From: Patrick Callahan <hockey@...>
Date: 2008-01-24T07:35:07+09:00
Subject: Parsing poorly written XML

I've found an application which dumps all the registry settings for
installed applications into an .xml file for me (you can find it as
"myuninstall" via google).

I can't figure out the ruby code I need from REXML to do the following:
-find a particular "product_name" in the xml file
-if found, save off the "uninstall_string" so I can execute it on the
commandline and uninstall the app.

I'm a newbie to Ruby, and I'm even newer to parsing XML with Ruby, so
I'm struggling a bit.  It seems there should be a way to navigate within
that "item" after I match on the product name, but I can't figure out
how.  Any guidance would be very VERY appreciated!

Here's a snippet of the problem xml:
<?xml version="1.0"  encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<installed_app version="1.0">
<item>
<entry_name>Devicescape</entry_name>
<product_name>DevicescapeDesktop</product_name>
<version>2.0.5</version>
<company>Devicescape</company>
<description>DevicescapeDesktop</description>
<obsolete>No</obsolete>
<uninstall>Yes</uninstall>
<installation_folder>C:\Program
Files\Devicescape\Devicescape</installation_folder>
<web_site>http://www.devicescape.com/</web_site>
<installation_date>1/22/2008 4:42:14 PM</installation_date>
<uninstall_string>MsiExec.exe
/I{C3BFE4FC-C9F6-494F-B3AB-ABD75556DDC5}</uninstall_string>
<quiet_uninstall>No</quiet_uninstall>
<registry_key>{C3BFE4FC-C9F6-494F-B3AB-ABD75556DDC5}</registry_key>
<installer>Windows Installer</installer>
<root_key>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE</root_key>
</item>
<item>
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