Adding Hash.from_xml method using Nokogiri

Hash.from_xml_using_Nokogiri.rb

# USAGE: Hash.from_xml:(YOUR_XML_STRING)
# 
# - fixes handling of <text> elements
# - prepends namespaces on keys where used including both elements & attributes
# - uses strings instead of symbols to prevent consumption of the symbol table
require 'nokogiri'
# modified from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1230741/convert-a-nokogiri-document-to-a-ruby-hash/1231297#1231297

class Nokogiri::XML::Node
  def namespaced_name
    (namespace ? "#{namespace.prefix}:" : "") + name
  end
end

class Hash
  class << self
    def from_xml(xml_io)
      begin
        result = Nokogiri::XML(xml_io)
        return { result.root.name => xml_node_to_hash(result.root)}
      rescue Exception => e
        # raise your custom exception here
      end
    end

    def xml_node_to_hash(node)
      # If we are at the root of the document, start the hash
      if node.element?
        result_hash = {}

        result_hash['attributes'] = {} unless node.attributes.empty?
        node.attributes.each do |key, attr|
          result_hash['attributes'][attr.namespaced_name] = prepare(attr.value)
        end
        
        node.children.each do |child|
          result = xml_node_to_hash(child)
          if child.is_a? Nokogiri::XML::Text
            unless child.next_sibling || child.previous_sibling
              return prepare(result)
            end
          elsif result_hash[child_name = child.namespaced_name]
            result_hash[child_name] = [result_hash[child_name]] unless result_hash[child_name].is_a?(Object::Array)
            result_hash[child_name] << prepare(result)
          else
            result_hash[child_name] = prepare(result)
          end
        end
        
        result_hash
      else
        prepare(node.content.to_s)
      end
    end

    def prepare(data)
      (data.class == String && data.to_i.to_s == data) ? data.to_i : data
    end
  end
end