How Do I Display XML Data in Real Time Format?

There is an XML file on a video game website. This file shows the names of all the servers and who is currently playing, along with the name of the map they're playing. Some members of the game's Discord server took the info from that XML file and made a Discord bot that displays that info as an easy-to-read and up-to-date table.

Is there a way that I can take the info from that XML file and create a script that will display a similar up-to-date table in my web browser? Or is there another way to display that data somehow? I don't want to have to join the Discord server to see that info in real time.

I'm not sure, but I think they said they used python. I don't know anything about programming. I just know some basic HTML and that's it.

Are you able to read the XML file without joining the Discord server? When I say read, I mean can you do anything with it; can you look at it in any way. You must be able to do that.

The next problem is knowing when the data changes. Unless there is something you are not telling us or do not know about, the only thing you can do is to periodically poll (read; copy) the file, then process it. Reading a XML file is often called deserializing it. How you deserialize depends on the language you are using.

I've heard python has a lot of libraries to read things from webpages and other online sources

I almost mentioned Python in my reply but I decided it was getting too detailed. Python has extensive support of website scraping but as best as I remember, Python is the worst for reading XML. Well actually it depends on the library. There are at least four choices, I assume because developers considered the first couple to be insufficient.

If blub is ready for technical details then they can provide more details of where they want to go.

Something I did not mention previously is that there might be an API or service for developers to use to access the data. It is unlikely for this but it would be the right choice if it is available.

The answer to the question of whether the XML file can be accessed is critical to the determination of how to proceed.

Edited by SamHobbs, 01 September 2022 - 06:54 PM.