Auto-insert data into a DITA XML file

We want to automate the generation of the following DITA file:

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA 1.2 Topic//EN"
        "/usr/share/dita-ot/dtd/technicalContent/dtd/topic.dtd">
<topic id="products-and-versions">
  <title>Products and versions</title>
  <body>
    <p>Dianthus</p>
    <ul>
      <li>1.0</li>
      <li>1.5</li>
      <li>2.3</li>
    </ul>
    <p>Geum</p>
    <ul>
      <li>1.0</li>
      <li>1.5</li>
      <li>2.3</li>
    </ul>
    <p>Prunus</p>
    <ul>
      <li>1.0</li>
      <li>1.5</li>
      <li>2.3</li>
    </ul>
  </body>
</topic>

Install the following programs and libraries:
Terminal window
```
$ sudo apt install libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev python3-lxml
```

Create the following Python script populate-xml.py:

#!/usr/bin/python3
# coding: utf8
from lxml import etree
root = etree.Element('topic')
root.set('id', 'produits-et-versions')

title = etree.SubElement(root, 'title')
title.text = "Produits et versions"

topic = etree.SubElement(root, 'body')

products = ['dianthus', 'geum', 'prunus']
versions = ['1.0', '1.5', '2.3']


for p in products:
    P = str.capitalize(p)
    product = etree.SubElement(topic, 'p')
    product.text = P
    list = etree.SubElement(topic, 'ul')
    for v in versions:
        version = etree.SubElement(list, 'li')
        version.text = v

try:
    with open('modele.dita', 'w') as file:
        file.write('<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "utf-8"?>\n')
        file.write('''<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA 1.2
        Topic//EN"
        "/usr/share/dita-ot/dtd/technicalContent/dtd/topic.dtd">\n''')

        file.write(etree.tostring(root, pretty_print=True).decode('utf-8'))

except IOError:
    print('Erreur d\'écriture')
    exit(1)

Make the script executable, then run it:
Terminal window
```
$ chmod +x populate-xml.py
$ ./populate-xml.py
```
The modele.dita file is created and contains the desired data.

This approach minimizes the risk of errors and reduces the effort involved in updating.

Auto-insert data into a DITA XML file

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