Convert XML (mixed nodes and attributes) to CSV file

Shiji Pan

2 years ago

I see a post Convert xml (mixed nodes and attributes) to csv file using c#, the poster has an XML which has mix of nodes and nodes with attributes:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Root> 
  <StudentRequestList count="3">
    <StudentRequest>
        <StudentFirstName>Test1</StudentFirstName>
        <StudentLastName>TestLastName</StudentLastName>
        <StudentGrade>3</StudentGrade>
        <StudentHomeroomTeacher>WhiteTest1</StudentHomeroomTeacher>
        <VariableData>
            <Variable name="Email">test@email.com</Variable>
            <Variable name="Hobby1">TestHobby1</Variable>
            <Variable name="Hobby2">TestHobby2</Variable>
            <Variable name="Hobby3">TestHobby3</Variable>
            <Variable name="satscore">satscoreTest1</Variable>
            <Variable name="kprepscore">krepscore1</Variable>           
        </VariableData>
    </StudentRequest>
        <StudentRequest>
        <StudentFirstName>Test2</StudentFirstName>
        <StudentLastName>TestLastName2</StudentLastName>
        <StudentGrade>3</StudentGrade>
        <StudentHomeroomTeacher>WhiteTest1</StudentHomeroomTeacher>
        <VariableData>
            <Variable name="Email">test2@email.com</Variable>
            <Variable name="Hobby5">TestHobby5</Variable>
            <Variable name="Hobby6">TestHobby6</Variable>
            <Variable name="Hobby3">TestHobby3</Variable>
            <Variable name="satscore">satscoreTest2</Variable>
            <Variable name="kprepscore">krepscore2</Variable>           
        </VariableData>
    </StudentRequest>
        <StudentRequest>
        <StudentFirstName>Test1</StudentFirstName>
        <StudentLastName>TestLastName</StudentLastName>
        <StudentGrade>3</StudentGrade>
        <StudentHomeroomTeacher>WhiteTest1</StudentHomeroomTeacher>
        <VariableData>
            <Variable name="Email">test@email.com</Variable>
            <Variable name="Hobby4">TestHobby4</Variable>
            <Variable name="Hobby2">TestHobby2</Variable>
            <Variable name="Hobby3">TestHobby3</Variable>
            <Variable name="satscore">satscoreTest3</Variable>
            <Variable name="kprepscore">krepscore3</Variable>           
        </VariableData>
    </StudentRequest>
  </StudentRequestList>
</Root>

CSV is supposed to look like:

StudentFirstName,StudentLastName,StudentGrade,StudentHomeroomTeacher,Email, Hobby1, Hobby2,Hobby3, Hobby4, Hobby5, Hobby6, satscore, kprepscore     
Test1,TestLastName,3,WhiteTest1,test@email.com,TestHobby1,TestHobby2,TestHobby3,,,,satscoreTest1,krepscore1 
Test2,TestLastName2,3,WhiteTest1,test2@email.com,,,Hobby3,,Hobby5,Hobby6,satscoreTest2,krepscore2
Test1,TestLastName,3,WhiteTest1,test@email.com,,Hobby2,Hobby3,Hobby4,,,satscoreTest3,krepscore3

I think Data File Converter can do this, need to coding, so I tried, yes, it can, in a minute.

1. Open XML file in DataFileConverter, set XML options.

2. Set XML custom columns.

3. Set CSV options.

4. “Next” and “Next”, convert, get output CSV file.

XML → CSV reference

Type mapping

Value kind	in XML	in CSV
Int	`<int>1234</int>`	`1234`
Bigint	`<bigint>9007199254740993</bigint>`	`9007199254740993`
Decimal	`<decimal>1234.56</decimal>`	`1234.56`
Float	`<float>1.234e10</float>`	`1.234e+10`
Text	`<char>text</char>`	`quoted only when it contains a comma or a quote`
Long text	`<text>multi-line text</text> (entities for & <)`	`must be quoted; line breaks inside force multi-line records`
Date	`<date>2026-09-18</date> (xs:date with an XSD)`	`2026-09-18`
Datetime	`<datetime>2026-09-18T14:30:00Z</datetime> (xs:dateTime)`	`2026-09-18 14:30:00`
Binary	`<blob>base64...</blob> (xs:base64Binary)`	`not representable - base64 or hex string`
Boolean	`<bool>true</bool>`	`TRUE / FALSE, or 1 / 0 depending on the writer`
JSON	`escaped inside an element, or its own sub-tree`	`the whole JSON value quoted, with internal quotes doubled`

Dialect differences

Both XML and CSV are file formats, so what differs below is how each one chooses to represent a value.

Property	in XML	in CSV
identifiers	`Attribute values in quotes; entities (& < >) for ...`	`Double quotes; a literal quote is doubled ("" )`
dates	`Text (xs:date / xs:dateTime when an XSD is in play)`	`Conventional text: 2026-09-18 or 2026-09-18 14:30:00`
binary	`base64Binary / hexBinary inside text`	`Not supported`
separator	`Tags, not delimiters`	`Comma ","`
encoding	`Declared in the XML declaration`	`No declaration - UTF-8 works only with a BOM`
typing	`None in the markup itself`	`None - every field is text`
shape	`Arbitrary tree`	`Flat table, optional header row`
ceiling	`Whole document is usually parsed into memory`	`No formal limit; row count bounded by memory`

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