xml(3) standard xml module

STANDARD XML MODULE

The Standard XMLmodule is an original implementation of the XML markup language. The module provides the necessary objects for parsing a xml description as well as manipulating the parsed tree. The module can be extended to a service as a mean to act as a XML processor. The module also provides the support for a simple modelwhich enable the quick parsing of documents with a relaxed rule checking approach.

XML tree representation
A xml document is represented with a tree. At the top of the tree is the XmlRootobject. The root object is not part of the document, but acts as the primary container for other objects. A xml document starts with a root node and all other child elements are XmlNodeobjects.

Node base object
The xml tree is built with the XmlNodeobject. The node object has different derivation depending on the required representation. For example, the XmlRootobject is derived from the XmlNodeobject. A node object can have child object unless the node is marked as an empty node. Trying to add node to an empty node results in an exception. A node can also be marked empty by the user. This situation typically arises with tag node which are used alone such like the <br/>xhtml empty tag or an empty paragraph <p/>. Although a xml node cannot be constructed directly, there is a predicate node-pthat can be used to assert the node type.

# check a node
assert true (afnix:xml:node-p node)

The add-childmethod adds a child node to the calling node. If the calling node is marked empty, an exception is raised when attempting to add the node. There is no limit for the number of nodes to add. In particular, when a text is to be added, care should be taken that there is no markup within that text. In doubt, the parsemethod should be used.

# parse a text and add 3 child nodes
p:parse "The quick brown <b>fox</b> 
jumps over the lazy dog"

In the previous example, the first child node is a XmlTextnode with the value The quick brown . The second node is a XmlTagnode with name b. Finally, the third node is also a XmlTextnode with the value jumps over the lazy dog. It should be noted that the tag node has a child XmlTextnode with the value fox. This example also illustrates the power of the parsemethod which considerably simplify the creation of a xml tree. Finally, there is a subtle subject to be treated later which concerns the use of character referencewith the parsemethod. Like any other xml parser, character references are evaluated during the parsing phase, thus providing no mechanism to create such reference. For this reason, a special class called XmlCrefis provided in the module.

Tag object
The XmlTagclass is one of the most important class as it holds most of the xml constructs. A tag is defined by a name, a set of attributes and eventually a content. In its simplest form, a tag is created by name. With an additional boolean parameter, the tag can be marked as an empty node.

# create an empty paragraph tag
const p (afnix:xml:XmlTag "p" true)

Adding attributes to a tag is imply a matter of method call. The add-attributemethod operates with a Propertyobject while the set-attributeoperates with a name and a literal value. As a matter of fact, the attributes are stored internally as a property list.

# <p class="text">
# create a paragraph tag
const p (afnix:xml:XmlTag "p")
# set the class attribute
p:set-attribute "class" "text"

The node empty flag determines whether or not there is a end tag associated with a tag. If the empty flag is false, the node can have children nodes and is associated with a end tag. With the empty flag set, there is no child nodes. Such situation corresponds to the xml />notation.

# <br/>
# create a br empty tag
const br (afnix:xml:XmlTag "br" true)

Text objects
The xml module provides two types of xml text node. The basic object is the XmlTextnode which is designed to hold some text without markup. It is this kind of nodes which is automatically instantiated by the parsemethod, as described earlier. The other object is the XmlDatawhich corresponds to the xml CDATAspecial markup. With a character data node, the characters are not interpreted, including those that indicate markup starts like <or end like >. The XmlDatais particularly used to store scripts or other program textinside a xml description. As an example, it is recommended to use a character data node inside a script tag with xhtml.

Document reading
A xml document is read by scanning an input stream an building a representation of the xml tree.

The document object
The XmlDocumentobject is a special object is designed to ease the reading process of an xml document. The process of creating a xml document consists of creating a document object, then binding a xml reader, parsing the input stream and finally storing the root node. When the operation is completed, the root node is available in the document object.

# create a xml document
const xdoc (afnix:xml:XmlDocument "example.xml")
# get the root node
const rppt (xdoc:get-root)

The root node content
When a document is parsed, the root node holds all the elements and markup sequentially. At this stage, it shall be noted that the element data are not expanded. Unlike a normal XML reader, the parameter entity are kept in the node data, are expended later by the XML processor.

Node tree operations
The class XneTreeprovides a single framework to operate on a node and its associated tree. Since a node always carries a sub-tree, the node treeterm will be used to reference it.

Creating a node tree
A node tree is created either from a node at construction or with the help of the set-nodemethod.

# create a node tree at construction
const tree (afnix:xml:XneTree root)
# change the node tree
tree:set-node node

Once a tree is created, various methods are provided to operate on the whole tree. The depthmethod returns the depth of the node tree. The get-nodemethods returns the the node associated with the tree.

# get the tree depth
println (tree:depth)

Namespace operations
The concept of namespaceis an extension to the xml standard. Unlike other programming language, the concept of namespace is designed to establish a binding between a name and an uri. Such binding permits to establish a scope for tags without too much burden. In the xml namespace terminology, an expanded nameis composed of a prefixand a local name. The basic operations provided at the tree level is the prefix cancellation and the tree prefix setting.

# clear the prefix for the whole tree
tree:clear-prefix
# set a prefix for the whole tree
tree:set-prefix "afnix"

The set-prefixchanges the prefix for the whole tree. It is not necessary to clear first the prefix.

Attribute operations
Each node in the node tree can have its attribute list modified in a single operation. The first operation is to clear all attributes for all nodes. Although this operation might be useful, it should be carried with caution. The attributes can also cleared more selectively by using the tag name as a filter. For more complex operation, the clear-attributemethod of the XmlTagis the definitive answer.

# clear all attributes
tree:clear-attribute
# clear all attributes by tag name
tree:clear-attribute "p"

The set-attributemethod sets an attribute to the whole tree. The first argument is the attribute name and the second is a literal value. For more selective operations, the set-attributemethod can be also called at the tag level.

# clear all attributes
tree:set-attribute "class" "text"

When it comes to set attributes, there is a special operation related to the "id" attribute. Such attribute is supposed to be unique for the whole tree. For this reason, the generate-idgenerates a unique id for each node and assign the id attribute. The attribute is unique at the time of the call. If the tree is modified, and in particular, if new node are added, the method must be called again to regenerate the node id.

# set a unique id for all nodes
tree:generate-id

Node location and searching
The node location is the ability to locate one or several nodes in a xml tree. A node is generally located by name, path or id. Once a node has been located, it can be processed. Note that the node locator operates operates almost exclusively with XmlTagnode, although it might not be always the case.

Node selection
The process of finding a child node is obtained with the help of the XneCondclass combined with the selectmethod of the XneTreeObject. The selectmethod traverses the whole tree and attempts to match a condition for each node. If the condition is evaluated successfully for a node, the node is added in the result vector. Note that the tree can be traversed entirely or with only the first layer of children.

# creating a condition node
const xcnd (afnix:xml:XneCond)
# create a tree with a root node
const tree (afnix:xml:XneTree root)
# select all nodes for that condition
trans result (tree:select xcnd)

In the previous example, the condition object is empty. This means that there is no condition, and thus works for all nodes. This previous example will return all nodes in the tree.

Node condition
The XmlCondclass provides several method to add a conditions. The addmethod is the method of choice to add a condition. The method operates with a condition type and a literal. Note that the object can contain several conditions.

# creating a condition node
const xcnd (afnix:xml:XneCond)
# add a condition by name
xcnd:add afnix:xml:xne:NAME "p"

In the previous example, a condition is designed to operate with a tag name. Upon a call to the selectmethod with this condition, all nodes in the tree that have the tag name pwill be selected.

# creating a condition node
const xcnd (afnix:xml:XneCond)
# add a condition by name
xcnd:add afnix:xml:xne:NAME "p"
# add an index condition
xcnd:add afnix:xml:xne:INDEX 0

In the previous example, a condition is designed to operate with a tag name and index. Upon a call to the selectmethod with this condition, all nodes in the tree that have the tag name pand those child index is 0 will be selected.

Selection result
The node selection operates by default on the whole tree. The selectmethod, when called with a second boolean argument can restrict the search to the child nodes.

# creating a condition node
const xcnd (afnix:xml:XneCond)
# create a tree with a root node
const tree (afnix:xml:XneTree root)
# select all nodes for that condition
trans result (tree:select xcnd false)

The selection results is stored in a vector object. The node order corresponds to the tree order obtained with a depth first search approach.

Simple model node
The XML simple model is designed to simplify the interpretation of a general sgml document such like, html or xhtml document. In the simple model approach, there is no tree. Instead, a vector of simple nodes is built, and a document interface can be used to access the nodes. Therefore, this simple model should be considered as a mean to quickly parse document, but should not be used when tree operations come into play. In such case, the xml model is by far more appropriate. The simple model can be used to parse a html document for instance. Note also that the simple model is a relaxed model in terms of parsing rules. For example, the tag start/end consistency is not checked and the attribute parsing is not aggressive as it can be found generally in poorly written html document. In the simple model, a XsmNodeis just a text place holder. The node transports its type which can be either text, tag, reference of end node. For the tag node, a subtype that identifies reserved nodes versus normal type is also available.

Creating a node
A xsm node is created by name or byte and name. In the first case, the node is a text node. In the second case, the node subtype is automatically detected for tag node.

# create a xsm text node
const ntxt (afnix:xml:XsmNode "afnix">
  # create a xsm tag node
  const ntag (
    afnix:xml:XsmNode afnix:xml:XsmNode:TAG "afnix">

Note that the text corresponds to the node content. For example, the string "!-- example --" might corresponds to a comment in html which is to say a reserved tag when the type is tag or a simple text if the type is a text node. A reserved tag is defined by a string which start either with the '!' character or the '[' character.

# create a reserved tag
const rtag (
  afnix:xml:XsmNode afnix:xml:XsmNode:TAG 
  "!-- example --")

Node representation
The xsm node is a literal node. This means that the to-stringand to-literalmethods are available. When the to-literalmethod is called, the node text is automatically formatted to reflect the node type.

# create a reserved tag
const rtag (
  afnix:xml:XsmNode afnix:xml:XsmNode:TAG
  "!-- example --")
# print the node literal
rtag:to-literal # <!-- example -->

If the node is a reference node, the node literal is represented with the original definition while the to-stringmethod will produce the corresponding character if it known.

Node information
With a xsm node, the operation are a limited number of node informationoperations. The get-namemethod returns the first name found in a node. If the node is a normal tag, the get-namewill return the tag name. For the other node, the method will return the first available string. This also means, that the method will behave correctly with end tag node.

# create a tag node
const ntag (
  afnix:xml:XsmNode afnix:xml:XsmNode:TAG "afnix">
  # get the tag name
  ntag:get-name

There is a predicate for all types. For example, the text-ppredicate returns true if the node is a text node. The tag-ppredicate returns true if the node is a normal or reserved tag.

Document reading
A document is read in a way similar to the XmlDocumentwith the help of the XsmDocumentobject. Once created, the document holds a vector of nodes.

The document object
The XsmDocumentobject is a special xsm object designed to ease the reading process of a document. The process of creating a document consists of creating a document object, then binding a xsm reader, parsing the input stream and storing the nodes in a vector. When the operation is completed, the vector can be accessed by index.

# create a xms document
const xdoc (afnix:xml:XsmDocument "example.htm")
# get the document length
xdoc:length

Node information object
The XsoInfoobject is a node information object designed to hold a node name, an attributes list and eventually a text associated with the node. For example, if a html document contains a anchor node, the associated information node, will have the anchoring text stored as the node information text.

# create a xso node by name and text
const info (afnix:xml:XsoInfo "a" "click here")

Simple model operations
The XsmDocumentis designed to perform simple operations such like searching all nodes that matches a particular name. While this operation can be done easily, it is done in such a way that a vector of node informationis returned instead of a vector of nodes which can always be constructed with a simple loop.

# create a xsm document
const xdoc (afnix:xml:XsmDocument "example.htm")
# get all node named "a" - forcing lower case
xdoc:get-info-vector "a" true

STANDARD XML REFERENCE

XmlNode
The XmlNodeclass is the base class used to represent the xml tree. The tree is built as a vector of nodes. Each node owns as well its parent node. Walking in the tree is achieved by taking the child node and then moving to the child and/or next node. The node also manages an empty flags. It the empty flag is set, it is an error to add child nodes.

Predicate

node-p

Inheritance

Object

Methods

to-text -> String (none)
The to-textmethod returns a text representation of the tree content. Unlike the write method, the tag are not generated, but rather the text content is accumulated. This method is useful tor read the node content. If a node does not have text, the nil string is returned.

write -> none (none|OutputStream|Buffer)
The writemethod write the node contents as well as the child nodes to an output stream argument or a buffer. When node is written, the method attempts to use the stream encoding in such way that the contents fits into the requested output encoding. Without argument, the node is written to the interpreter output stream. with one argument, the node is written to the specified stream or buffer.

name-p -> Boolean (String)
The name-ppredicate checks if the name matches the node name. Care should be taken that not all node have a name, and in such case, the false value is returned. This method is useful when the node is a tag.

attribute-p -> Boolean (String| String String)
The attribute-ppredicate checks if there is a node attribute that matches the string argument name. In the first form, the predicate returns true is an attribute exists with the name argument. In the second form, the predicate returns true if the attribute name and value matches the arguments. The first argument is the attribute name. The second argument is the attribute value. Not all nodes have attributes. In such case, the predicate always returns false.

parse -> none (String)
The parsemethod parses the string argument and adds the results as a set of child node to the calling node. If the node is an empty node, the method will almost fail. This method should be used when an attempt is made to add some text that may contain some xml tags.

get-parent -> XmlNode (none)
The get-parentmethod returns the parent node. If the node is the root node, nil is returned.

set-parent -> none (XmlNode)
The set-parentmethod sets the parent node.

copy -> XmlNode (none)
The copymethod copy the node tree by regenerating a new tree.

del-child -> none (Integer | String | String String | String String String)
The del-childmethod deletes one or several child nodes. In the first form, the children is deleted either by index or by name. When a string argument is used, several node might be removed. In the second form, the child node name and attribute name must be matched. In the third form, the child node name, attribute name and value must be matched.

del-attribute-child -> none (String | String String)
The del-attribute-childmethod deletes one or several child nodes. In the first form, the children are deleted by attribute name. In the second form, the children are delete by attribute name and value.

clear-child -> none (none)
The clear-childmethod clear the child node list, leaving the node without child node.

add-child -> none (XmlNode|XmlNode Integer)
The add-childmethod adds a node argument as a child node to the calling node. In the first form, the node is added at the end of the node list. In the second form, the node is added by index and all subsequent nodes are shifted by one position.

get-child -> XmlNode (Integer String)
The get-childmethod returns a child node by index or by name. If the calling argument is an integer, the node is returned by index. If the calling argument is a string, the node is returned by name. If the node cannot be found, nil is returned raised.

get-index -> Integer (XmlNode)
The gett-indexmethod returns a child node index. The node argument is the node to find as a child node. If the node is not found, an exception is raised.

merge -> none (XmlNode Integer)
The mergemethod merge an existing node with another one. The first argument is the source node used for merging. The second argument the child node index to merge. The method operates by first removing the child node at the specified index and then add in position, the child nodes of the source node.

nil-child-p -> Boolean (none)
The nil-child-ppredicate returns true if the node does not have a child node.

child-p -> Boolean (String | String String | String String String)
The child-ppredicate returns true if the node has a child with a node name argument. In the first form, the name is to be matched by the predicate. In the second form, the node nae and the attribute name must be matched. In the third form, the node name, attribute name and value must be matched.

attribute-child-p -> Boolean (String String | String String String)
The attribute-child-ppredicate returns true if the node has a child with an attribute name argument. In the first form, the attribute name must be matched. In the second form, the attribute name and value must be matched.

lookup-child -> XmlNode (String)
The lookup-childmethod returns a child node by name. Unlike the get-childmethod, the method raises an exception if the node cannot be found.

child-length -> Integer (none|String)
The child-lengthmethod returns the number of children nodes. In the first form, without argument, the total number of children nodes is returned. In the second form, the total number of nodes that match the tag argument name is returned.

get-source-line -> Integer (none)
The get-source-linemethod returns the node source line number if any.

set-source-line -> none (Integer)
The set-source-linemethod sets the node source line number.

get-source-name -> String (none)
The get-source-namemethod returns the node source name if any.

set-source-name -> none (String)
The set-source-namemethod sets the node source name.

XmlTag
The XmlTagclass is the base class used to represent a xml tag. A tag is defined with a name and an attribute list. The tag is derived from the xml node class and is not marked empty by default.

Predicate

tag-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Constructors

XmlTag (String)
The XmlTagconstructor creates a tag node. The node is not marked empty.

XmlTag (String Boolean)
The XmlTagconstructor creates a tag node. The first argument is the tag name. The second argument is the empty flag.

Methods

set-name -> none (String)
The set-namemethod sets the tag name.

get-name -> String (none)
The get-namemethod returns the tag name.

clear-attribute -> none (node)
The clear-attributemethod clear the node attribute list.

add-attribute -> none (Property)
The add-attributemethod adds a new attribute to the tag. The attribute must be new for this method to succeed. In doubt, the set-attributeis preferable.

set-attribute -> none (String Literal)
The set-attributemethod sets an attribute to the tag. The first argument is the attribute name. The second argument is the attribute value. If the attribute already exists, the old value is replaced with the new one.

get-attribute -> Property (Integer|String)
The get-attributemethod returns a tag attribute in the form o a property object. With an integer object, the attribute is returned by index. With a string object, the property is return by name. If the property is not found, nil is returned.

get-attribute-value -> String (String)
The get-attribute-valuemethod returns a tag attribute value by name. The string argument is the attribute name. If the property is not found, an exception is raised.

lookup-attribute -> Property (String)
The lookup-attributemethod returns a tag attribute by name in the form of a property. The string argument is the attribute name. If the property is not found, an exception is raised.

attribute-length -> Integer (none)
The attribute-lengthmethod returns the number of attributes.

XmlText
The XmlTextclass is the xml text node. A text node is directly built by the xml reader and the content placed into a string. By definition, a text node is an empty node.

Predicate

text-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Constructors

XmlText (none)
The XmlTextconstructor creates a default text node. By definition, a text node is an empty node.

XmlText (String)
The XmlTextconstructor creates a text node with the string argument.

Methods

set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xvalmethod sets the text node value.

get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xvalmethod returns the text node value.

to-normal -> String (none)
The to-normalmethod returns the normalized text node value.

XmlData
The XmlDataclass is the xml CDATA node. A data node differs from the text node in the sense that the data node contains characters that could be reserved characters such like markup delimiters. The data node is most of the time used to hold text used for scripting. The data node is an empty node.

Predicate

data-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Constructors

XmlData (none)
The XmlDataconstructor creates a default data node. By definition, a data node is an empty node.

XmlData (String)
The XmlDataconstructor creates a data node with the string argument.

Methods

set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xvalmethod sets the data node value.

get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xvalmethod returns the data node value.

XmlComment
The XmlCommentclass is the xml comment node. The comment node is a special node that holds the comment text. The comment node is an empty node.

Predicate

comment-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Constructors

XmlComment (none)
The XmlCommentconstructor creates a default comment node. By definition, a comment node is an empty node.

XmlComment (String)
The XmlCommentconstructor creates a comment node with the string argument.

Methods

set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xvalmethod sets the comment node value.

get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xvalmethod returns the comment node value.

XmlDoctype
The XmlDoctypeclass is the xml document type node. In its simplest form, the document type has just a name which acts the starting tag for the document. The document type can also be associated with a system or a public identifier. Note also that a local root node can be attached to this node.

Predicate

doctype-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Constructors

XmlDoctype (String)
The XmlDoctypeconstructor creates a document type with a starting tag name as the string argument. This is the simplest form of a document type definition.

XmlDoctype (String String)
The XmlDoctypeconstructor creates a document type with a starting tag name and a system identifier. The first string argument is the tag name. The second argument is the system identifier.

XmlDoctype (String String String)
The XmlDoctypeconstructor creates a document type with a starting tag name, a public and a system identifier. The first string argument is the tag name. The second argument is the public identifier. The third argument is the system identifier.

Methods

get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xvalmethod returns the document type starting tag name.

get-public-id -> String (none)
The get-public-idmethod returns the document type public identifier.

get-system-id -> String (none)
The get-system-idmethod returns the document type system identifier.

XmlPi
The XmlPiclass is the xml processing node. The processing node is a tag node. Although a processing node is seen as tag with attributes, the specification describes the processing node as a special tag with a string value. The processing node is an empty node.

Predicate

pi-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Constructors

XmlPi (String)
The XmlPiconstructor creates a processing node with the name string argument.

XmlPi (String String)
The XmlPiconstructor creates a processing node with the name string argument and the string value. The first argument is the tag name. The second argument is the processing node value.

Methods

set-name -> none (String)
The set-namemethod sets the xml pi node name.

get-name -> String (none)
The get-namemethod returns the pi node name.

set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xvalmethod sets the processing node value.

get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xvalmethod returns the processing node value.

map-xval -> Plist (String)
The map-xvalmethod map the processing node value to a property list.

XmlDecl
The XmlDeclclass is the xml declaration node. The declaration node is a processing node. A declaration node is defined with a version id, an encoding string and a standalone flag. Each value is represented by an attribute at the tag level.

Predicate

decl-p

Inheritance

XmlPi

Constructors

XmlDecl (none)
The XmlDeclconstructor creates a default declaration node. By default, the declaration node is set with the xml version 1.0, the UTF-8 encoding and the standalone flag is not set.

XmlDecl (String)
The XmlDeclconstructor creates a declaration node with a version. The string argument is the xml version version which must be a supported one.

XmlDecl (String String)
The XmlDeclconstructor creates a declaration node with a version and an encoding. The string argument is the xml version version which must be a supported one. The second argument is the xml encoding.

XmlDecl (String String String)
The XmlDeclconstructor creates a declaration node with a version, an encoding and a standalone flag. The string argument is the xml version version which must be a supported one. The second argument is the xml encoding. The third argument is the standalone flag.

XmlRef
The XmlRefclass is the xml reference node class. This class is a base class which cannot be instantiated directly. The class is designed to hold reference, the only element which is in common is the string representation.

Predicate

ref-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Methods

set-xref -> none (String)
The set-xrefmethod sets the node reference name.

get-xref -> String (none)
The get-xrefmethod returns the node reference name.

XmlCref
The XmlCrefclass is the xml character reference node class. Normally this class should only be used when building a xml tree manually. During a parsing process, the character reference is automatically expanded.

Predicate

cref-p

Inheritance

XmlRef

Constructors

XmlCref (none)
The XmlCrefconstructor creates a default character reference those value is the null character.

XmlCref (Character|Integer)
The XmlCrefconstructor creates a character reference those value is the character or integer argument.

Methods

set-value -> none (Character|Integer)
The set-valuemethod sets the character reference value by character or integer.

get-value -> Character (none)
The get-valuemethod returns the character reference value.

XmlEref
The XmlErefclass is the xml entity reference node class. The entity reference is defined with a reference name.

Predicate

eref-p

Inheritance

XmlRef

Constructors

XmlEref (none)
The XmlCrefconstructor creates an empty entity reference.

XmlCref (String)
The XmlErefconstructor creates an entity reference those value is the string argument.

XmlSection
The XmlSectionclass is the xml section type node. A section node is used to model conditional section that are part of a DTD. The section value is a string that is evaluated by the xml processor. Most of the time, it is a parameter entity reference which corresponds to the keyword INCLUDE or IGNORE , but it could be anything else. A node is also attached to this section.

Predicate

section-p

Inheritance

xmlNode

Constructors

XmlSection (String)
The XmlSectionconstructor creates a xml section node by value.

Methods

get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xvalmethod returns the section node value.

XmlAttlist
The XmlAttlistclass is the xml attribute list node class. A xml attribute list is primarily defined with two names. The first name is the element and the second name is the attribute name. There are 3 types of attribute list. The string type, the token type and the enumeration type. The class manages each type by associating a type descriptor which is detected at construction.

Predicate

attlist-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Constructors

XmlAttlist (String String)
The XmlAttlistconstructor creates an attribute list by element name and attribute name. The first argument is the element name. The second argument is the attribute name.

Methods

set-element-name -> none (String)
The set-element-namemethod sets the attribute list element name.

get-element-name -> String (none)
The get-element-namemethod returns the attribute list element name.

set-attribute-name -> none (String)
The set-attribute-namemethod sets the attribute list name.

get-attribute-name -> String (none)
The get-attribute-namemethod returns the attribute list name.

set-type -> none (String | Vector Boolean)
The set-typemethod set the attribute type by string or enumeration vector. In its first form, the attribute type is defined by a string. The type can be either, "CDATA", "ID", "IDREF", "IDREFS", "ENTITY", "ENTITIES", "NMTOKEN" or "NMTOKENS". In the second form, the attribute type is an enumeration those values are defined in the argument vector. The boolean argument controls the notation flag for that enumeration.

set-default -> none (String)
The set-defaultmethod set the attribute value by string. The string can be any value or the special value "#IMPLIED" and "#REQUIRED". If the default value is fixed, the set-fixedis the preferred method.

set-fixed -> none (String)
The set-fixedmethod set the fixed attribute default value by string.

XmlRoot
The XmlRootclass is the top level root instantiated by the xml reader when starting to parse a stream. There should be only one root node in a tree. The root node does not have a parent node.

Predicate

root-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Constructors

XmlRoot (none)
The XmlRootconstructor creates a default xml root node which is empty.

Methods

dup-body -> XmlBody (none)
The dup-bodymethod duplicates the root node by duplicating the root body without the declaration node.

declaration-p -> Boolean (none)
The declaration-ppredicate returns true if a declaration node exists in the root node.

get-declaration -> XmlDecl (none)
The get-declarationmethod returns the declaration node associated with the root node. Normally, the declaration node is the first child node. If the declaration node does not exist, an exception is raised.

get-encoding -> String (none)
The get-encodingmethod returns the root encoding mode. The root encoding mode is extracted from the declaration node, if such node exists, or the default xml system encoding is returned.

XmlDocument
The XmlDocumentclass is the xml document class. The document class is the root document class that maintains a xml document along with its associated tree and other useful information. Generally the class is constructed with a file name or a name and an input stream that is used for parsing the input data. The document can also be designed by constructing manually the document tree. In that case, the document name must be set explicitly.

Predicate

document-p

Inheritance

Nameable

Constructors

XmlDocument (none)
The XmlDocumentconstructor creates a default xml document.

XmlDocument (String)
The XmlDocumentconstructor creates a xml document by parsing the file. The file name is the string argument.

XmlDocument (String InputStream)
The XmlDocumentconstructor creates a xml document by name and by parsing the input stream. The first argument is the xml document name. The second argument is the input stream to parse.

XmlDocument (String XmlRoot)
The XmlDocumentconstructor creates a xml document by name and root node. The first argument is the xml document name. The second argument is the xml root node.

Methods

set-name -> none (String)
The set-namemethod sets the xml document name. The get-namemethod is available from the nameablebase class.

get-root -> XmlRoot (none)
The get-rootmethod returns the document xml root node.

get-body -> XmlRoot (none)
The get-bodymethod returns the document xml root node body without the declaration node.

XmlElement
The XmlElementclass is the xml element class node. A xml element is represented with a name and a value. It is during the processing phase that the element value is interpreted. An element is built with a name and a value.

Predicate

element-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Constructors

XmlElement (String String)
The XmlElementconstructor creates a xml element by name and value. The first argument is the element name. The second argument is the argument value.

Methods

set-name -> none (String)
The set-namemethod sets the xml element name.

get-name -> String (none)
The get-namemethod returns the element name.

set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xvalmethod sets the xml element value.

get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xvalmethod returns the element value.

XmlEntity
The XmlEntityclass is the base class for the xml entity representation. A xml entity can be either a general entity or a parameter entity. They differ initially with the presence of the '%' character. Both entity model have a name which is path of the base class.

Predicate

entity-p

Inheritance

XmlNode

Methods

set-name -> none (String)
The set-namemethod sets the entity name.

get-name -> String (none)
The get-namemethod returns the entity name.

XmlGe
The XmlGeclass is the xml general entity node. In its simplest form, the general entity has a name and a value. The entity type can also be associated with a system or a public identifier with or without an extra type name.

Predicate

ge-p

Inheritance

XmlEntity

Constructors

XmlGe (String String)
The XmlGeconstructor creates a xml entity by name and value. The first argument is the entity name. The second argument is the entity value. Most of the time, the entity value is a parameter entity.

XmlGe (String String String)
The XmlGeconstructor creates a xml entity by name and identifier. The first argument is the entity name. The second argument is the entity public identifier. The third argument is the entity system identifier.

XmlGe (String String String String)
The XmlGeconstructor creates a xml entity by name, identifier and data type. The first argument is the entity name. The second argument is the entity public identifier. the third argument is the entity system identifier. The fourth argument is the entity type name.

Methods

get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xvalmethod returns the entity value.

get-data -> String (none)
The get-datamethod returns the entity data type.

get-public-id -> String (none)
The get-public-idmethod returns the entity public identifier.

get-system-id -> String (none)
The get-system-idmethod returns the entity system identifier.

XmlPe
The XmlPeclass is the xml parameter entity node. In its simplest form, the parameter entity has a name and a value. The entity type can also be associated with a system or a public identifier.

Predicate

ge-p

Inheritance

XmlEntity

Constructors

XmlPe (String String)
The XmlGeconstructor creates a xml entity by name and value. The first argument is the entity name. The second argument is the entity value.

XmlPe (String String String)
The XmlGeconstructor creates a xml entity by name and identifier. The first argument is the entity name. The second argument is the entity public identifier. The third argument is the entity system identifier.

Methods

get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xvalmethod returns the entity value.

get-public-id -> String (none)
The get-public-idmethod returns the entity public identifier.

get-system-id -> String (none)
The get-system-idmethod returns the entity system identifier.

XmlReader
The XmlReaderclass is the xml parser that operates on an input stream. The reader creates a tree of nodes by reading the input stream and returns the root node when an end-of-stream is reached. Multiple read can be done sequentially. If the reset method is not called between multiple read passes, the reader will accumulate the nodes in the current tree.

Predicate

reader-p

Inheritance

Object

Constructors

XmlReader (none)
The XmlReaderconstructor creates a default xml reader.

Methods

reset -> none (none)
The resetmethod resets the xml reader. In particular, the root node is restored to the nil node.

parse -> none (InputStream|String)
The parsemethod parses an input stream or a file. During the parsing process, the root node is filled with the parsed nodes.

get-root -> XmlRoot (none)
The get-rootmethod returns the parsed root node.

get-node -> XmlNode (String)
The get-nodemethod parse a string and returns a node.

Xne
The Xneis a nameset that binds constants used by the xne system.

Constants

ID
The IDconstant defines a node access by id.

PI
The PIconstant defines an access selector for a processing instruction node.

GE
The GEconstant defines an access selector for a general entity node.

TAG
The TAGconstant defines an access selector for a tag node.

ENT
The ENTconstant defines an access selector for an entity node.

EREF
The EREFconstant defines an access selector for an entity reference node.

CREF
The CREFconstant defines an access selector for an character reference node.

ELEM
The ELEMconstant defines an access selector for an element node.

TEXT
The TEXTconstant defines an access selector for a text node.

NAME
The NAMEconstant defines a node access by name.

CDATA
The CDATAconstant defines an access selector for a character data node.

INDEX
The INDEXconstant defines a node access by child index. The child index is node index seen from the parent.

XneTree
The XneTreeis the xne node tree manipulation class. The class operates with a node and provides numerous methods to manipulate the tree as well as changing it. Before a tree is manipulated, it is recommended to make a copy of such tree with the help of the node copymethod.

Predicate

xne-tree-p

Inheritance

Object

Constructors

XmlTree (none)
The XmlTreeconstructor creates a default tree without a node.

XmlTree (XmlNode)
The XmlTreeconstructor creates a tree with a xml node. The node stored in the object is the root of the tree subject to the operations.

Methods

depth -> Integer (none)
The depthmethod returns the depth of the tree.

generate-id -> Integer (none)
The generate-idmethod generate a unique id for all node in the tree. The id attribute is set by this method.

set-node -> none (XmlNode)
The set-nodemethod sets the root tree node.

get-node -> XmlNode (none)
The get-nodemethod returns the root tree node.

set-attribute -> none (none|String)
The set-attributemethod sets an attribute to the whole tree. In the first form, the attribute is set to the whole tree. In the second form with a string argument, the attribute is set only on the tag node those name matches the name argument.

clear-attribute -> none (none|String)
The clear-attributemethod clear all attributes of the nodes in the tree. In the first form, the node attributes are cleared for all nodes in the tree. In the second form with a string argument, the attributes are cleared only with the tag node those name matches the name argument.

set-prefix -> none (String)
The set-prefixmethod sets a prefix on all nodes in the tree.

clear-prefix -> none (none)
The clear-prefixmethod clear the prefix for all nodes in the tree.

select -> Vector (XneCond [Boolean])
The selectmethod selects the node in the tree that matches the condition argument. In the first form, with one argument, the whole tree is searched. In the second form, with a boolean argument, the whole tree is searched if the second argument is false. If the boolean argument is true, the method call behaves like a call with the condition only.

XneChild
The XneCondis the xne condition class. The sole purpose of this class is to define one or several condition that a node must satisfy in order to be selected. The condition are accumulated in a list and later checked for a particular node. Note that an empty condition always succeeds.

Predicate

xne-cond-p

Inheritance

Object

Constructors

XneCond (none)
The XneCondconstructor creates a default condition. The default condition is empty. The empty condition always succeeds.

Methods

add -> none (Xne [String|Integer])
The addadds a condition by type. The first argument is the condition type. The second argument is a condition information such like a string or an integer.

valid-p -> Boolean (XmlNode)
The valid-ppredicate checks that a node matches a condition. If the condition succeeds, the predicate returns true.

XsmNode
The XsmNodeis a base class which is part of the xml simple model (xsm). In this model, a xml (or sgml, or html) text is represented by a node which can be either a tag, a text or a reference node. There is no concept of tree. The node content is stored in the form of a text string. This simple model is designed to parse weak data representation such like html text and later process it at the user discretion. The default representation is an empty text node.

Predicate

xsm-node-p

Inheritance

Object

Constants

TXT
The TXTconstant defines a xsm text node.

TAG
The TAGconstant defines a xsm tag node.

REF
The REFconstant defines a xsm reference node.

END
The ENDconstant defines a xsm end node.

Constructors

XsmNode (none)
The XsmNodeconstructor creates a default xsm node which is an empty text node.

XsmNode (String)
The XsmNodeconstructor creates a xsm text node by value. The string argument is the text node value

XsmNode (Item String)
The XsmNodeconstructor creates a xsm text node by type and value. The first argument is the node type. The second argument is the node text value.

Methods

text-p -> Boolean (none)
The text-ppredicate returns true if the node is a text node.

tag-p -> Boolean (none)
The tag-ppredicate returns true if the node is a tag node.

ref-p -> Boolean (none)
The reference-ppredicate returns true if the node is a reference node.

end-p -> Boolean (none)
The end-ppredicate returns true if the node is a reference node.

normal-p -> Boolean (none)
The normal-ppredicate returns true if the node is a normal tag node.

reserved-p -> Boolean (none)
The reserved-ppredicate returns true if the node is a reserved tag node.

textable-p -> Boolean (none)
The textable-ppredicate returns true if the node is a textable node, that is a text node or a reference node.

get-source-line -> Integer (none)
The get-source-linemethod returns the node source line number if any.

set-source-line -> none (Integer)
The set-source-linemethod sets the node source line number.

get-source-name -> String (none)
The get-source-namemethod returns the node source name if any.

set-source-name -> none (String)
The set-source-namemethod sets the node source name.

get-name -> String (none)
The get-namemethod returns the next available name. name.

XsmReader
The XmlReaderclass is the simple model node reader. The reader operates with the parsemethod and returns a node or nil if the end of stream is reached. Unlike the xml reader, this reader does not build a tree and the node content is not even parsed. In this model, the node content is to be interpreted at the user discretion.

Predicate

xsm-reader-p

Inheritance

Object

Constructors

XsmReader (none)
The XsmReaderconstructor creates a default xsm reader. The reader is not bound to any stream.

XsmReader (InputStream)
The XsmReaderconstructor creates a xsm reader with an input stream. The argument is the input bound to the reader.

XsmReader (String)
The XsmReaderconstructor creates a xsm reader with an input string stream. The argument is a string which is used to create an input string stream bound to the reader.

Methods

set-input-stream -> none (InputStream)
The set-input-streammethod bind a new input stream to the reader. Subsequent read will use the newly bound stream

get-node -> XsmNode (none)
The get-nodemethod parses the input stream and returns the available node.

XsmDocument
The XsmDocumentclass is the document class that maintains a xsm document along with its associated list of nodes and other useful information. Generally the class is constructed with a file name or a name and an input stream that is used for parsing the input data. When the input stream has been parsed, the nodes are stored in a vector which can be access by index.

Predicate

document-p

Inheritance

Nameable

Constructors

XsmDocument (none)
The XsmDocumentconstructor creates a default xsm document.

XsmDocument (String)
The XsmDocumentconstructor creates a xsm document by name. The string argument is the file name to parse.

XsmDocument (String InputStream)
The XsmDocumentconstructor creates a xsm document by name and by parsing the input stream. The first argument is the xsm document name. The second argument is the input stream to parse.

Methods

set-name -> none (String)
The set-namemethod sets the xsm document name. The get-namemethod is available from the nameablebase class.

length -> Integer (none)
The lengthmethod returns the xsm document length. The document length is the number of nodes parsed and stored in the document.

get-node -> XsmNode (Integer)
The get-nodemethod returns a document node by index.

get-info -> XsoInfo (Integer [Boolean])
The get-infomethod returns a node info object by index. The info object is evaluated dynamically from the document node. In the first form, the node name is used to find the node end tag in order to construct the info text value. In the second form, the boolean argument, if true, forces the node name to be converted to lower case prior any comparison.

get-info-vector -> XsoInfo (String [Boolean])
The get-info-vetcormethod returns an info object vector by name. Each info object have their name that matches the string argument. The info object is evaluated dynamically from the document node. In the first form, the node name is used to match a tag node and then find the node end tag in order to construct the info text value. In the second form, the boolean argument, if true, forces the node name to be converted to lower case prior any comparison.

XsoInfo
The XsoInfoclass is a xml/xsm information node used to carry simple information about a tag. The node is constructed by name, with a set of attributes and eventually a text associated with the node. The text information is generally the one associated between the start tag and the end tag. In the case of complex tree, such text data might be empty.

Predicate

xso-info-p

Inheritance

Nameable

Constructors

XsoInfo (none)
The XsoInfoconstructor creates a default info object.

XsoInfo (String)
The XsoInfoconstructor creates an info object by name. The string argument is the node info name.

XsoInfo (String String)
The XsoInfoconstructor creates an info object by name and text. The first argument is the node info name. The second argument is the node text information.

Methods

set-name -> none (String)
The set-namemethod sets the info object name.

set-attribute -> none (String Literal)
The set-attributemethod sets an attribute by name and value. The first argument is the attribute name. The second argument is the attribute value.

get-attribute-list -> Plist (none)
The get-attribute-listmethod returns the node attribute list in the form of a property list object.

get-attribute-value -> String (String)
The get-attribute-valuemethod returns the attribute value by name. The string argument is the attribute name.

set-text -> none (String)
The set-textmethod sets the info object text.

get-text -> String (none)
The get-textmethod returns the text information.