Looks OK, it has only one Actiivty (Biking) below the Activities tag.

but shouldn't XMLElement[] kids = xml.getChildren("Activities/Activity"); return all of the child nodes below Activity (i.e., Id, Lap StartTime and Creator)?

Reference says: " When the path parameter is specified, then it will return all children that match that path."
So it returns all Activity children...

You might want something like:

1.   XMLElement[] kids = xml.getChildren("Activities/Activity");
2.   for (XMLElement kid : kids) { // Only one element, but take the generic path
   
3.     XMLElement[] stuff = kid.getChildren();
4.     for (XMLElement s : stuff) {
5.       String site = s.getName();
6.       println(site);
7.     }
8.   }

Ok. After staring at this all day I FINALLY get i!. And wow, it only took all day.  I was trying to make it harder than it is. What I didn't realize is that it was already doing what I was trying to program the long way. They key word from the reference was "match". I was trying to drill down to, say, Cadence then loop through the entire thing to find all cadences. Sheesh.

So, what I've got now (for the Cadence example) is this:

1.  XMLElement xml;
   
   void setup() {
     size(200, 200);
     xml = new XMLElement(this, "2010-01-07-22-52-57.xml");
     XMLElement[] kids = xml.getChildren("Activities/Activity/Lap/Track/Trackpoint/Cadence");
     for (XMLElement kid : kids) {
           String site = kid.getContent();
           println(site);  
     }     
   }
   
   void draw(){
   }

 This returns all values of Cadence. Easy 'nuff.

Now on to the next problem(s). How do I take all of these cadences and put them in an array where I can easily use them in draw()? They're all of type XMLElement and I need them to be ints or, later on, strings. Every time i try assigning to an array I get a type mismatch. Is there some casting that needs to be done? Or maybe I'm way off.

While we're on the topic, my ULTIMATE goal is to pull in data from hundreds of XML files (each one is a bike ride) and do something with the data (not sure what yet, but something pretty). What's the best approach for this? How can I access all of this data since a) it's in different files and b) each file essentially has an unknown name? Once I solve that, do I just keep adding all of the data to a huge, ever-growing ArrayList until all files are read in or is there some other better approach?

I know that's a long line of questioning but I thought before I keep going with these weird one-off questions, it'd be better to understand my ultimate goal.

phi.lho, i'm going to go ahead and thank you because I know you'll probably chime in here. I don't know how you do it but the knowledge you share with all of us is worth many large sacks of gold.

Of course, anyone else with suggestions, I thank you too. I hope someday I can repay the favor.

Thanks.

Lee

" Every time i try assigning to an array I get a type mismatch."
The best is to show your attempt, so we can correct it. Sometime better than just getting ready-made code... (for educational purpose, at least).

" They're all of type XMLElement"
Not really . Your 'site' variable is of type String and you already know how to get it.

" How can I access all of this data since a) it's in different files and b) each file essentially has an unknown name?"
You have to make a File object around the path to the folder holding the files, then use listFiles() to get their list.

Using ArrayList isn't a bad idea for a growing set of data. If you get various data from your files, you should group them in an object, so you have to study classes a bit. It isn't that hard... (if you drop inheritance, not needed here).

Awesome. That's a big help.

Here's what I ended up doing. Not sure if there are any ways to simplify the code but this seems good enough for me. Thoughts?

1. XMLElement xml;
   ArrayList allCadence;
   
   void setup() {
     size(200, 200);
     xml = new XMLElement(this, "2010-01-07-22-52-57.xml");
     XMLElement[] kids = xml.getChildren("Activities/Activity/Lap/Track/Trackpoint/Cadence");
    
     allCadence = new ArrayList();
     for (XMLElement kid : kids) {
           String site = kid.getContent();
           allCadence.add(Integer.parseInt(site));         
     }
    
     println(allCadence);
   }
   
   void draw(){
   }
   

As for the class/object thing, I'll definitely do that (need to study it all more). My initial thought was to have a "garminXML" class that has "getCadence", "getLongitude", "getLatitude", "getElevation" etc. Is that the best approach? I'll probably hold off on the multiple file stuff until I get a result with just one file. Thanks for the tip on that though.