Can I use XML::Simple with an in-memory string, rather than a file?

Question

XML::Simple documentation says to initiate the data structure with an XML file, using XMLin('[FILENAME]') ... but I have an in-memory string.

Can I use it directly, or do I need to save it to the filesystem and then load it into XMLin?

Answer 1

It also says

my $ref = $xs->XMLin([<xml file or string>] [, <options>]);

Answer 2

You seem to have missed in said documentation the following information:

XMLin() accepts an optional XML specifier followed by zero or more 'name => value' option pairs. The XML specifier can be one of the following:

...

A string of XML

A string containing XML (recognised by the presence of '<' and '>' characters) will be parsed directly. eg:

  $ref = XMLin('<opt username="bob" password="flurp" />');