Classes

xsdata is using python's dataclasses as representation models for document entities. Plugins can extend support for output formats.

Basic Example

@dataclass
class Book:
    title: str
    author: str
    year: int

book = Book(title="The Catcher in the Rye", author="J.D. Salinger", year=1951)
print(serializer.render(book))

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Book>
  <title>The Catcher in the Rye</title>
  <author>J.D. Salinger</author>
  <year>1951</year>
</Book>

Metadata

Additional class metadata are required in order to access some of the more advance features.

`name`

The local name of the XML/JSON element.

>>> @dataclass
... class Root:
...     class Meta:
...         name = "xsdata"
...
>>> print(serializer.render(Root()))
<xsdata/>

Type: str

Default: The class name

`namespace`

The namespace name of the XML element

>>> @dataclass
... class Root:
...     class Meta:
...         namespace = "xsdata"
...
>>> print(serializer.render(Root()))
<ns0:Root xmlns:ns0="xsdata"/>

Type: str | None

Default: None

`nillable`

Specify if the attribute xsi:nil="true" is needed when the class is serialized and it doesn't have any meaningful content.

>>> @dataclass
... class Child:
...     class Meta:
...         nillable = True
...
>>> @dataclass
... class Root:
...     child: Child
...
>>> root = Root(child=Child())
>>> print(serializer.render(root))
<Root>
  <child xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:nil="true"/>
</Root>

Type: bool

Default: False

`target_namespace`

The namespace name, the XML element was defined under. Used during auto-type discovery when the element form is unqualified.

Type: str | None

Default: None

`global_type`

Specify if the class represents an element that can appear in the document root. When false the class can be used only another class dependency, and it's excluded from auto-type discovery.

Type: bool

Default: True

`element_name_generator`

A callable to convert element names when no explicit names are defined.

>>> @dataclass
... class RootType:
...     class Meta:
...         element_name_generator = camel_case
...
>>> print(serializer.render(RootType()))
<rootType/>

Type: Callable[[str], str]

Default: lambda x: x

`attribute_name_generator`

A callable to convert attribute names when no explicit names are defined.

>>> @dataclass
... class Root:
...     who_are_you: str = field(default="xsdata", metadata={"type": "Attribute"})
...     class Meta:
...         attribute_name_generator = camel_case
...
>>> print(serializer.render(Root()))
<Root whoAreYou="xsdata"/>

Type: Callable[[str], str]

Default: lambda x: x