NAME
XML::Parser - A perl module for parsing XML documents
SYNOPSIS
use XML::Parser;
$p1 = XML::Parser->new(Style => 'Debug');
$p1->parsefile('REC-xml-19980210.xml');
$p1->parse('<foo id="me">Hello World</foo>');
# Alternative
$p2 = XML::Parser->new(Handlers => {Start => \&handle_start,
End => \&handle_end,
Char => \&handle_char});
$p2->parse($socket);
# Another alternative
$p3 = XML::Parser->new(ErrorContext => 2);
$p3->setHandlers(Char => \&text,
Default => \&other);
open(FOO, 'xmlgenerator |');
$p3->parse(*FOO, ProtocolEncoding => 'ISO-8859-1');
close(FOO);
$p3->parsefile('junk.xml', ErrorContext => 3);
DESCRIPTION
This module provides ways to parse XML documents. It is built on top of
XML::Parser::Expat, which is a lower level interface to James Clark's
expat library. Each call to one of the parsing methods creates a new
instance of XML::Parser::Expat which is then used to parse the document.
Expat options may be provided when the XML::Parser object is created.
These options are then passed on to the Expat object on each parse call.
They can also be given as extra arguments to the parse methods, in which
case they override options given at XML::Parser creation time.
The behavior of the parser is controlled either by "STYLES" and/or
"HANDLERS" options, or by "setHandlers" method. These all provide
mechanisms for XML::Parser to set the handlers needed by
XML::Parser::Expat. If neither "Style" nor "Handlers" are specified, then
parsing just checks the document for being well-formed.
When underlying handlers get called, they receive as their first parameter
the *Expat* object, not the Parser object.
METHODS
new This is a class method, the constructor for XML::Parser. Options are
passed as keyword value pairs. Recognized options are:
* Style
This option provides an easy way to create a given style of
parser. The built in styles are: "Debug", "Subs", "Tree",
"Objects", and "Stream". These are all defined in separate
packages under "XML::Parser::Style::*", and you can find further
documentation for each style both below, and in those packages.
Custom styles can be provided by giving a full package name
containing at least one '::'. This package should then have subs
defined for each handler it wishes to have installed. See "STYLES"
below for a discussion of each built in style.
* Handlers
When provided, this option should be an anonymous hash containing
as keys the type of handler and as values a sub reference to
handle that type of event. All the handlers get passed as their
1st parameter the instance of expat that is parsing the document.
Further details on handlers can be found in "HANDLERS". Any
handler set here overrides the corresponding handler set with the
Style option.
* Pkg
Some styles will refer to subs defined in this package. If not
provided, it defaults to the package which called the constructor.
* ErrorContext
This is an Expat option. When this option is defined, errors are
reported in context. The value should be the number of lines to
show on either side of the line in which the error occurred.
* ProtocolEncoding
This is an Expat option. This sets the protocol encoding name. It
defaults to none. The built-in encodings are: "UTF-8",
"ISO-8859-1", "UTF-16", and "US-ASCII". Other encodings may be
used if they have encoding maps in one of the directories in the
@Encoding_Path list. Check "ENCODINGS" for more information on
encoding maps. Setting the protocol encoding overrides any
encoding in the XML declaration.
* Namespaces
This is an Expat option. If this is set to a true value, then
namespace processing is done during the parse. See "Namespaces" in
XML::Parser::Expat for further discussion of namespace processing.
* NoExpand
This is an Expat option. Normally, the parser will try to expand
references to entities defined in the internal subset. If this
option is set to a true value, and a default handler is also set,
then the default handler will be called when an entity reference
is seen in text. This has no effect if a default handler has not
been registered, and it has no effect on the expansion of entity
references inside attribute values.
* Stream_Delimiter
This is an Expat option. It takes a string value. When this string
is found alone on a line while parsing from a stream, then the
parse is ended as if it saw an end of file. The intended use is
with a stream of xml documents in a MIME multipart format. The
string should not contain a trailing newline.
* ParseParamEnt
This is an Expat option. Unless standalone is set to "yes" in the
XML declaration, setting this to a true value allows the external
DTD to be read, and parameter entities to be parsed and expanded.
* NoLWP
This option has no effect if the ExternEnt or ExternEntFin
handlers are directly set. Otherwise, if true, it forces the use
of a file based external entity handler.
* Non_Expat_Options
If provided, this should be an anonymous hash whose keys are
options that shouldn't be passed to Expat. This should only be of
concern to those subclassing XML::Parser.
setHandlers(TYPE, HANDLER [, TYPE, HANDLER [...]])
This method registers handlers for various parser events. It overrides
any previous handlers registered through the Style or Handler options
or through earlier calls to setHandlers. By providing a false or
undefined value as the handler, the existing handler can be unset.
This method returns a list of type, handler pairs corresponding to the
input. The handlers returned are the ones that were in effect prior to
the call.
See a description of the handler types in "HANDLERS".
parse(SOURCE [, OPT => OPT_VALUE [...]])
The SOURCE parameter should either be a string containing the whole
XML document, or it should be an open IO::Handle. Constructor options
to XML::Parser::Expat given as keyword-value pairs may follow the
SOURCE parameter. These override, for this call, any options or
attributes passed through from the XML::Parser instance.
A die call is thrown if a parse error occurs. Otherwise it will return
1 or whatever is returned from the Final handler, if one is installed.
In other words, what parse may return depends on the style.
parsestring
This is just an alias for parse for backwards compatibility.
parsefile(FILE [, OPT => OPT_VALUE [...]])
Open FILE for reading, then call parse with the open handle. The file
is closed no matter how parse returns. Returns what parse returns.
parse_start([ OPT => OPT_VALUE [...]])
Create and return a new instance of XML::Parser::ExpatNB. Constructor
options may be provided. If an init handler has been provided, it is
called before returning the ExpatNB object. Documents are parsed by
making incremental calls to the parse_more method of this object,
which takes a string. A single call to the parse_done method of this
object, which takes no arguments, indicates that the document is
finished.
If there is a final handler installed, it is executed by the
parse_done method before returning and the parse_done method returns
whatever is returned by the final handler.
HANDLERS
Expat is an event based parser. As the parser recognizes parts of the
document (say the start or end tag for an XML element), then any handlers
registered for that type of an event are called with suitable parameters.
All handlers receive an instance of XML::Parser::Expat as their first
argument. See "METHODS" in XML::Parser::Expat for a discussion of the
methods that can be called on this object.
Init (Expat)
This is called just before the parsing of the document starts.
Final (Expat)
This is called just after parsing has finished, but only if no errors
occurred during the parse. Parse returns what this returns.
Start (Expat, Element [, Attr, Val [,...]])
This event is generated when an XML start tag is recognized. Element is
the name of the XML element type that is opened with the start tag. The
Attr & Val pairs are generated for each attribute in the start tag.
End (Expat, Element)
This event is generated when an XML end tag is recognized. Note that an
XML empty tag (<foo/>) generates both a start and an end event.
Char (Expat, String)
This event is generated when non-markup is recognized. The non-markup
sequence of characters is in String. A single non-markup sequence of
characters may generate multiple calls to this handler. Whatever the
encoding of the string in the original document, this is given to the
handler in UTF-8.
Proc (Expat, Target, Data)
This event is generated when a processing instruction is recognized.
Comment (Expat, Data)
This event is generated when a comment is recognized.
CdataStart (Expat)
This is called at the start of a CDATA section.
CdataEnd (Expat)
This is called at the end of a CDATA section.
Default (Expat, String)
This is called for any characters that don't have a registered handler.
This includes both characters that are part of markup for which no events
are generated (markup declarations) and characters that could generate
events, but for which no handler has been registered.
Whatever the encoding in the original document, the string is returned to
the handler in UTF-8.
Unparsed (Expat, Entity, Base, Sysid, Pubid, Notation)
This is called for a declaration of an unparsed entity. Entity is the name
of the entity. Base is the base to be used for resolving a relative URI.
Sysid is the system id. Pubid is the public id. Notation is the notation
name. Base and Pubid may be undefined.
Notation (Expat, Notation, Base, Sysid, Pubid)
This is called for a declaration of notation. Notation is the notation
name. Base is the base to be used for resolving a relative URI. Sysid is
the system id. Pubid is the public id. Base, Sysid, and Pubid may all be
undefined.
ExternEnt (Expat, Base, Sysid, Pubid)
This is called when an external entity is referenced. Base is the base to
be used for resolving a relative URI. Sysid is the system id. Pubid is the
public id. Base, and Pubid may be undefined.
This handler should either return a string, which represents the contents
of the external entity, or return an open filehandle that can be read to
obtain the contents of the external entity, or return undef, which
indicates the external entity couldn't be found and will generate a parse
error.
If an open filehandle is returned, it must be returned as either a glob
(*FOO) or as a reference to a glob (e.g. an instance of IO::Handle).
A default handler is installed for this event. The default handler is
XML::Parser::lwp_ext_ent_handler unless the NoLWP option was provided with
a true value, otherwise XML::Parser::file_ext_ent_handler is the default
handler for external entities. Even without the NoLWP option, if the URI
or LWP modules are missing, the file based handler ends up being used
after giving a warning on the first external entity reference.
The LWP external entity handler will use proxies defined in the
environment (http_proxy, ftp_proxy, etc.).
Please note that the LWP external entity handler reads the entire entity
into a string and returns it, where as the file handler opens a
filehandle.
Also note that the file external entity handler will likely choke on
absolute URIs or file names that don't fit the conventions of the local
operating system.
The expat base method can be used to set a basename for relative
pathnames. If no basename is given, or if the basename is itself a
relative name, then it is relative to the current working directory.
ExternEntFin (Expat)
This is called after parsing an external entity. It's not called unless an
ExternEnt handler is also set. There is a default handler installed that
pairs with the default ExternEnt handler.
If you're going to install your own ExternEnt handler, then you should set
(or unset) this handler too.
Entity (Expat, Name, Val, Sysid, Pubid, Ndata, IsParam)
This is called when an entity is declared. For internal entities, the Val
parameter will contain the value and the remaining three parameters will
be undefined. For external entities, the Val parameter will be undefined,
the Sysid parameter will have the system id, the Pubid parameter will have
the public id if it was provided (it will be undefined otherwise), the
Ndata parameter will contain the notation for unparsed entities. If this
is a parameter entity declaration, then the IsParam parameter is true.
Note that this handler and the Unparsed handler above overlap. If both are
set, then this handler will not be called for unparsed entities.
Element (Expat, Name, Model)
The element handler is called when an element declaration is found. Name
is the element name, and Model is the content model as an
XML::Parser::Content object. See "XML::Parser::ContentModel Methods" in
XML::Parser::Expat for methods available for this class.
Attlist (Expat, Elname, Attname, Type, Default, Fixed)
This handler is called for each attribute in an ATTLIST declaration. So an
ATTLIST declaration that has multiple attributes will generate multiple
calls to this handler. The Elname parameter is the name of the element
with which the attribute is being associated. The Attname parameter is the
name of the attribute. Type is the attribute type, given as a string.
Default is the default value, which will either be "#REQUIRED", "#IMPLIED"
or a quoted string (i.e. the returned string will begin and end with a
quote character). If Fixed is true, then this is a fixed attribute.
Doctype (Expat, Name, Sysid, Pubid, Internal)
This handler is called for DOCTYPE declarations. Name is the document type
name. Sysid is the system id of the document type, if it was provided,
otherwise it's undefined. Pubid is the public id of the document type,
which will be undefined if no public id was given. Internal is the
internal subset, given as a string. If there was no internal subset, it
will be undefined. Internal will contain all whitespace, comments,
processing instructions, and declarations seen in the internal subset. The
declarations will be there whether or not they have been processed by
another handler (except for unparsed entities processed by the Unparsed
handler). However, comments and processing instructions will not appear if
they've been processed by their respective handlers.
* DoctypeFin (Parser)
This handler is called after parsing of the DOCTYPE declaration has
finished, including any internal or external DTD declarations.
XMLDecl (Expat, Version, Encoding, Standalone)
This handler is called for xml declarations. Version is a string
containing the version. Encoding is either undefined or contains an
encoding string. Standalone will be either true, false, or undefined if
the standalone attribute is yes, no, or not made respectively.
STYLES
Debug
This just prints out the document in outline form. Nothing special is
returned by parse.
Subs
Each time an element starts, a sub by that name in the package specified
by the Pkg option is called with the same parameters that the Start
handler gets called with.
Each time an element ends, a sub with that name appended with an
underscore ("_"), is called with the same parameters that the End handler
gets called with.
Nothing special is returned by parse.
Tree
Parse will return a parse tree for the document. Each node in the tree
takes the form of a tag, content pair. Text nodes are represented with a
pseudo-tag of "0" and the string that is their content. For elements, the
content is an array reference. The first item in the array is a (possibly
empty) hash reference containing attributes. The remainder of the array is
a sequence of tag-content pairs representing the content of the element.
So for example the result of parsing:
<foo><head id="a">Hello <em>there</em></head><bar>Howdy<ref/></bar>do</foo>
would be:
Tag Content
==================================================================
[foo, [{}, head, [{id => "a"}, 0, "Hello ", em, [{}, 0, "there"]],
bar, [ {}, 0, "Howdy", ref, [{}]],
0, "do"
]
]
The root document "foo", has 3 children: a "head" element, a "bar" element
and the text "do". After the empty attribute hash, these are represented
in it's contents by 3 tag-content pairs.
Objects
This is similar to the Tree style, except that a hash object is created
for each element. The corresponding object will be in the class whose name
is created by appending "::" and the element name to the package set with
the Pkg option. Non-markup text will be in the ::Characters class. The
contents of the corresponding object will be in an anonymous array that is
the value of the Kids property for that object.
Stream
This style also uses the Pkg package. If none of the subs that this style
looks for is there, then the effect of parsing with this style is to print
a canonical copy of the document without comments or declarations. All the
subs receive as their 1st parameter the Expat instance for the document
they're parsing.
It looks for the following routines:
* StartDocument
Called at the start of the parse .
* StartTag
Called for every start tag with a second parameter of the element
type. The $_ variable will contain a copy of the tag and the %_
variable will contain attribute values supplied for that element.
* EndTag
Called for every end tag with a second parameter of the element type.
The $_ variable will contain a copy of the end tag.
* Text
Called just before start or end tags with accumulated non-markup text
in the $_ variable.
* PI
Called for processing instructions. The $_ variable will contain a
copy of the PI and the target and data are sent as 2nd and 3rd
parameters respectively.
* EndDocument
Called at conclusion of the parse.
ENCODINGS
XML documents may be encoded in character sets other than Unicode as long
as they may be mapped into the Unicode character set. Expat has further
restrictions on encodings. Read the xmlparse.h header file in the expat
distribution to see details on these restrictions.
Expat has built-in encodings for: "UTF-8", "ISO-8859-1", "UTF-16", and
"US-ASCII". Encodings are set either through the XML declaration encoding
attribute or through the ProtocolEncoding option to XML::Parser or
XML::Parser::Expat.
For encodings other than the built-ins, expat calls the function
load_encoding in the Expat package with the encoding name. This function
looks for a file in the path list @XML::Parser::Expat::Encoding_Path, that
matches the lower-cased name with a '.enc' extension. The first one it
finds, it loads.
If you wish to build your own encoding maps, check out the XML::Encoding
module from CPAN.
AUTHORS
Larry Wall <larry@wall.org> wrote version 1.0.
Clark Cooper <coopercc@netheaven.com> picked up support, changed the API
for this version (2.x), provided documentation, and added some standard
package features.
Matt Sergeant <matt@sergeant.org> is now maintaining XML::Parser