At work we have a Django web application where the models are backed by a Java XML REST api. The application is read only, so there is no requirement to write back to the REST api.

We started with copying the data into a local DB, and using regular Django DB models, and we wanted something that would feel very similar, but use an XML REST backend. We wrote an xml_models library, which allowed us to map our models to the XML data, using a declarative style similar to the Django DB models. The library has been open sourced and can be found on sourceforge.

Here is a simple example:-

Suppose there was an API http://myaddressbook.com/addresses/{addressID} that returns the following XML

The model might be defined as

And using the finder method would be like this

That’s the basics. We are mapping much more complex relationships with collection fields, date fields and more. Take a look and let me know what you think.