Here is the synopsis for 'xml ed' command:

XMLStarlet Toolkit: Edit XML document(s)
Usage: xml ed <global-options> {<action>} [ <xml-file-or-uri> ... ]
where
  <global-options>  - global options for editing
  <xml-file-or-uri> - input XML document file name/uri (stdin is used if missing)

<global-options> are:
  -P (or --pf)        - preserve original formatting
  -S (or --ps)        - preserve non-significant spaces
  -O (or --omit-decl) - omit XML declaration (<?xml ...?>)
  -N <name>=<value>   - predefine namespaces (name without 'xmlns:')
                        ex: xsql=urn:oracle-xsql
                        Multiple -N options are allowed.
                        -N options must be last global options.
  --help or -h        - display help

where <action>
   -d or --delete <xpath>
   -i or --insert <xpath> -t (--type) elem|text|attr -n <name> -v (--value) <value>
   -a or --append <xpath> -t (--type) elem|text|attr -n <name> -v (--value) <value>
   -s or --subnode <xpath> -t (--type) elem|text|attr -n <name> -v (--value) <value>
   -m or --move <xpath1> <xpath2>
   -r or --rename <xpath1> -v <new-name>
   -u or --update <xpath> -v (--value) <value>
                          -x (--expr) <xpath>

XMLStarlet is a command line toolkit to query/edit/check/transform
XML documents (for more information see http://xmlstar.sourceforge.net/)

EXAMPLE:

# Delete elements matching XPath expression
xml ed -d "/xml/table/rec[@id='2']" xml/table.xml

Input

<xml>
  <table>
    <rec id="1">
      <numField>123</numField>
      <stringField>String Value</stringField>
    </rec>
    <rec id="2">
      <numField>346</numField>
      <stringField>Text Value</stringField>
    </rec>
    <rec id="3">
      <numField>-23</numField>
      <stringField>stringValue</stringField>
    </rec>
  </table>
</xml>

Output

<xml>
  <table>
    <rec id="1">
      <numField>123</numField>
      <stringField>String Value</stringField>
    </rec>
    <rec id="3">
      <numField>-23</numField>
      <stringField>stringValue</stringField>
    </rec>
  </table>
</xml>

EXAMPLE

# Move element node
echo '<x id="1"><a/><b/></x>' | xml ed -m "//b" "//a"

Output

<x id="1">
  <a>
    <b/>
  </a>
</x>

EXAMPLE

# Rename attributes
xml ed -r "//*/@id" -v ID xml/tab-obj.xml

Output:

<xml>
  <table>
    <rec ID="1">
      <numField>123</numField>
      <stringField>String Value</stringField>
      <object name="Obj1">
        <property name="size">10</property>
        <property name="type">Data</property>
      </object>
    </rec>
    <rec ID="2">
      <numField>346</numField>
      <stringField>Text Value</stringField>
    </rec>
    <rec ID="3">
      <numField>-23</numField>
      <stringField>stringValue</stringField>
    </rec>
  </table>
</xml>

EXAMPLE

# Rename elements
xml ed -r "/xml/table/rec" -v record xml/tab-obj.xml

Output:

<xml>
  <table>
    <record id="1">
      <numField>123</numField>
      <stringField>String Value</stringField>
      <object name="Obj1">
        <property name="size">10</property>
        <property name="type">Data</property>
      </object>
    </record>
    <record id="2">
      <numField>346</numField>
      <stringField>Text Value</stringField>
    </record>
    <record id="3">
      <numField>-23</numField>
      <stringField>stringValue</stringField>
    </record>
  </table>
</xml>

EXAMPLE

# Update value of an attribute
xml ed -u "/xml/table/rec[@id=3]/@id" -v 5 xml/tab-obj.xml

Output:

<xml>
  <table>
    <rec id="1">
      <numField>123</numField>
      <stringField>String Value</stringField>
      <object name="Obj1">
        <property name="size">10</property>
        <property name="type">Data</property>
      </object>
    </rec>
    <rec id="2">
      <numField>346</numField>
      <stringField>Text Value</stringField>
    </rec>
    <rec id="5">
      <numField>-23</numField>
      <stringField>stringValue</stringField>
    </rec>
  </table>
</xml>

EXAMPLE

# Update value of an element
xml ed -u "/xml/table/rec[@id=1]/numField" -v 0 xml/tab-obj.xml

Output:

<xml>
  <table>
    <rec id="1">
      <numField>0</numField>
      <stringField>String Value</stringField>
      <object name="Obj1">
        <property name="size">10</property>
        <property name="type">Data</property>
      </object>
    </rec>
    <rec id="2">
      <numField>346</numField>
      <stringField>Text Value</stringField>
    </rec>
    <rec id="3">
      <numField>-23</numField>
      <stringField>stringValue</stringField>
    </rec>
  </table>
</xml>