XML to JSON Converter

How XML maps to JSON

Each element becomes a key named after its tag. An element that contains only text becomes a plain value; one with child elements becomes an object. When the same element appears more than once under one parent, its values are collected into an array in document order. An element that appears once stays a single value, not an array of one. That is the most common surprise in XML-to-JSON code: a feed with one <item> gives an object, while the same feed with two gives an array. Handle both shapes when you read the result.

Attributes

Attributes go into the element's object with a prefix in front of their names, @_ by default, so they can never clash with a child element of the same name. Set the prefix to @ to match other tools, or clear it for plain names if you know there are no clashes. Tick Drop attributes to ignore them entirely, which gives simpler JSON when attributes only hold formatting or IDs you do not need.

When an element has attributes and text, as in <price currency="USD">9.99</price>, the text goes under a #text key next to the attributes.

Numbers, booleans and text

XML has no types, so everything is text until you decide otherwise. With Parse numbers and booleans on, text and attribute values that look like decimal numbers become numbers and true and false become booleans. Values with leading zeros, such as ISBNs, ZIP codes and phone numbers, stay strings so no digits are lost, and hexadecimal-looking values are not converted. Turn the option off to keep every value as a string. Whitespace around text is trimmed, and CDATA sections are merged into the element's text.

Well-formedness check

Before converting, the XML is checked for structural errors: tags that do not match or are never closed, unquoted or repeated attributes, and text outside the root element. The error names the problem and gives its line and column, which are highlighted in the input. The check is for well-formedness only. The document is not validated against a DTD or XSD schema, and the XML declaration, processing instructions and comments are left out of the JSON.

Typical inputs

RSS and Atom feeds, SOAP responses, sitemap files, Android resource files, SVG images and configuration exports all convert the same way. Namespace prefixes are kept as part of the name, so a SOAP body appears under soap:Envelope. To shape the result further, send it to the JSON formatter or JSON to TypeScript.