Provided by: afnix_3.8.0-1_amd64 
NAME
xml - standard xml module
STANDARD XML MODULE
The Standard XML module 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 model which 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 XmlRoot object. 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 XmlNode objects.
Node base object
The xml tree is built with the XmlNode object. The node object has different derivation depending on the
required representation. For example, the XmlRoot object is derived from the XmlNode object. 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-p that can be used to
assert the node type.
# check a node
assert true (afnix:xml:node-p node)
The add-child method 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 parse method 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 XmlText node with the value The quick brown . The
second node is a XmlTag node with name b. Finally, the third node is also a XmlText node with the value
jumps over the lazy dog. It should be noted that the tag node has a child XmlText node with the value
fox. This example also illustrates the power of the parse method 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
reference with the parse method. 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 XmlCref is provided in the module.
Tag object
The XmlTag class 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-attribute method operates with a
Property object while the set-attribute operates 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 XmlText node which is
designed to hold some text without markup. It is this kind of nodes which is automatically instantiated
by the parse method, as described earlier. The other object is the XmlData which corresponds to the xml
CDATA special markup. With a character data node, the characters are not interpreted, including those
that indicate markup starts like < or end like >. The XmlData is particularly used to store scripts or
other program text inside 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 XmlDocument object 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 XneTree provides a single framework to operate on a node and its associated tree. Since a node
always carries a sub-tree, the node tree term 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-node method.
# 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 depth method
returns the depth of the node tree. The get-node methods returns the the node associated with the tree.
# get the tree depth
println (tree:depth)
Namespace operations
The concept of namespace is 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 name
is composed of a prefix and 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-prefix changes 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-attribute method of the XmlTag is the definitive answer.
# clear all attributes
tree:clear-attribute
# clear all attributes by tag name
tree:clear-attribute "p"
The set-attribute method 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-attribute method 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-id generates 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 XmlTag node, although it might not be always the case.
Node selection
The process of finding a child node is obtained with the help of the XneCond class combined with the
select method of the XneTree Object. The select method 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 XmlCond class provides several method to add a conditions. The add method 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 select
method with this condition, all nodes in the tree that have the tag name p will 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
select method with this condition, all nodes in the tree that have the tag name p and those child index
is 0 will be selected.
Selection result
The node selection operates by default on the whole tree. The select method, 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 XsmNode is 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-string and to-literal methods are available. When
the to-literal method 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-string method will produce the corresponding character if it known.
Node information
With a xsm node, the operation are a limited number of node information operations. The get-name method
returns the first name found in a node. If the node is a normal tag, the get-name will 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-p predicate returns true if the node is a text
node. The tag-p predicate returns true if the node is a normal or reserved tag.
Document reading
A document is read in a way similar to the XmlDocument with the help of the XsmDocument object. Once
created, the document holds a vector of nodes.
The document object
The XsmDocument object 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 XsoInfo object 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 XsmDocument is 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
information is 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 XmlNode class 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-text method 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 write method 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-p predicate 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-p predicate 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 parse method 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-parent method returns the parent node. If the node is the root node, nil is returned.
set-parent -> none (XmlNode)
The set-parent method sets the parent node.
copy -> XmlNode (none)
The copy method copy the node tree by regenerating a new tree.
del-child -> none (Integer | String | String String | String String String)
The del-child method 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-child method 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-child method clear the child node list, leaving the node without child node.
add-child -> none (XmlNode|XmlNode Integer)
The add-child method 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-child method 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-index method 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 merge method 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-p predicate returns true if the node does not have a child node.
child-p -> Boolean (String | String String | String String String)
The child-p predicate 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-p predicate 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-child method returns a child node by name. Unlike the get-child method, the method
raises an exception if the node cannot be found.
child-length -> Integer (none|String)
The child-length method 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-line method returns the node source line number if any.
set-source-line -> none (Integer)
The set-source-line method sets the node source line number.
get-source-name -> String (none)
The get-source-name method returns the node source name if any.
set-source-name -> none (String)
The set-source-name method sets the node source name.
XmlTag
The XmlTag class 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 XmlTag constructor creates a tag node. The node is not marked empty.
XmlTag (String Boolean)
The XmlTag constructor 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-name method sets the tag name.
get-name -> String (none)
The get-name method returns the tag name.
clear-attribute -> none (node)
The clear-attribute method clear the node attribute list.
add-attribute -> none (Property)
The add-attribute method adds a new attribute to the tag. The attribute must be new for this
method to succeed. In doubt, the set-attribute is preferable.
set-attribute -> none (String Literal)
The set-attribute method 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-attribute method 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-value method 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-attribute method 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-length method returns the number of attributes.
XmlText
The XmlText class 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 XmlText constructor creates a default text node. By definition, a text node is an empty node.
XmlText (String)
The XmlText constructor creates a text node with the string argument.
Methods
set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xval method sets the text node value.
get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xval method returns the text node value.
to-normal -> String (none)
The to-normal method returns the normalized text node value.
XmlData
The XmlData class 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 XmlData constructor creates a default data node. By definition, a data node is an empty node.
XmlData (String)
The XmlData constructor creates a data node with the string argument.
Methods
set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xval method sets the data node value.
get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xval method returns the data node value.
XmlComment
The XmlComment class 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 XmlComment constructor creates a default comment node. By definition, a comment node is an
empty node.
XmlComment (String)
The XmlComment constructor creates a comment node with the string argument.
Methods
set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xval method sets the comment node value.
get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xval method returns the comment node value.
XmlDoctype
The XmlDoctype class 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 XmlDoctype constructor 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 XmlDoctype constructor 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 XmlDoctype constructor 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-xval method returns the document type starting tag name.
get-public-id -> String (none)
The get-public-id method returns the document type public identifier.
get-system-id -> String (none)
The get-system-id method returns the document type system identifier.
XmlPi
The XmlPi class 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 XmlPi constructor creates a processing node with the name string argument.
XmlPi (String String)
The XmlPi constructor 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-name method sets the xml pi node name.
get-name -> String (none)
The get-name method returns the pi node name.
set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xval method sets the processing node value.
get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xval method returns the processing node value.
map-xval -> Plist (String)
The map-xval method map the processing node value to a property list.
XmlDecl
The XmlDecl class 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 XmlDecl constructor 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 XmlDecl constructor 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 XmlDecl constructor 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 XmlDecl constructor 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 XmlRef class 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-xref method sets the node reference name.
get-xref -> String (none)
The get-xref method returns the node reference name.
XmlCref
The XmlCref class 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 XmlCref constructor creates a default character reference those value is the null character.
XmlCref (Character|Integer)
The XmlCref constructor creates a character reference those value is the character or integer
argument.
Methods
set-value -> none (Character|Integer)
The set-value method sets the character reference value by character or integer.
get-value -> Character (none)
The get-value method returns the character reference value.
XmlEref
The XmlEref class 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 XmlCref constructor creates an empty entity reference.
XmlCref (String)
The XmlEref constructor creates an entity reference those value is the string argument.
XmlSection
The XmlSection class 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 XmlSection constructor creates a xml section node by value.
Methods
get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xval method returns the section node value.
XmlAttlist
The XmlAttlist class 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 XmlAttlist constructor 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-name method sets the attribute list element name.
get-element-name -> String (none)
The get-element-name method returns the attribute list element name.
set-attribute-name -> none (String)
The set-attribute-name method sets the attribute list name.
get-attribute-name -> String (none)
The get-attribute-name method returns the attribute list name.
set-type -> none (String | Vector Boolean)
The set-type method 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-default method 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-fixed is the
preferred method.
set-fixed -> none (String)
The set-fixed method set the fixed attribute default value by string.
XmlRoot
The XmlRoot class 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 XmlRoot constructor creates a default xml root node which is empty.
Methods
dup-body -> XmlBody (none)
The dup-body method duplicates the root node by duplicating the root body without the declaration
node.
declaration-p -> Boolean (none)
The declaration-p predicate returns true if a declaration node exists in the root node.
get-declaration -> XmlDecl (none)
The get-declaration method 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-encoding method 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 XmlDocument class 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 XmlDocument constructor creates a default xml document.
XmlDocument (String)
The XmlDocument constructor creates a xml document by parsing the file. The file name is the
string argument.
XmlDocument (String InputStream)
The XmlDocument constructor 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 XmlDocument constructor 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-name method sets the xml document name. The get-name method is available from the nameable
base class.
get-root -> XmlRoot (none)
The get-root method returns the document xml root node.
get-body -> XmlRoot (none)
The get-body method returns the document xml root node body without the declaration node.
XmlElement
The XmlElement class 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 XmlElement constructor 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-name method sets the xml element name.
get-name -> String (none)
The get-name method returns the element name.
set-xval -> none (String)
The set-xval method sets the xml element value.
get-xval -> String (none)
The get-xval method returns the element value.
XmlEntity
The XmlEntity class 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-name method sets the entity name.
get-name -> String (none)
The get-name method returns the entity name.
XmlGe
The XmlGe class 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 XmlGe constructor 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 XmlGe constructor 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 XmlGe constructor 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-xval method returns the entity value.
get-data -> String (none)
The get-data method returns the entity data type.
get-public-id -> String (none)
The get-public-id method returns the entity public identifier.
get-system-id -> String (none)
The get-system-id method returns the entity system identifier.
XmlPe
The XmlPe class 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 XmlGe constructor 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 XmlGe constructor 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-xval method returns the entity value.
get-public-id -> String (none)
The get-public-id method returns the entity public identifier.
get-system-id -> String (none)
The get-system-id method returns the entity system identifier.
XmlReader
The XmlReader class 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 XmlReader constructor creates a default xml reader.
Methods
reset -> none (none)
The reset method resets the xml reader. In particular, the root node is restored to the nil node.
parse -> none (InputStream|String)
The parse method 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-root method returns the parsed root node.
get-node -> XmlNode (String)
The get-node method parse a string and returns a node.
Xne
The Xne is a nameset that binds constants used by the xne system.
Constants
ID
The ID constant defines a node access by id.
PI
The PI constant defines an access selector for a processing instruction node.
GE
The GE constant defines an access selector for a general entity node.
TAG
The TAG constant defines an access selector for a tag node.
ENT
The ENT constant defines an access selector for an entity node.
EREF
The EREF constant defines an access selector for an entity reference node.
CREF
The CREF constant defines an access selector for an character reference node.
ELEM
The ELEM constant defines an access selector for an element node.
TEXT
The TEXT constant defines an access selector for a text node.
NAME
The NAME constant defines a node access by name.
CDATA
The CDATA constant defines an access selector for a character data node.
INDEX
The INDEX constant defines a node access by child index. The child index is node index seen from
the parent.
XneTree
The XneTree is 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 copy method.
Predicate
xne-tree-p
Inheritance
Object
Constructors
XmlTree (none)
The XmlTree constructor creates a default tree without a node.
XmlTree (XmlNode)
The XmlTree constructor 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 depth method returns the depth of the tree.
generate-id -> Integer (none)
The generate-id method generate a unique id for all node in the tree. The id attribute is set by
this method.
set-node -> none (XmlNode)
The set-node method sets the root tree node.
get-node -> XmlNode (none)
The get-node method returns the root tree node.
set-attribute -> none (none|String)
The set-attribute method 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-attribute method 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-prefix method sets a prefix on all nodes in the tree.
clear-prefix -> none (none)
The clear-prefix method clear the prefix for all nodes in the tree.
select -> Vector (XneCond [Boolean])
The select method 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 XneCond is 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 XneCond constructor creates a default condition. The default condition is empty. The empty
condition always succeeds.
Methods
add -> none (Xne [String|Integer])
The add adds 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-p predicate checks that a node matches a condition. If the condition succeeds, the
predicate returns true.
XsmNode
The XsmNode is 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 TXT constant defines a xsm text node.
TAG
The TAG constant defines a xsm tag node.
REF
The REF constant defines a xsm reference node.
END
The END constant defines a xsm end node.
Constructors
XsmNode (none)
The XsmNode constructor creates a default xsm node which is an empty text node.
XsmNode (String)
The XsmNode constructor creates a xsm text node by value. The string argument is the text node
value
XsmNode (Item String)
The XsmNode constructor 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-p predicate returns true if the node is a text node.
tag-p -> Boolean (none)
The tag-p predicate returns true if the node is a tag node.
ref-p -> Boolean (none)
The reference-p predicate returns true if the node is a reference node.
end-p -> Boolean (none)
The end-p predicate returns true if the node is a reference node.
normal-p -> Boolean (none)
The normal-p predicate returns true if the node is a normal tag node.
reserved-p -> Boolean (none)
The reserved-p predicate returns true if the node is a reserved tag node.
textable-p -> Boolean (none)
The textable-p predicate 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-line method returns the node source line number if any.
set-source-line -> none (Integer)
The set-source-line method sets the node source line number.
get-source-name -> String (none)
The get-source-name method returns the node source name if any.
set-source-name -> none (String)
The set-source-name method sets the node source name.
get-name -> String (none)
The get-name method returns the next available name. name.
XsmReader
The XmlReader class is the simple model node reader. The reader operates with the parse method 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 XsmReader constructor creates a default xsm reader. The reader is not bound to any stream.
XsmReader (InputStream)
The XsmReader constructor creates a xsm reader with an input stream. The argument is the input
bound to the reader.
XsmReader (String)
The XsmReader constructor 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-stream method bind a new input stream to the reader. Subsequent read will use the
newly bound stream
get-node -> XsmNode (none)
The get-node method parses the input stream and returns the available node.
XsmDocument
The XsmDocument class 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 XsmDocument constructor creates a default xsm document.
XsmDocument (String)
The XsmDocument constructor creates a xsm document by name. The string argument is the file name
to parse.
XsmDocument (String InputStream)
The XsmDocument constructor 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-name method sets the xsm document name. The get-name method is available from the nameable
base class.
length -> Integer (none)
The length method 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-node method returns a document node by index.
get-info -> XsoInfo (Integer [Boolean])
The get-info method 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-vetcor method 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 XsoInfo class 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 XsoInfo constructor creates a default info object.
XsoInfo (String)
The XsoInfo constructor creates an info object by name. The string argument is the node info name.
XsoInfo (String String)
The XsoInfo constructor 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-name method sets the info object name.
set-attribute -> none (String Literal)
The set-attribute method 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-list method returns the node attribute list in the form of a property list
object.
get-attribute-value -> String (String)
The get-attribute-value method returns the attribute value by name. The string argument is the
attribute name.
set-text -> none (String)
The set-text method sets the info object text.
get-text -> String (none)
The get-text method returns the text information.