10.0.0.101</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.101</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.102</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.103</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.103</ip>
         </station18>
         <station19>
                 <ip>10.0.0.111</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.111</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.112</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.113</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.113</ip>
         </station19>
         <station17>
                 <ip>10.0.0.121</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.121</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.122</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.123</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.123</ip>
         </station17>
         <station20>
                 <!-- no IP addresses -->
         </station20>
         <station21>
                 <!-- just one IP address -->
                 <ip>10.2.1.123</ip>
         </station21>
</servers>
[download]

Sorry, but that is just so much BS. You simply need to add one simple option:

C:\test>junk44
#! perl -slw
use strict;
use Data::Dump qw[ pp ];
use XML::Simple;

my $xml = XMLin( \*DATA, ForceArray => 1 );
pp $xml;

__DATA__
<servers>
         <station18>
                 <ip>10.0.0.101</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.101</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.102</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.103</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.103</ip>
         </station18>
         <station19>
                 <ip>10.0.0.111</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.111</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.112</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.0.113</ip>
                 <ip>10.0.1.113</ip>
         </station19>
         <station17>
                 <ip>10.0.0.121</ip>
         </station17>
 </servers>
[download]

Produces:

{
  station17 => [{ ip => ["10.0.0.121"] }],
  station18 => [
                 {
                   ip => [
                           "10.0.0.101",
                           "10.0.1.101",
                           "10.0.0.102",
                           "10.0.0.103",
                           "10.0.1.103",
                         ],
                 },
               ],
  station19 => [
                 {
                   ip => [
                           "10.0.0.111",
                           "10.0.1.111",
                           "10.0.0.112",
                           "10.0.0.113",
                           "10.0.1.113",
                         ],
                 },
               ],
}
[download]

Which is still far simpler than wasting your time trying to figure out how use those complex monsters.

---

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

The start of some sanity?

I'm have no idea why you call XML::LibXML a monster compared to XML::Simple.

use XML::Simple qw( :strict XMLin );

local $XML::Simple::PREFERRED_PARSER = 'XML::Parser';

my $stations = XMLin( \*DATA, ForceArray => 1, KeyAttr => [] );

for my $station_name (keys %$stations) {
   say $station_name;
   my $station = $stations->{$station_name}[0];
   for my $ip (@{ $station->{ips} // [] }) {
      say "   $ip";
   }
}
[download]

use XML::LibXML qw( );

my $root = XML::LibXML->load_xml( IO => \*DATA )->documentElement;

for my $station ($root->findnodes('*')) {
   say $station->getName;
   for my $ip ($station->findnodes('ip')) {
      say "   ".$ip->textContent;
   }
}
[download]

And that's not even mentioning the fact that XML::LibXML is 20x faster* and able to handle so much more stuff than XML::Simple (including every day stuff).

* — That assumes XML::Parser is used as XML::Simple's backend. XML::LibXML is 10,000x faster than XML::Simple's common default of XML::SAX::PurePerl (which handles encodings really badly).

Update: Fixed an error in XML::Simple code.
Update: Fixed an error in XML::LibXML code. ("IO" was mispelled, and the XPath was wrong.)

You simply need to add one simple option

And that helps you for precisely five minutes until someone adds this to the file:

  <ip assignment="temporary">10.0.0.101</ip>

And then all your code which assumes stations have IP addresses which are arrayrefs of strings breaks again.

open 947833.xml ;
for /servers/* echo name() ;                    # list stations
for /servers/station18/ip echo text();          # list ip's for statio
+n18
$station = 'station17' ;
for /servers/*[name()=$station]/ip echo text(); # list ip's for a stat
+ion given by a string var
[download]