Class XmlService

  • The XmlService allows scripts to parse, navigate, and programmatically create XML documents.

  • It provides methods to create various XML nodes such as CDATA, Comments, DocTypes, Elements, and Text.

  • You can create empty XML documents or documents with a specified root element.

  • The service offers different formatting options (Compact, Pretty, Raw) for outputting XML documents.

  • You can parse existing XML strings into a Document object for manipulation.
XmlService

This service allows scripts to parse, navigate, and programmatically create XML documents. 

// Log the title and labels for the first page of blog posts on the
// Google Workspace Developer blog.
function parseXml() {
  const url = 'https://gsuite-developers.googleblog.com/atom.xml';
  const xml = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url).getContentText();
  const document = XmlService.parse(xml);
  const root = document.getRootElement();
  const atom = XmlService.getNamespace('http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom');

  const entries = root.getChildren('entry', atom);
  for (let i = 0; i < entries.length; i++) {
    const title = entries[i].getChild('title', atom).getText();
    const categoryElements = entries[i].getChildren('category', atom);
    const labels = [];
    for (let j = 0; j < categoryElements.length; j++) {
      labels.push(categoryElements[j].getAttribute('term').getValue());
    }
    Logger.log('%s (%s)', title, labels.join(', '));
  }
}

// Create and log an XML representation of the threads in your Gmail inbox.
function createXml() {
  const root = XmlService.createElement('threads');
  const threads = GmailApp.getInboxThreads();
  for (let i = 0; i < threads.length; i++) {
    const child =
        XmlService.createElement('thread')
            .setAttribute('messageCount', threads[i].getMessageCount())
            .setAttribute('isUnread', threads[i].isUnread())
            .setText(threads[i].getFirstMessageSubject());
    root.addContent(child);
  }
  const document = XmlService.createDocument(root);
  const xml = XmlService.getPrettyFormat().format(document);
  Logger.log(xml);
}

Properties

PropertyTypeDescription
ContentTypesContentTypeAn enumeration representing the types of XML content nodes.

Methods

MethodReturn typeBrief description
createCdata(text)CdataCreates an unattached CDATASection node with the given value.
createComment(text)CommentCreates an unattached Comment node with the given value.
createDocType(elementName)DocTypeCreates an unattached DocumentType node for the root Element node with the given name.
createDocType(elementName, systemId)DocTypeCreates an unattached DocumentType node for the root Element node with the given name, and the given system ID for the external subset data.
createDocType(elementName, publicId, systemId)DocTypeCreates an unattached DocumentType node for the root Element node with the given name, and the given public ID and system ID for the external subset data.
createDocument()DocumentCreates an empty XML document.
createDocument(rootElement)DocumentCreates an XML document with the given root Element node.
createElement(name)ElementCreates an unattached Element node with the given local name and no namespace.
createElement(name, namespace)ElementCreates an unattached Element node with the given local name and namespace.
createText(text)TextCreates an unattached Text node with the given value.
getCompactFormat()FormatCreates a Format object for outputting a compact XML document.
getNamespace(uri)NamespaceCreates a Namespace with the given URI.
getNamespace(prefix, uri)NamespaceCreates a Namespace with the given prefix and URI.
getNoNamespace()NamespaceCreates a Namespace that represents the absence of a real namespace.
getPrettyFormat()FormatCreates a Format object for outputting a human-readable XML document.
getRawFormat()FormatCreates a Format object for outputting a raw XML document.
getXmlNamespace()NamespaceCreates a Namespace with the standard xml prefix.
parse(xml)DocumentCreates an Document from the given XML, without validating the XML.

Detailed documentation

createCdata(text)

Creates an unattached CDATASection node with the given value.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
textStringThe value to set.

Return

Cdata — The newly created CDATASection node.

createComment(text)

Creates an unattached Comment node with the given value.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
textStringThe value to set.

Return

Comment — The newly created Comment node.

createDocType(elementName)

Creates an unattached DocumentType node for the root Element node with the given name.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
elementNameStringThe name of the root Element node to specify in the DocType declaration.

Return

DocType — The newly created DocumentType node.

createDocType(elementName, systemId)

Creates an unattached DocumentType node for the root Element node with the given name, and the given system ID for the external subset data.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
elementNameStringThe name of the root Element node to specify in the DocType declaration.
systemIdStringThe system ID of the external subset data to set.

Return

DocType — The newly created DocumentType node.

createDocType(elementName, publicId, systemId)

Creates an unattached DocumentType node for the root Element node with the given name, and the given public ID and system ID for the external subset data.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
elementNameStringThe name of the root Element node to specify in the DocType declaration.
publicIdStringThe public ID of the external subset data to set.
systemIdStringThe system ID of the external subset data to set.

Return

DocType — The newly created DocumentType node.

createDocument()

Creates an empty XML document.

Return

Document — The newly created document.

createDocument(rootElement)

Creates an XML document with the given root Element node.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
rootElementElementThe root Element node to set.

Return

Document — The newly created document.

createElement(name)

Creates an unattached Element node with the given local name and no namespace.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
nameStringThe local name to set.

Return

Element — The newly created Element node.

createElement(name, namespace)

Creates an unattached Element node with the given local name and namespace.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
nameStringThe local name to set.
namespaceNamespaceThe namespace to set.

Return

Element — The newly created Element node.

createText(text)

Creates an unattached Text node with the given value.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
textStringThe value to set.

Return

Text — The newly created Text node.

getCompactFormat()

Creates a Format object for outputting a compact XML document. The formatter defaults to UTF-8 encoding, no indentation, and no additional line breaks, but includes the XML declaration and its encoding. 

// Log an XML document in compact form.
const xml = '<root><a><b>Text!</b><b>More text!</b></a></root>';
const document = XmlService.parse(xml);
const output = XmlService.getCompactFormat().format(document);
Logger.log(output);

Return

Format — The newly created formatter.

getNamespace(uri)

Creates a Namespace with the given URI.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
uriStringThe URI for the namespace.

Return

Namespace — The newly created namespace.

getNamespace(prefix, uri)

Creates a Namespace with the given prefix and URI.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
prefixStringThe prefix for the namespace.
uriStringThe URI for the namespace.

Return

Namespace — The newly created namespace.

getNoNamespace()

Creates a Namespace that represents the absence of a real namespace.

Return

Namespace — The newly created namespace.

getPrettyFormat()

Creates a Format object for outputting a human-readable XML document. The formatter defaults to UTF-8 encoding, two-space indentation, \r\n line separators after every node, and includes the XML declaration and its encoding. 

// Log an XML document in human-readable form.
const xml = '<root><a><b>Text!</b><b>More text!</b></a></root>';
const document = XmlService.parse(xml);
const output = XmlService.getPrettyFormat().format(document);
Logger.log(output);

Return

Format — The newly created formatter.

getRawFormat()

Creates a Format object for outputting a raw XML document. The formatter defaults to UTF-8 encoding, no indentation and no line breaks other than those provided in the XML document itself, and includes the XML declaration and its encoding. 

// Log an XML document in raw form.
const xml = '<root><a><b>Text!</b><b>More text!</b></a></root>';
const document = XmlService.parse(xml);
const output = XmlService.getRawFormat().format(document);
Logger.log(output);

Return

Format — The newly created formatter.

getXmlNamespace()

Creates a Namespace with the standard xml prefix.

Return

Namespace — The newly created namespace.

parse(xml)

Creates an Document from the given XML, without validating the XML. 

const xml = '<root><a><b>Text!</b><b>More text!</b></a></root>';
const doc = XmlService.parse(xml);

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
xmlStringThe XML to parse.

Return

Document — The newly created document.