CSV to XML Converter — Custom Root/Row Names, Elements or Attributes, Escaped

Real-world use cases

• Feed a CSV export into a SOAP / legacy importer

  Your finance team exports a report as CSV but the downstream system only accepts XML uploads. Paste the CSV, set the root element to the batch wrapper the importer expects (e.g. `Transactions`) and the row element to the record name (`Transaction`), keep child elements so each column is a tagged field, and copy the result into the upload. Because quoted cells with commas survive and every value is escaped, a memo field containing `Q&A` or `<ref>` won't corrupt the document.

• Generate Android string resources from a translation sheet

  Translators hand you a spreadsheet with `name` and `value` columns. Export it to CSV, keep "Columns as" on child elements, and set the row element to `string`. Each record then becomes a `<string>` with `<name>` and `<value>` children you can rename to fit `strings.xml`. Use 4-space indent to match Android Studio's formatting and toggle the declaration on for a proper file header. It's faster than hand-editing the XML for a few hundred strings.

• Convert a product catalog CSV into a compact attribute feed

  You have a flat product list (`sku,title,price,stock`) and the target XML format expects one self-closing element per product with attributes. Switch "Columns as" to Attributes, name the root `catalog` and the row `product`, and you get `<product sku="A1" title="Widget" price="9.99" stock="42"/>` per line. It's compact, diffs cleanly, and attribute escaping keeps titles with quotes or ampersands valid.

• Prototype XML test fixtures from a quick spreadsheet

  You're writing tests against an XML parser and need a handful of sample documents fast. Type the rows into a CSV in your editor, paste here, tweak the root/row names to match the schema under test, and copy the XML into your fixtures folder. Toggle the declaration on or off to match whether the parser expects a prolog. It beats hand-typing nested tags and getting the closing tags wrong.

• Re-shape semicolon-delimited European CSV into XML

  Spreadsheets in many European locales use `;` as the field separator because the comma is the decimal mark. Set the delimiter to Semicolon, and prices like `1.234,56` stay in a single cell instead of splitting. Then convert as usual — the rest of the pipeline (header detection, escaping, element naming) works the same regardless of which delimiter your source used.

Common pitfalls

• Leaving the delimiter on comma when your file is actually semicolon or tab separated. The whole row then lands in one column. Match the Delimiter dropdown to your source (European exports are often `;`, database dumps often Tab) before reading the output.

• Using attribute mode for cells that contain newlines or rely on order. XML attributes are meant for short scalar values and have no guaranteed order; a multiline "description" cell reads badly as an attribute. Keep child elements for free text and reserve attributes for flat, short fields.

• Assuming the header text becomes the tag verbatim. Headers are sanitized to legal XML names — `Order ID` becomes `Order_ID`, `2024` becomes `_2024`, a blank header becomes `col{n}`, and a duplicate gets a numeric suffix. Check the output tags if your schema needs exact names, and rename headers in the source if needed.

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