# ansible xml; setting child element based on node attribute value **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [June 9, 2018, 12:44pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-xml-setting-child-element-based-on-node-attribute-value/27756 "2018-06-09T12:44:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ali\_Khawaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Ali\_Khawaja](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Ali_Khawaja)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 12:44pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-xml-setting-child-element-based-on-node-attribute-value/27756/1 "2018-06-09T12:44:59Z")
Hi, i have multiple xml node which multiple child elements. each node differs from other based on the value of its attribute. i want to set the value of child elements based on the value of the parent node’s attribute. when i try to select the node based on the attribute value and then its children value, it says that the two operations are mutually exclusive. [https://pastebin.com/6jv7pgGN](https://pastebin.com/6jv7pgGN) do i need to break the operation into two separate operations? is it possible to accomplish this in a single xml task? Regards Ali ---
**Author:** ![Ali\_Khawaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Ali\_Khawaja](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Ali_Khawaja)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-xml-setting-child-element-based-on-node-attribute-value/27756/2 "2018-06-09T14:59:35Z")
i was able to figure out this one by using xpath expression, but a new problem is that when you do set\_children on any one of its child, it wipes out all the other child elements, which seems to be the behavior by design, which seems to be a very strange behavior compared to all other tools that do xml manipulation. is there a way that i can set the value of a child elements and preserve all my other child nodes? Regards Ali