plistlib / xml file / get value except key

[Tecuma]

Hello Community,

I have transformed my bookmarks plist file to an XML file. I try to write a script where I am able to read the XML file, getting the URL information and generate a SQLite3 file with it.

I checked the Python 3 documentation about plistlib. I tried the following

import plistlib

fileName = "Bookmarks_example.xml"
print ("File: ", fileName)
print (" ")

with open(fileName, 'rb') as fp:
    pl = plistlib.load(fp)
print(pl["Children"])

When I try something else except Children I got a key error message

Error:
python3 helper_plist-xml_2.py 
File:  Bookmarks_example.xml
 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/wchris/Python/helper_plist-xml_2.py", line 9, in <module>
    print(pl["string"])
KeyError: 'string'

Is it only possible to access key values?

How can I get the values from <string> so I can get the URL information?

I have add an example XML file

Best regards

--Christian

[ibreeden]

    pl = plistlib.load(fp)

What happens if you do:

  pl = plistlib.load(fp, fmt="FMT_XML")

?

[Tecuma]

When I add this code with fmt I got

Error:
python3 helper_plist-xml_2.py 
File:  Bookmarks_example.xml
 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/wchris/Python/helper_plist-xml_2.py", line 8, in <module>
    pl = plistlib.load(fp, fmt="FMT_XML")
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/plistlib.py", line 872, in load
    P = _FORMATS[fmt]['parser']
KeyError: 'FMT_XML'

[perfringo]

You must understand the structure. Simple test:

import plistlib as pl

with open('Bookmarks_example.xml', 'rb') as f:
    data = pl.load(f)

for i, (key, value) in enumerate(data.items(), start=1):
    print(f'{i}. Key: {key}, value type: {type(value)}')

Which will display:

Output:
1. Key: Children, value type: <class 'list'>

So there is one key which has value of list type. Lets look what types does this list contains:

for i, item in enumerate(data['Children'], start=1):
    print(f'{i}.{type(item)}')

Output:
1.<class 'dict'>
2.<class 'dict'>

So there are two dictionaries in this list. What keys does these dictionaries have:

for i in range(2):
    print(f'{", ".join(data["Children"][i].keys())}')

Output:
Title, WebBookmarkIdentifier, WebBookmarkType, WebBookmarkUUID
Children, Sync, Title, WebBookmarkFileVersion, WebBookmarkType, WebBookmarkUUID

...and so on.

Of course, one can print data outright and try to understand the structure :-).

[Tecuma]

Wow

Thank you very much.

Of course, one can print data outright and try to understand the structure :-).

No. I like your way of analyze such a XML structure.

Is this more a question of experience with Python or "just" a lack of knowledge or both?

I have about 4 years "experience" programming Python. I had no seminars or something similar. Only figure it out myself (try /error and searching in the internet).

..and so on

I have to be honest. I do not understand it completly. Is there a documentation about plist and explanations how to handle it. I am willing to learn and read and test but I need a documentation with explanations.

[perfringo]

There are two options to get help:

- from interactive interpreter
- from plistlib documentation

On interactive interpreter:

>>> import plistlib as pl
>>> pl.                # press two times TAB
pl.BytesIO(               pl.PlistFormat(           pl.enum                   pl.readPlistFromBytes(
pl.Data(                  pl.binascii               pl.itertools              pl.struct
pl.FMT_BINARY             pl.codecs                 pl.load(                  pl.warn(
pl.FMT_XML                pl.contextlib             pl.loads(                 pl.writePlist(
pl.InvalidFileException(  pl.datetime               pl.os                     pl.writePlistToBytes(
pl.PLISTHEADER            pl.dump(                  pl.re
pl.ParserCreate(          pl.dumps(                 pl.readPlist(
>>> help(pl.readPlist)           # help on specific item
Help on function readPlist in module plistlib:

readPlist(pathOrFile)
    Read a .plist from a path or file. pathOrFile should either
    be a file name, or a readable binary file object.

    This function is deprecated, use load instead.

# press Q to quit help

[Tecuma]

Ok. Thank you. I guess I will use a mix of interpreter and the documentation.

One question to #4.

So there are two dictionaries in this list. What keys does these dictionaries have:

Do I understand it correctly that I can use Python dictionary mechanism to continue getting the information I seek?