Python pretty XML printer with lxml

Question

After reading from an existing file with \'ugly\' XML and doing some modifications, pretty printing doesn\'t work. I\'ve tried etree.write(FILE_NAME, pretty_print=True

Answer 1

For me, this issue was not solved until I noticed this little tidbit here:

http://lxml.de/FAQ.html#why-doesn-t-the-pretty-print-option-reformat-my-xml-output

Short version:

Read in the file with this command:

>>> parser = etree.XMLParser(remove_blank_text=True)
>>> tree = etree.parse(filename, parser)

That will "reset" the already existing indentation, allowing the output to generate it's own indentation correctly. Then pretty_print as normal:

>>> tree.write(, pretty_print=True)