fix from_xml: return python dictionary (#361)

* removed the in between json conversion, now function returns python
dict, changed unit tests to check against the dict.

* remove the json import

* changelog added

* [pre-commit.ci] auto fixes from pre-commit.com hooks

for more information, see https://pre-commit.ci

* changed changelog to minor

---------

Co-authored-by: pre-commit-ci[bot] <66853113+pre-commit-ci[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Ruchi Pakhle <72685035+Ruchip16@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Nilashish Chakraborty <nilashishchakraborty8@gmail.com>

changelogs/fragments/fix_from_xml.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+minor_changes:
+  - The from_xml filter returns a python dictionary instead of a json string.

plugins/plugin_utils/from_xml.py

@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
 
 __metaclass__ = type
 
-import json
-
 from ansible.errors import AnsibleFilterError
 
 
@@ -46,7 +44,7 @@ def from_xml(data, engine):
         if not HAS_XMLTODICT:
             _raise_error("Missing required library xmltodict")
         try:
-            res = json.dumps(xmltodict.parse(data))
+            res = xmltodict.parse(data)
         except Exception:
             _raise_error("Input Xml is not valid")
         return res

tests/unit/plugins/filter/test_from_xml.py

@@ -22,8 +22,12 @@ VALID_DATA = (
     "<schemas><schema/></schemas></netconf-state>"
 )
 
-OUTPUT = """{"netconf-state": \
-{"@xmlns": "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-netconf-monitoring", "schemas": {"schema": null}}}"""
+OUTPUT = {
+    "netconf-state": {
+        "@xmlns": "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-netconf-monitoring",
+        "schemas": {"schema": None},
+    },
+}
 
 
 class TestFromXml(TestCase):