# Builder gem - xml attributes ordering **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [June 7, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/builder-gem-xml-attributes-ordering/106225 "2007-06-07T18:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/arunprabu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/builder-gem-xml-attributes-ordering/106225/1 "2007-06-07T18:14:13Z")
Hi, I am currently developing a xml service using Ruby on rails with builder gem. Builder is a great tool to create xml easily. But the only and important issue I am facing is - unable to set the order inwhich the attributes to be displayed in the xml. Whatever order I give the attributes of an element, Builder creates the attributes in a totally different order. Request someone’s help to overcome this issue. Please specify even if there is another method to create this service which return xml instead of html using REST instead of Builder. Thanks in advance Arun ---
**Author:** ![arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/arunprabu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/builder-gem-xml-attributes-ordering/106225/2 "2007-06-07T18:47:01Z")
On 6/7/07, Arunprabu D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I am … unable to set the order in which the > attributes to be displayed in the xml. Why do you think the attributes for an element _should_ appear in any particular order? ---
**Author:** ![arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/arunprabu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/builder-gem-xml-attributes-ordering/106225/3 "2007-06-07T19:08:20Z")
Lyle J. wrote: > On 6/7/07, Arunprabu D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > I am … unable to set the order in which the > > attributes to be displayed in the xml. > > Why do you think the attributes for an element _should_ appear in any > particular order? Hi Johnson, The service We are developing is going to be used by and application and persons. That is the service will be called from another application for getting the data. In this case, the ordering is not a necessary thing. But in case of reading the xml manually in a browser, it is easy to read the data if it comes in a specified order. Because, there are 5 to 10 attributes to each elements in our xml. And it is tough to locate the attribute each time. Thanks Arun ---
**Author:** ![arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/arunprabu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/builder-gem-xml-attributes-ordering/106225/4 "2007-06-07T19:30:26Z")
Hi Johnson, I understand that it is not specified in the XML specification and it is not a requirement generally. But in languages like Java using Xerces, the xml is generated with attributes in the sequence you have created it. So just trying to find if there is any way to over come this issue. I already have an alternative of constructing the xml as a string in the sequence of attributes I need. But this is an ugly approach and trying to find if there is any other alternative. I also checked with REXML and it has the same behaviour as Builder. Thanks Arun ---
**Author:** ![arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/arunprabu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/builder-gem-xml-attributes-ordering/106225/5 "2007-06-07T19:21:03Z")
On 6/7/07, Lyle J. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > On 6/7/07, Arunprabu D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > I am … unable to set the order in which the > > attributes to be displayed in the xml. > > Why do you think the attributes for an element _should_ appear in any > particular order? To be explicit, Builder’s behavior is acceptable because the order of attributes in XML is not defined: “”“Note that the order of attribute specifications in a start-tag or empty-element tag is not significant.”“” [http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/](http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/) HTH, Keith ---
**Author:** ![arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@arunprabu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/arunprabu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/builder-gem-xml-attributes-ordering/106225/6 "2007-06-07T19:51:11Z")
On 6/7/07, Arunprabu D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Hi Johnson, > > I understand that it is not specified in the XML specification and it is > not a requirement generally. > > I also checked with REXML and it has the same behaviour as Builder. Yeah, I’m sure they both use Hashes internally for attributes (and Hashes are unordered in Ruby). However, it’d be easy to modify the attribute insertion in Builder to take an Array instead. This is what you’ll have to change: gems/builder-2.0.0/lib/builder/xmlmarkup.rb ``` # Insert the attributes (given in the hash). def _insert_attributes(attrs, order=[]) return if attrs.nil? order.each do |k| ``` v = attrs[k] @target \<\< %{ #{k}=“#{\_attr\_value(v)}”} if v end attrs.each do |k, v| @target \<\< %{ #{k}=“#{\_attr\_value(v)}”} unless order.member?(k) end end Keith