Adding Hash.from_xml method using Nokogiri (properly handle attributtes and Cdata)

Hash.from_xml using Nokogiri

# USAGE: Hash.from_xml:(YOUR_XML_STRING)
require 'nokogiri'
# modified from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1230741/convert-a-nokogiri-document-to-a-ruby-hash/1231297#1231297

class NokoHash < Hash
  class << self
    def from_xml(xml_io)
      begin
        result = Nokogiri::XML(xml_io)
        return { result.root.name.to_sym => xml_node_to_hash(result.root)}
      rescue Exception => e
        # raise your custom exception here
      end
    end

    def xml_node_to_hash(node) 
      # If we are at the root of the document, start the hash
      if node.element?
        result_hash = {}
        if node.attributes != {}
          result_hash[:attributes] = {}
          node.attributes.each do |key, value|
            result_hash[:attributes][value.name.to_sym] = prepare(value.value)
          end
        end
        if node.children.size > 0
          node.children.each do |child|
            result = xml_node_to_hash(child)
            if child.name == "text"
              unless child.next_sibling || child.previous_sibling
                if !result_hash.empty?
                  result_hash[:value] = prepare(result)
                  return result_hash
                end
                return prepare(result)
              end
            elsif child.name == "#cdata-section"
              if !result_hash.empty?
                result_hash[:value] = prepare(result)
                return result_hash
              end
              return prepare(result)
            elsif result_hash[child.name.to_sym]
              if result_hash[child.name.to_sym].is_a?(Object::Array)
                result_hash[child.name.to_sym] << prepare(result)
              else
                result_hash[child.name.to_sym] = [result_hash[child.name.to_sym]] << prepare(result)
              end
            else 
              result_hash[child.name.to_sym] = prepare(result)
            end
          end

          return result_hash
        else
          return result_hash
        end 
      else 
        return prepare(node.content.to_s) 
      end 
    end

    def prepare(data)
      (data.class == String && data.to_i.to_s == data) ? data.to_i : data
    end
  end
  
  def to_struct(struct_name)
      Struct.new(struct_name,*keys).new(*values)
  end
end