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set or update xml element from cli

bgstack15

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The code:

update_xml_element() {
   # usage: parent="/toplevelobject" element="internalid" value="12341234" infile=./foo.xml _insert_xml_element
   _parent="${parent:-${1}}" ; _parent="${_parent%%/}"
   _element="${element:-${2}}"
   _value="${value:-${3}}"
   _infile="${infile:-${4}}"
   # example: xmlstarlet edit --update "/toplevelobject/internalid" --value "if-updated" --subnode "/toplevelobject[not(internalid)]" --type elem -n "internalid" --value "if-inserted"
   xmlstarlet edit --inplace --update "${_parent}/${_element}" --value "${_value}" --subnode "${_parent}[not(${_element})]" --type elem -n "${_element}" --value "${_value}" "${_infile}"
}

So then you just call this function, and it adds the correct element. I haven't needed to customize attributes of elements yet.

infile=input.xml parent="/episodedetails" element="episodenumber" value="4" update_xml_element

References

  1. xmlstarlet update attribute value if it exists or create a line with the attribute - Stack Overflow
  2. xml - xmlstarlet: create an attribute if it does not exist and edit it otherwise - Stack Overflow

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