How to Change Specific XML Elements with ElementTree in Python: Change DOB Efficiently

Learn how to modify specific XML elements using ElementTree in Python, targeted at changing dates of birth without affecting others.
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Modifying Specific XML Elements Using ElementTree in Python

When working with XML data, it often happens that you need to make specific changes to the elements without altering others. This can be especially tricky when dealing with repeated elements sharing the same tag.

The Problem

Imagine you have an XML structure that includes multiple <date-of-birth> entries, some of which share the same value. For example, your XML may look like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

You want to change only the entries with the date 12-3-1998 to a new date, 14-11-2001, while keeping the others unchanged.

The Solution

Fortunately, Python provides a handy library for working with XML—ElementTree. Here’s how you can achieve this.

Steps to Modify the XML

Load Your XML Data: You can read XML data from a file or use a string representation. For demonstration, we'll use a string.

Search for Matching Tags: Use the findall method to look for all instances of <date-of-birth>, and check each entry's text.

Update the Entries: If the entry meets your criteria (i.e., it equals 12-3-1998), change its text to 14-11-2001.

Output the Modified XML: Finally, print the modified XML structure.

Example Code

Here's the complete code to implement the above steps:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Output

The output of the above code will be:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

Using ElementTree in Python, modifying specific XML elements based on their content can be straightforward and efficient. By following the outlined steps, you can selectively update elements without impacting the entire dataset. This approach is valuable in various applications, from data migration to file parsing in data science projects.

Now, you can implement this technique in your XML processing tasks and modify only what you need!