How do I convert a Ruby hash to XML?

hash, ruby, ruby-on-rails, xml

Solution

ActiveSupport adds a `to_xml` method to Hash, so you can get pretty close to what you are looking for with this:

sudo gem install activesupport

require "active_support/core_ext"

my_hash = { :first_name => 'Joe', :last_name => 'Blow', :email => 'joe@example.com'}
my_hash.to_xml(:root => 'customer')

And end up with:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<customer>  
   <last-name>Blow</last-name>  
   <first-name>Joe</first-name>  
   <email>joe@example.com</email>
</customer>

Note that the underscores are converted to dashes.

Problem

Here is the specific XML I ultimately need: ``` <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <customer> <email>joe@example.com</email> <first_name>Joe</first_name> <last_name>Blow</last_name> </customer> ``` But say I have a controller (Ruby on Rails) that is sending the data to a method. I'd prefer to send it as a hash, like so: ``` :first_name => 'Joe', :last_name => 'Blow', :email => 'joe@example.com' ``` So, how can I convert the hash to that XML format?

Original source