[FIXED] Python 2.6.6: unable to extract text from direct children of the current element

Issue

I'm following along ElementTree tutorial and I get mostly the same results when working with the sample XML provided there, but I get unexpected results when using my own XML file.

For example, I'm trying to extract text from all XML tags named marketCode. My sample XML file:

<process_config>

    <input name="dataIn">
        <filePattern>
            <marketCode>nyse</marketCode>
            <midfix/>
            <format>csv</format>
        </filePattern>
    </input>

    <input name="brokerIn">
        <filePattern>
            <marketCode>lse</marketCode>
            <midfix>.CBOENL</midfix>
            <format>csv</format>
        </filePattern>
    </input>

</process_config>

I use the following code to extract the data:

import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET, sys, os


my_file = 'test.xml'

tree = ET.parse(my_file)
root = tree.getroot()

for filePattern in root.findall('filePattern'):
    marketCode = filePattern.find('marketCode').text
    
    print(marketCode)

When I run the above code, I get an empty output. The expected output is as such:

nyse
lse

What might be wrong with the code?

Solution

filePattern is not a direct child of the root element.

This works: root.findall('.//filePattern'). This also works: root.findall('input/filePattern').

Answered By - mzjn