crack_parser_test.rb

require "rubygems"
require "crack"
xml = <<-XML
<parent_node>
  <content>
    <item attr1="test">this is a string that ruins my life</item>
    <item attr1="i am an attribute and i live nicely in the world of hashes" />
  </content>
</parent_node>
XML

parsed_xml =  Crack::XML.parse(xml)

bad_item =  parsed_xml['parent_node']['content']['item'][0]
good_item = parsed_xml['parent_node']['content']['item'][1]

puts bad_item.class
# String
puts good_item.class
# Hash


puts bad_item.instance_variables
# @attributes

puts bad_item.instance_variable_get('@attributes').class
#Hash

puts bad_item.instance_variable_get('@attributes').to_yaml
# --- 
# attr1: test

puts parsed_xml.to_yaml
# --- 
# parent_node: 
#   content: 
#     item: 
#     - !str 
#       str: this is a string that ruins my life
#       "@attributes": 
#         attr1: test
#     - attr1: i am an attribute and i live nicely in the world of hashes