property dictStack : missing value — stack to hold array of dictionaries
property textInProgress : "" — string to collect text as it is found
property anError : missing value — if we get an error, store it here

set xmlRes to my makeRecordWithXML:(returnData() of me)
–> {|character|:{firstName:{|contents|:"Saga"}, lastName:{|contents|:"Norén"}, city:{|contents|:"Malmö"}, partner:{firstName:{|contents|:"Martin"}, lastName:{|contents|:"Rohde"}, city:{|contents|:"København"}, attributes:{approach:"dogged"}}}}

on makeRecordWithXML:xmlString
　　— set up properties
　　set my dictStack to current application’s NSMutableArray’s array() — empty mutable array
　　set anEmpty to current application’s NSMutableDictionary’s |dictionary|()
　　(my dictStack)’s addObject:anEmpty — add empty mutable dictionary
　　set my textInProgress to current application’s NSMutableString’s |string|() — empty mutable string
　　
　　— convert XML from string to data
　　set anNSString to current application’s NSString’s stringWithString:xmlString
　　set theData to anNSString’s dataUsingEncoding:(current application’s NSUTF8StringEncoding)
　　
　　— initialize an XML parser with the data
　　set theNSXMLParser to current application’s NSXMLParser’s alloc()’s initWithData:theData
　　
　　— set this script to be the parser’s delegate
　　theNSXMLParser’s setDelegate:me
　　
　　— tell it to parse the XML
　　set theResult to theNSXMLParser’s parse()
　　if theResult then — went OK, get first item on stack
　　　　return ((my dictStack)’s firstObject()) –as record
　　else — error, so return error
　　　　error (my anError’s localizedDescription() as text)
　　end if
end makeRecordWithXML:

— this is an XML parser delegate method. Called when new element found
on parser:anNSXMLParser didStartElement:elementName namespaceURI:aString qualifiedName:qName attributes:aRecord
　　— store reference to last item on the stack
　　set parentDict to my dictStack’s lastObject()
　　
　　— make new child
　　set childDict to current application’s NSMutableDictionary’s |dictionary|()
　　
　　— if there are attributes, add them as a record with key "attributes"
　　if aRecord’s |count|() > 0 then
　　　　childDict’s setValue:aRecord forKey:"attributes"
　　end if
　　
　　— see if there’s already an item for this key
　　set existingValue to parentDict’s objectForKey:elementName
　　
　　if existingValue is not missing value then
　　　　— there is, so if it’s an array, store it…
　　　　if (existingValue’s isKindOfClass:(current application’s NSMutableArray)) as boolean then
　　　　　　set theArray to existingValue
　　　　else
　　　　　　— otherwise create an array and add it
　　　　　　set theArray to current application’s NSMutableArray’s arrayWithObject:existingValue
　　　　　　parentDict’s setObject:theArray forKey:elementName
　　　　end if
　　　　
　　　　— then add the new dictionary to the array
　　　　theArray’s addObject:childDict
　　else
　　　　— add new dictionary directly to the parent
　　　　parentDict’s setObject:childDict forKey:elementName
　　end if
　　
　　— also add the new dictionary to the end of the stack
　　(my dictStack)’s addObject:childDict
end parser:didStartElement:namespaceURI:qualifiedName:attributes:

— this is an XML parser delegate method. Called at the end of an element
on parser:anNSXMLParser didEndElement:elementName namespaceURI:aString qualifiedName:qName
　　— if any text has been stored, add it as a record with key "contents"
　　if my textInProgress’s |length|() > 0 then
　　　　set dictInProgress to my dictStack’s lastObject()
　　　　dictInProgress’s setObject:textInProgress forKey:"contents"
　　　　
　　　　— reset textInProgress property for next element
　　　　set my textInProgress to current application’s NSMutableString’s |string|()
　　end if
　　
　　— remove last item from the stack
　　my dictStack’s removeLastObject()
end parser:didEndElement:namespaceURI:qualifiedName:

— this is an XML parser delegate method. Called when string is found. May be called repeatedly
on parser:anNSXMLParser foundCharacters:aString
　　— only append string if it’s not solely made of space characters (which should be, but aren’t, caught by another delegate method)
　　if (aString’s stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:(current application’s NSCharacterSet’s whitespaceAndNewlineCharacterSet()))’s |length|() > 0 then
　　　　(my textInProgress)’s appendString:aString
　　end if
end parser:foundCharacters:

— this is an XML parser delegate method. Called when there’s an error
on parser:anNSXMLParser parseErrorOccurred:anNSError
　　set my anError to anNSError
end parser:parseErrorOccurred: