Python lxml Subelement with text value?

Question

Is it possible to somehow create element with default text value? So I would not need to do it like this?

from lxml import etree

root = etree.Element('root')
a = etree.SubElement(root, 'a')
a.text = 'some text' # Avoid this extra step?

I mean you can specify attributes in SubElement, but I don't see a way to specify text in it.

score 15 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 28 '15 at 11:50

15

How about the following?

etree.SubElement(root, "a").text = "some text"

Works only if you do not need to assign the resultant element to a variable.

answered Oct 28 '15 at 11:50

Vijay Kumar

161
4

1

As matter of fact, I do need to assign to variable, because it is used as parent for another elements – Andrius Oct 28 '15 at 12:09
would be ideal if `.text` returned self, but alas not, probs for he best. – Edward Dec 10 '19 at 14:58

Sharon Dwilif K · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-28T17:07:54.593

10

I don't think there is a builtin way to do that, but if you find yourself doing that many times, it may be better to write a function that encapsulates creating the sub element and setting the text. Example -

def create_SubElement(_parent,_tag,attrib={},_text=None,nsmap=None,**_extra):
    result = etree.SubElement(_parent,_tag,attrib,nsmap,**_extra)
    result.text = _text
    return result

And then create your element as -

a = create_SubElement(root,'a',_text="Some text")

Please note, with this you would not be able to create attribute with name _text using keyword arguments, you would need to use attrib keyword argument for that.

edited Oct 28 '15 at 17:07

answered Oct 28 '15 at 09:28

Sharon Dwilif K

1,218
9
17

Hm, I thought this was a solution, but trying it I get this error: `global name 'text' is not defined` – Andrius Oct 28 '15 at 09:47
Oh, I think it was a typo in your code. it should bee `result.text = _text` – Andrius Oct 28 '15 at 09:48
What's with those leading underscores for some of the arguments and why are you ignoring the arguments `attrib` and `nsmap`? – BlackJack Oct 28 '15 at 15:51
@BlackJack Sorry, i wrongly copied that from the `help(etree.SubElement)` . I have fixed it now. – Sharon Dwilif K Oct 28 '15 at 17:09

Python lxml Subelement with text value?

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