xmldict.py

from xml.etree import ElementTree
import string


def parse(xml):
    root = ElementTree.fromstring(xml)
    return root.tag, tree_to_dict(root)


def tree_to_dict(element, parents=None):
    if parents is None:
        parents = []
    else:
        parents = list(parents)

    parents.append(element.tag)
    prefix = '_'.join(parents[1:])

    # sanitize attribute keys
    d = dict([('{}_{}'.format(prefix, ''.join([c if c in string.ascii_letters else '_' for c in k])), v) for k,v in element.attrib.items()])
    text = element.text.strip()
    if text:
        d[prefix] = text
    for child in element:
        d.update(tree_to_dict(child, parents))
    return d