XML to C++ Converter Online

Paste any XML and generate struct declarations using std::string, std::vector, and nested types — compatible with pugixml or rapidxml. Each field carries a comment marking it as XML attribute vs element so wiring up the parser is unambiguous.

Input XML

Generated C++

What is an XML to C++ converter?

An XML to C++ converter takes a real XML document and emits struct declarations with std::string, std::vector, and nested types that mirror the XML element / attribute tree. The OpenFormatter generator inspects every element and attribute, infers C++ types, and produces a complete struct hierarchy ready for pugixml, rapidxml, or libxml2.

XML differs from JSON in two ways your C++ model has to honour. First, XML has attributes on elements (<book id="bk101">) — these are accessed via node.attribute("id").value() in pugixml, not node.child("id"). Second, XML has namespaces; the generator strips them by default. Each generated field carries an inline comment marking attribute vs element so your wiring code is unambiguous.

Sample XML and the C++ struct it generates

Input XML

<book id="bk101" lang="en">
  <title>Effective Modern C++</title>
  <year>2014</year>
  <price currency="USD">39.99</price>
</book>

Generated C++

#include <string>
#include <vector>

struct Price {
    std::string currency; // <- attribute "currency"
    double text;          // <- text content
};

struct Book {
    std::string id;       // <- attribute "id"
    std::string lang;     // <- attribute "lang"
    std::string title;    // <- <title>
    int year;             // <- <year>
    Price price;          // <- <price>
};

Notice id and lang are flagged as XML attributes, while title and year are child elements. The nested <price currency="USD">39.99</price> generates a Price struct with one attribute and one text-content field — exactly what pugixml exposes.

How to convert XML to C++ — 4 steps

Paste your XML. A SOAP envelope body, an RSS feed entry, a build manifest — anything well-formed.
Click Convert. The browser parses the XML and generates C++ structs for the full element tree.
Review attribute comments. Confirm that // <- attribute marks match what you expect; rename fields if your style guide differs.
Wire up pugixml or rapidxml. Copy the structs into your header and populate them with node.attribute().value() + node.child().text().get().

STL Types

Every field uses std::string, std::vector<T>, or a primitive (int, double, bool) — no third-party allocator or ownership wrapper required.

Attribute vs Element

XML attributes and child elements both become struct fields, but each carries an inline comment marking which pugixml accessor populates it.

Client-Side Only

Your XML — including SOAP responses with credentials — is parsed in JavaScript on your machine. Verify in DevTools: zero network requests on Convert.

Common use cases

check_circleGenerate C++ structs from a SOAP service response
check_circleBuild C++ models for an RSS or Atom feed reader
check_circleConvert configuration XML to typed structs in a desktop application
check_circleGenerate C++ types for game engine asset pipelines (COLLADA, scene XML)
check_circleCreate native parsers for legacy enterprise XML in C++ services
check_circleBuild typed structs for SAML or WS-Security XML payloads
check_circleGenerate models for sitemap.xml or robots.xml in a web crawler
check_circleConvert MSBuild .props/.targets XML to typed C++ build descriptors

Why client-side conversion matters

SOAP responses and enterprise XML often contain customer PII, API tokens, internal endpoint names, and database identifiers. Pasting them into a server-hosted converter is a compliance violation in most regulated industries. OpenFormatter parses the XML and generates C++ source entirely in JavaScript on your device — no upload, no logs, no cookies. Open DevTools → Network and confirm no requests fire when you click Convert.

More XML tooling

Validate, format, or convert XML to other languages — every tool runs locally in your browser.

XML Validator XML Formatter All XML Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

What XML library should I use to populate the generated structs?

pugixml is the most common choice for new C++ projects — header-only or static lib, MIT licensed, XPath 1.0 support, and a clean DOM API. rapidxml is faster (fully in-place parsing, zero allocation for the DOM) but only handles well-formed XML and has fewer convenience methods. libxml2 is the GNOME C library with the broadest feature set (XSD, RelaxNG, XPath 2.0) but requires linking C bindings. The generated structs work with all three — they are plain data, not bound to any parser.

Are XML attributes distinguishable in the output?

Yes. Each generated field carries an inline comment marking it as either "<- attribute" or "<- <element>". When you wire up pugixml you call node.attribute("id").value() for the attribute fields and node.child("title").text().get() for the element fields — the comment tells you which path applies.

Why std::string instead of std::string_view?

std::string owns its storage and is safe to keep around after the XML buffer is freed. std::string_view points into the original buffer — fast for read-only scanning but a use-after-free bug if the buffer is freed before the view. The generator picks the safe default; switch to string_view yourself if you control buffer lifetime, e.g. with rapidxml in-place parsing.

How are repeated elements like <tag> represented?

Repeated child elements become a std::vector<T> field on the parent struct, with T inferred from the first occurrence. For pugixml, populate via for (auto t : node.child("tags").children("tag")) tags.push_back({t.text().get()}); — the vector grows naturally as you walk the DOM.

What C++ standard is required?

C++11 is sufficient — std::string and std::vector are pre-C++11. If you want aggregate initialization on every struct (Book b = {"id", "lang", ...};) you need C++17 mandatory copy elision and brace-elision rules to be reliable. C++20 designated initializers (Book b = {.id = "bk101", .title = "..."}) make the generated structs even friendlier to construct manually.

How do I serialize back to XML?

pugixml: build the DOM manually with node.append_attribute("id") = book.id.c_str(); and node.append_child("title").text() = book.title.c_str();. There is no automatic reflection in C++ before C++26, so the round-trip code is hand-written. For Boost.Serialization or cereal you can add a serialize() method to each struct.

Is the XML I paste sent to your servers?

No. XML is parsed by the browser DOMParser and the C++ source is generated entirely in JavaScript on your machine. Open DevTools → Network and you will see no requests when you click Convert. Safe for SOAP responses and configuration files containing API keys or credentials.

Why structs instead of classes with private fields?

XML data classes are pure value containers — encapsulation buys nothing because every field is public-by-purpose. struct (which is just class with public default access in C++) signals "data" instead of "behaviour", matches the conventions of pugixml / Boost.PropertyTree, and supports aggregate initialization out of the box. Add a class wrapper if you need invariants or computed methods.