ColdFusion XML to Javascript variable

Question

I need to convert XML created by our ColdFusion backend into a specifically formatted Javascript variable for use in the JQWidgets tree (see http://www.jqwidgets.com/community/topic/xml-tree-with-empty-nodes/#post-7215 for background information).

What is the easiest way to iterate through the XML and create the javascript appropriately? Due to the complexity of my XML, I don't think that the ColdFusion ToScript will work, but I'm more than willing to use it.

Example XML data:

    <Role>
        <RoleID>16</RoleID>
        <RoleName>Role C</RoleName>
        <Certifications>
            <Certification>
                <CertificationID>45</CertificationID>
                <CertificationName>Certification 2</CertificationName>
                <Requirements>
                    <Requirement>
                        <RequirementID>678</RequirementID>
                        <RequirementName>Requirement A</Requirement>
                    </Requirement>
                </Requirements>
            </Certification>
        </Certifications>
    </Role>
    <Role>
        <RoleID>16</RoleID>
        <RoleName>Role D</RoleName>
        <Certifications>
            <Certification>
                <CertificationID/>
                <CertificationName/>
            </Certification>
        </Certifications>
    </Role>
</Roles>

Example Javascript variable:

var source = [
    { label: "Role C", expanded: true, items: [
        { label: "Certification 2", items: [
            { label: "Requirement A" } 
        ]},
    ]},
    { icon: "", label: "Role D" }
];

Answer 1

If you don't want to reinvent the wheel, you could use the Xml2Struct project to parse the xml into a struct, then use SerializeJson() to get a Javascript object.

Example:

<cfsavecontent variable="myXml">
<Roles>
    <Role>
        <RoleID>16</RoleID>
        <RoleName>Role C</RoleName>
        <Certifications>
            <Certification>
                <CertificationID>45</CertificationID>
                <CertificationName>Certification 2</CertificationName>
                <Requirements>
                    <Requirement>
                        <RequirementID>678</RequirementID>
                        <RequirementName>Requirement A</RequirementName>
                    </Requirement>
                </Requirements>
            </Certification>
        </Certifications>
    </Role>
    <Role>
        <RoleID>16</RoleID>
        <RoleName>Role D</RoleName>
        <Certifications>
            <Certification>
                <CertificationID/>
                <CertificationName/>
            </Certification>
        </Certifications>
    </Role>
</Roles>
</cfsavecontent>

<cfinvoke component="xml2Struct" method="ConvertXmlToStruct" xmlNode="#myXml#" str="#{}#" returnVariable="result">

<cfdump var="#serializeJson(result)#">

Even if you don't want to use the project, you can view the source for a good example of how to parse xml.