XMLJSONFormate

XMLJSONFormate is a data interchange representation that blends XML's hierarchical structure with JSON's lightweight syntax. It is not an official standard but a design concept used by some organizations to bridge XML-based systems and JSON-based clients.

In XMLJSONFormate, an XML document is represented as a JSON object. Each XML element becomes a JSON property with the element name as the key. Attributes are represented as properties whose names begin with an at-sign (@), while the element's textual content is stored in a special property named #text. If a tag occurs multiple times, its entry becomes an array of objects under that tag. Namespaces can be captured in a separate #ns field or included within the attribute map. Example: the XML snippet <person id="123"><name>John</name><email>[email protected]</email></person> might be represented as {"person": {"@id": "123", "name": {"#text": "John"}, "email": {"#text": "[email protected]"}}}.

Parsing and conversion: Libraries exist in several languages to convert between XML and XMLJSONFormate, or to stream-transform data without a full parse. The format is easy to read and debug for developers familiar with JSON, but it can blur XML's nuanced features such as mixed content, ordering of sibling nodes, and namespace semantics.

Use cases and status: It is often used in data integration, API gateways, or client applications that must consume XML services through a JSON-centric frontend. There is no official specification, so adoption tends to be project-specific, with trade-offs between preserving XML characteristics and adopting JSON tooling.

See also: JSON, XML, XML-to-JSON mappings, data interchange formats.