R xml2 package for XML/HTML parsing. Use for reading, parsing, and manipulating XML and HTML documents.
Scanned 6/5/2026
Install via CLI
Skills Directoryopenskills install LeoLin990405/r-analytics-skill---
name: xml2
description: R xml2 package for XML/HTML parsing. Use for reading, parsing, and manipulating XML and HTML documents.
---
# xml2
Parse and manipulate XML and HTML.
## Reading XML/HTML
```r
library(xml2)
# Read from file
doc <- read_xml("data.xml")
html <- read_html("page.html")
# Read from URL
doc <- read_xml("https://example.com/data.xml")
html <- read_html("https://example.com/page.html")
# Read from string
doc <- read_xml("<root><item>value</item></root>")
html <- read_html("<html><body><p>Hello</p></body></html>")
```
## XPath Queries
```r
# Find nodes
nodes <- xml_find_all(doc, "//item")
node <- xml_find_first(doc, "//item[@id='1']")
# Check if exists
xml_find_lgl(doc, "boolean(//item)")
# Count nodes
xml_find_num(doc, "count(//item)")
# Get text
xml_find_chr(doc, "string(//title)")
```
## Node Information
```r
# Get text content
xml_text(node)
xml_text(nodes)
# Get attribute
xml_attr(node, "id")
xml_attrs(node) # All attributes
# Get name
xml_name(node)
# Get namespace
xml_ns(doc)
```
## Navigation
```r
# Children
xml_children(node)
xml_child(node, 1) # First child
# Parent
xml_parent(node)
# Siblings
xml_siblings(node)
# Root
xml_root(doc)
# Path
xml_path(node)
```
## Modification
```r
# Set text
xml_set_text(node, "new value")
# Set attribute
xml_set_attr(node, "id", "123")
xml_set_attrs(node, c(id = "123", class = "item"))
# Set name
xml_set_name(node, "new_name")
# Add child
xml_add_child(node, "child", "value")
xml_add_child(node, "child", .where = "before")
# Add sibling
xml_add_sibling(node, "sibling", "value")
# Remove node
xml_remove(node)
# Replace node
xml_replace(node, read_xml("<new>content</new>"))
```
## Creating XML
```r
# Create document
doc <- xml_new_document()
root <- xml_add_child(doc, "root")
xml_add_child(root, "item", "value1", id = "1")
xml_add_child(root, "item", "value2", id = "2")
# Create from scratch
doc <- read_xml("<root/>")
xml_add_child(doc, "child", "text")
```
## Namespaces
```r
# Register namespace
ns <- xml_ns(doc)
xml_find_all(doc, "//d1:item", ns)
# Or use local-name()
xml_find_all(doc, "//*[local-name()='item']")
```
## HTML Specific
```r
# Parse HTML (more forgiving)
html <- read_html("<p>Unclosed paragraph")
# CSS selectors (with rvest)
library(rvest)
html %>% html_elements("p.class")
html %>% html_elements("#id")
```
## Writing
```r
# Write to file
write_xml(doc, "output.xml")
# As string
as.character(doc)
xml_serialize(doc, NULL)
```
## Validation
```r
# Validate against schema
xml_validate(doc, read_xml("schema.xsd"))
```
## Large Files
```r
# Stream large XML
callback <- function(node) {
# Process each node
print(xml_text(node))
}
xml_find_all(doc, "//item", callback = callback)
```
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