42 KiB
Mini-XML was initially developed for the Gutenprint
project to replace the rather large and unwieldy libxml2
library with
something substantially smaller and easier-to-use. It all began one morning in
June of 2003 when Robert posted the following sentence to the developer's list:
It's bad enough that we require libxml2, but rolling our own XML parser is a bit more than we can handle.
I then replied with:
Given the limited scope of what you use in XML, it should be trivial to code a mini-XML API in a few hundred lines of code.
I took my own challenge and coded furiously for two days to produce the initial public release of Mini-XML, total lines of code: 696. Robert promptly integrated Mini-XML into Gutenprint and removed libxml2.
Thanks to lots of feedback and support from various developers, Mini-XML has evolved since then to provide a more complete XML implementation and now stands at a whopping 3,491 lines of code, compared to 175,808 lines of code for libxml2 version 2.11.7.
Resources
The Mini-XML home page can be found at https://www.msweet.org/mxml. From there you can download the current version of Mini-XML, access the issue tracker, and find other resources.
Mini-XML v4 has a slightly different API than prior releases. See the Migrating from Mini-XML v3.x chapter for details.
Legal Stuff
The Mini-XML library is copyright © 2003-2024 by Michael R Sweet and is provided under the Apache License Version 2.0 with an (optional) exception to allow linking against GPL2/LGPL2-only software. See the files "LICENSE" and "NOTICE" for more information.
Using Mini-XML
Mini-XML provides a single header file which you include:
#include <mxml.h>
The Mini-XML library is included with your program using the -lmxml4
option:
gcc -o myprogram myprogram.c -lmxml4
If you have the pkg-config
software installed, you can use it to determine the
proper compiler and linker options for your installation:
gcc `pkg-config --cflags mxml4` -o myprogram myprogram.c `pkg-config --libs mxml4`
Note: The library name "mxml4" is a configure-time option. If you use the
--disable-libmxml4-prefix
configure option the library is named "mxml".
API Basics
Every piece of information in an XML file is stored in memory in "nodes". Nodes
are represented by mxml_node_t
pointers. Each node has an associated type,
value(s), a parent node, sibling nodes (previous and next), potentially first
and last child nodes, and an optional user data pointer.
For example, if you have an XML file like the following:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<data>
<node>val1</node>
<node>val2</node>
<node>val3</node>
<group>
<node>val4</node>
<node>val5</node>
<node>val6</node>
</group>
<node>val7</node>
<node>val8</node>
</data>
the node tree for the file would look like the following in memory:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
|
<data>
|
<node> - <node> - <node> - <group> - <node> - <node>
| | | | | |
val1 val2 val3 | val7 val8
|
<node> - <node> - <node>
| | |
val4 val5 val6
where "-" is a pointer to the sibling node and "|" is a pointer to the first child or parent node.
The mxmlGetType function gets the type of a node which is represented as a
mxml_type_t
enumeration value:
MXML_TYPE_CDATA
: CDATA such as<![CDATA[...]]>
,MXML_TYPE_COMMENT
: A comment such as<!-- my comment -->
,MXML_TYPE_CUSTOM
: A custom value defined by your application,MXML_TYPE_DECLARATION
: A declaration such as<!DOCTYPE html>
,MXML_TYPE_DIRECTIVE
: A processing instruction such as<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
,MXML_TYPE_ELEMENT
: An XML element with optional attributes such as<element name="value">
,MXML_TYPE_INTEGER
: A whitespace-delimited integer value such as42
,MXML_TYPE_OPAQUE
: An opaque string value that preserves all whitespace such asAll work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy.
,MXML_TYPE_REAL
: A whitespace-delimited floating point value such as123.4
, orMXML_TYPE_TEXT
: A whitespace-delimited text (fragment) value such asWord
.
The parent, sibling, and child nodes are accessed using the mxmlGetParent, mxmlGetNextSibling, mxmlGetPreviousSibling, mxmlGetFirstChild, and mxmlGetLastChild functions.
The value(s) of a node are accessed using the mxmlGetCDATA, mxmlGetComment, mxmlGetDeclaration, mxmlGetDirective, mxmlGetElement, mxmlElementGetAttr, mxmlGetInteger, mxmlGetOpaque, mxmlGetReal, and mxmlGetText functions.
Loading an XML File
You load an XML file using the mxmlLoadFilename function:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlLoadFilename(mxml_node_t *top, mxml_options_t *options,
const char *filename);
Mini-XML also provides functions to load from a FILE
pointer, a file
descriptor, a string, or using a callback:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlLoadFd(mxml_node_t *top, mxml_options_t *options,
int fd);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlLoadFile(mxml_node_t *top, mxml_options_t *options,
FILE *fp);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlLoadIO(mxml_node_t *top, mxml_options_t *options,
mxml_io_cb_t io_cb, void *io_cbdata);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlLoadString(mxml_node_t *top, mxml_options_t *options,
const char *s);
Each accepts a pointer to the top-most ("root") node (usually NULL
) you want
to add the XML data to, any load options, and the content to be loaded. For
example, the following code will load an XML file called "example.xml" using the
default load options:
mxml_node_t *xml;
xml = mxmlLoadFilename(/*top*/NULL, /*options*/NULL,
"example.xml");
Load Options
Load options are specified using a mxml_options_t
pointer, which you create
using the mxmlOptionsNew function:
mxml_options_t *options = mxmlOptionsNew();
The default load options will treat any values in your XML as whitespace-
delimited text (MXML_TYPE_TEXT
). You can specify a different type of values
using the mxmlOptionsSetTypeValue function. For example, the following
will specify that values are opaque text strings, including whitespace
(MXML_TYPE_OPAQUE
):
mxmlOptionsSetTypeValue(options, MXML_TYPE_OPAQUE);
For more complex XML documents, you can specify a callback that returns the type
of value for a given element node using the mxmlOptionsSetTypeCallback
function. For example, to specify a callback function called my_type_cb
that
has no callback data:
mxmlOptionsSetTypeCallback(options, my_type_cb, /*cbdata*/NULL);
The my_type_cb
function accepts the callback data pointer (NULL
in this
case) and the mxml_node_t
pointer for the current element and returns a
mxml_type_t
enumeration value specifying the value type for child nodes. For
example, the following function looks at the "type" attribute and the element
name to determine the value types of the node's children:
mxml_type_t
my_load_cb(void *cbdata, mxml_node_t *node)
{
const char *type;
/*
* You can lookup attributes and/or use the element name,
* hierarchy, etc...
*/
type = mxmlElementGetAttr(node, "type");
if (type == NULL)
type = mxmlGetElement(node);
if (type == NULL)
type = "text";
if (!strcmp(type, "integer"))
return (MXML_TYPE_INTEGER);
else if (!strcmp(type, "opaque"))
return (MXML_TYPE_OPAQUE);
else if (!strcmp(type, "real"))
return (MXML_TYPE_REAL);
else
return (MXML_TYPE_TEXT);
}
Finding Nodes
The mxmlFindPath function finds the (first) value node under a specific element using a path. The path string can contain the "*" wildcard to match a single element node in the hierarchy. For example, the following code will find the first "node" element under the "group" element, first using an explicit path and then using a wildcard:
mxml_node_t *directnode = mxmlFindPath(xml, "data/group/node");
mxml_node_t *wildnode = mxmlFindPath(xml, "data/*/node");
The mxmlFindElement function can be used to find a named element, optionally matching an attribute and value:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlFindElement(mxml_node_t *node, mxml_node_t *top,
const char *element, const char *attr,
const char *value, int descend);
The element
, attr
, and value
arguments can be passed as NULL
to act as
wildcards, e.g.:
mxml_node_t *node;
/* Find the first "a" element */
node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, "a", NULL, NULL,
MXML_DESCEND_ALL);
/* Find the first "a" element with "href" attribute */
node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, "a", "href", NULL,
MXML_DESCEND_ALL);
/* Find the first "a" element with "href" to a URL */
node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, "a", "href",
"http://msweet.org/",
MXML_DESCEND_ALL);
/* Find the first element with a "src" attribute*/
node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, NULL, "src", NULL,
MXML_DESCEND_ALL);
/* Find the first element with a "src" = "foo.jpg" */
node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, NULL, "src", "foo.jpg",
MXML_DESCEND_ALL);
You can also iterate with the same function:
mxml_node_t *node;
for (node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, "element", NULL,
NULL, MXML_DESCEND_ALL);
node != NULL;
node = mxmlFindElement(node, tree, "element", NULL,
NULL, MXML_DESCEND_ALL))
{
... do something ...
}
The descend
argument (MXML_DESCEND_ALL
in the previous examples) can be one
of three constants:
-
MXML_DESCEND_NONE
: ignore child nodes in the element hierarchy, instead using siblings (same level) or parent nodes (above) until the top (root) node is reached. -
MXML_DESCEND_FIRST
: start the search with the first child of the node, and then search siblings. You'll normally use this when iterating through direct children of a parent node, e.g. all of the<node>
and<group>
elements under the<?xml ...?>
parent node in the previous example. -
MXML_DESCEND_ALL
: search child nodes first, then sibling nodes, and then parent nodes.
Getting the Value(s) from Nodes
Once you have the node you can use one of the mxmlGetXxx functions to retrieve its value(s).
Element (MXML_TYPE_ELEMENT
) nodes have an associated name and zero or more
named attributes with (string) values. The mxmlGetElement function
retrieves the element name while the mxmlElementGetAttr function retrieves
the value string for a named attribute. For example, the following code looks
for HTML heading elements and, when found, displays the "id" attribute for the
heading:
const char *elemname = mxmlGetElement(node);
const char *id_value = mxmlElementGetAttr(node, "id");
if ((*elemname == 'h' || *elemname == 'H') &&
elemname[1] >= '1' && elemname[1] <= '6' &&
id_value != NULL)
printf("%s: %s\n", elemname, id_value);
The mxmlElementGetAttrByIndex and mxmlElementGetAttrCount functions allow you to iterate all attributes of an element. For example, the following code prints the element name and each of its attributes:
const char *elemname = mxmlGetElement(node);
printf("%s:\n", elemname);
size_t i, count;
for (i = 0, count = mxmlElementGetAttrCount(node); i < count; i ++)
{
const char *attrname, *attrvalue;
attrvalue = mxmlElementGetAttrByIndex(node, i, &attrname);
printf(" %s=\"%s\"\n", attrname, attrvalue);
}
CDATA (MXML_TYPE_CDATA
) nodes have an associated string value consisting of
the text between the <![CDATA[
and ]]>
delimiters. The mxmlGetCDATA
function retrieves the CDATA string pointer for a node. For example, the
following code gets the CDATA string value:
const char *cdatavalue = mxmlGetCDATA(node);
Comment (MXML_TYPE_COMMENT
) nodes have an associated string value consisting
of the text between the <!--
and -->
delimiters. The mxmlGetComment
function retrieves the comment string pointer for a node. For example, the
following code gets the comment string value:
const char *commentvalue = mxmlGetComment(node);
Processing instruction (MXML_TYPE_DIRECTIVE
) nodes have an associated string
value consisting of the text between the <?
and ?>
delimiters. The
mxmlGetDirective function retrieves the processing instruction string
for a node. For example, the following code gets the processing instruction
string value:
const char *instrvalue = mxmlGetDirective(node);
Integer (MXML_TYPE_INTEGER
) nodes have an associated long
value. The
mxmlGetInteger function retrieves the integer value for a node. For
example, the following code gets the integer value:
long intvalue = mxmlGetInteger(node);
Opaque string (MXML_TYPE_OPAQUE
) nodes have an associated string value
consisting of the text between elements. The mxmlGetOpaque function
retrieves the opaque string pointer for a node. For example, the following
code gets the opaque string value:
const char *opaquevalue = mxmlGetOpaque(node);
Real number (MXML_TYPE_REAL
) nodes have an associated double
value. The
mxmlGetReal function retrieves the real number for a node. For example,
the following code gets the real value:
double realvalue = mxmlGetReal(node);
Whitespace-delimited text string (MXML_TYPE_TEXT
) nodes have an associated
whitespace indicator and string value extracted from the text between elements.
The mxmlGetText function retrieves the text string pointer and whitespace
boolean value for a node. For example, the following code gets the text and
whitespace indicator:
const char *textvalue;
bool whitespace;
textvalue = mxmlGetText(node, &whitespace);
Saving an XML File
You save an XML file using the mxmlSaveFilename function:
bool
mxmlSaveFilename(mxml_node_t *node, mxml_options_t *options,
const char *filename);
Mini-XML also provides functions to save to a FILE
pointer, a file descriptor,
a string, or using a callback:
char *
mxmlSaveAllocString(mxml_node_t *node, mxml_options_t *options);
bool
mxmlSaveFd(mxml_node_t *node, mxml_options_t *options,
int fd);
bool
mxmlSaveFile(mxml_node_t *node, mxml_options_t *options,
FILE *fp);
bool
mxmlSaveIO(mxml_node_t *node, mxml_options_t *options,
mxml_io_cb_t *io_cb, void *io_cbdata);
size_t
mxmlSaveString(mxml_node_t *node, mxml_options_t *options,
char *buffer, size_t bufsize);
Each accepts a pointer to the top-most ("root") node, any save options, and (as needed) the destination. For example, the following code saves an XML file to the file "example.xml" with the default options:
mxmlSaveFile(xml, /*options*/NULL, "example.xml");
Save Options
Save options are specified using a mxml_options_t
pointer, which you create
using the mxmlOptionsNew function:
mxml_options_t *options = mxmlOptionsNew();
The default save options will wrap output lines at column 72 but not add any additional whitespace otherwise. You can change the wrap column using the mxmlOptionsSetWrapMargin function. For example, the following will set the wrap column to 0 which disables wrapping:
mxmlOptionsSetWrapMargin(options, 0);
To add additional whitespace to the output, set a whitespace callback using the
mxmlOptionsSetWhitespaceCallback function. A whitespace callback accepts
a callback data pointer, the current node, and a whitespace position value of
MXML_WS_BEFORE_OPEN
, MXML_WS_AFTER_OPEN
, MXML_WS_BEFORE_CLOSE
, or
MXML_WS_AFTER_CLOSE
. The callback should return NULL
if no whitespace
is to be inserted or a string of spaces, tabs, carriage returns, and newlines to
insert otherwise.
The following whitespace callback can be used to add whitespace to XHTML output to make it more readable in a standard text editor:
const char *
whitespace_cb(void *cbdata, mxml_node_t *node, mxml_ws_t where)
{
const char *element;
/*
* We can conditionally break to a new line before or after
* any element. These are just common HTML elements...
*/
element = mxmlGetElement(node);
if (!strcmp(element, "html") ||
!strcmp(element, "head") ||
!strcmp(element, "body") ||
!strcmp(element, "pre") ||
!strcmp(element, "p") ||
!strcmp(element, "h1") ||
!strcmp(element, "h2") ||
!strcmp(element, "h3") ||
!strcmp(element, "h4") ||
!strcmp(element, "h5") ||
!strcmp(element, "h6"))
{
/*
* Newlines before open and after close...
*/
if (where == MXML_WS_BEFORE_OPEN ||
where == MXML_WS_AFTER_CLOSE)
return ("\n");
}
else if (!strcmp(element, "dl") ||
!strcmp(element, "ol") ||
!strcmp(element, "ul"))
{
/*
* Put a newline before and after list elements...
*/
return ("\n");
}
else if (!strcmp(element, "dd") ||
!strcmp(element, "dt") ||
!strcmp(element, "li"))
{
/*
* Put a tab before <li>'s, <dd>'s, and <dt>'s, and a
* newline after them...
*/
if (where == MXML_WS_BEFORE_OPEN)
return ("\t");
else if (where == MXML_WS_AFTER_CLOSE)
return ("\n");
}
/*
* Otherwise return NULL for no added whitespace...
*/
return (NULL);
}
The following code will set the whitespace callback for the save options:
mxmlOptionsSetWhitespaceCallback(options, whitespace_cb, /*cbdata*/NULL);
Freeing Memory
Once you are done with the XML data, use the mxmlDelete function to free the memory that is used for a particular node and its children. For example, the following code frees the XML data loaded by the previous examples:
mxmlDelete(xml);
Creating New XML Documents
You can create new and update existing XML documents in memory using the various mxmlNewXxx functions. The following code will create the XML document described in the Using Mini-XML chapter:
mxml_node_t *xml; /* <?xml version="1.0" charset="utf-8"?> */
mxml_node_t *data; /* <data> */
mxml_node_t *node; /* <node> */
mxml_node_t *group; /* <group> */
xml = mxmlNewXML("1.0");
data = mxmlNewElement(xml, "data");
node = mxmlNewElement(data, "node");
mxmlNewText(node, false, "val1");
node = mxmlNewElement(data, "node");
mxmlNewText(node, false, "val2");
node = mxmlNewElement(data, "node");
mxmlNewText(node, false, "val3");
group = mxmlNewElement(data, "group");
node = mxmlNewElement(group, "node");
mxmlNewText(node, false, "val4");
node = mxmlNewElement(group, "node");
mxmlNewText(node, false, "val5");
node = mxmlNewElement(group, "node");
mxmlNewText(node, false, "val6");
node = mxmlNewElement(data, "node");
mxmlNewText(node, false, "val7");
node = mxmlNewElement(data, "node");
mxmlNewText(node, false, "val8");
We start by creating the processing instruction node common to all XML files using the mxmlNewXML function:
xml = mxmlNewXML("1.0");
We then create the <data>
node used for this document using the
mxmlNewElement function. The first argument specifies the parent node
(xml
) while the second specifies the element name (data
):
data = mxmlNewElement(xml, "data");
Each <node>...</node>
in the file is created using the mxmlNewElement
and mxmlNewText functions. The first argument of mxmlNewText
specifies the parent node (node
). The second argument specifies whether
whitespace appears before the text - false
in this case. The last argument
specifies the actual text to add:
node = mxmlNewElement(data, "node");
mxmlNewText(node, false, "val1");
The resulting in-memory XML document can then be saved or processed just like one loaded from disk or a string.
Element Nodes
Element (MXML_TYPE_ELEMENT
) nodes are created using the mxmlNewElement
function. Element attributes are set using the mxmlElementSetAttr and
mxmlElementSetAttrf functions and cleared using the
mxmlElementClearAttr function:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewElement(mxml_node_t *parent, const char *name);
void
mxmlElementClearAttr(mxml_node_t *node, const char *name);
void
mxmlElementSetAttr(mxml_node_t *node, const char *name,
const char *value);
void
mxmlElementSetAttrf(mxml_node_t *node, const char *name,
const char *format, ...);
CDATA Nodes
CDATA (MXML_TYPE_CDATA
) nodes are created using the mxmlNewCDATA
and mxmlNewCDATAf functions and set using the mxmlSetCDATA and
mxmlSetCDATAf functions:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewCDATA(mxml_node_t *parent, const char *string);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewCDATAf(mxml_node_t *parent, const char *format, ...);
void
mxmlSetCDATA(mxml_node_t *node, const char *string);
void
mxmlSetCDATAf(mxml_node_t *node, const char *format, ...);
Comment Nodes
Comment (MXML_TYPE_COMMENT
) nodes are created using the mxmlNewComment
and mxmlNewCommentf functions and set using the mxmlSetComment
and mxmlSetCommentf functions:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewComment(mxml_node_t *parent, const char *string);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewCommentf(mxml_node_t *parent, const char *format, ...);
void
mxmlSetComment(mxml_node_t *node, const char *string);
void
mxmlSetCommentf(mxml_node_t *node, const char *format, ...);
Processing Instruction Nodes
Processing instruction (MXML_TYPE_DIRECTIVE
) nodes are created using the
mxmlNewDirective and mxmlNewDirectivef functions and set using the
mxmlSetDirective and mxmlSetDirectivef functions:
mxml_node_t *node = mxmlNewDirective("xml-stylesheet type=\"text/css\" href=\"style.css\"");
mxml_node_t *node = mxmlNewDirectivef("xml version=\"%s\"", version);
The mxmlNewXML function can be used to create the top-level "xml" processing instruction with an associated version number:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewXML(const char *version);
Integer Nodes
Integer (MXML_TYPE_INTEGER
) nodes are created using the mxmlNewInteger
function and set using the mxmlSetInteger function:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewInteger(mxml_node_t *parent, long integer);
void
mxmlSetInteger(mxml_node_t *node, long integer);
Opaque String Nodes
Opaque string (MXML_TYPE_OPAQUE
) nodes are created using the
mxmlNewOpaque and mxmlNewOpaquef functions and set using the
mxmlSetOpaque and mxmlSetOpaquef functions:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewOpaque(mxml_node_t *parent, const char *opaque);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewOpaquef(mxml_node_t *parent, const char *format, ...);
void
mxmlSetOpaque(mxml_node_t *node, const char *opaque);
void
mxmlSetOpaquef(mxml_node_t *node, const char *format, ...);
Real Number Nodes
Real number (MXML_TYPE_REAL
) nodes are created using the mxmlNewReal
function and set using the mxmlSetReal function:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewReal(mxml_node_t *parent, double real);
void
mxmlSetReal(mxml_node_t *node, double real);
Text Nodes
Whitespace-delimited text string (MXML_TYPE_TEXT
) nodes are created using the
mxmlNewText and mxmlNewTextf functions and set using the
mxmlSetText and mxmlSetTextf functions. Each text node consists of
a text string and (leading) whitespace boolean value.
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewText(mxml_node_t *parent, bool whitespace,
const char *string);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewTextf(mxml_node_t *parent, bool whitespace,
const char *format, ...);
void
mxmlSetText(mxml_node_t *node, bool whitespace,
const char *string);
void
mxmlSetTextf(mxml_node_t *node, bool whitespace,
const char *format, ...);
Iterating and Indexing the Tree
Iterating Nodes
While the mxmlFindNode and mxmlFindPath functions will find a particular element node, sometimes you need to iterate over all nodes. The mxmlWalkNext and mxmlWalkPrev functions can be used to iterate through the XML node tree:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlWalkNext(mxml_node_t *node, mxml_node_t *top,
int descend);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlWalkPrev(mxml_node_t *node, mxml_node_t *top,
int descend);
Depending on the value of the descend
argument, these functions will
automatically traverse child, sibling, and parent nodes until the top
node is
reached. For example, the following code will iterate over all of the nodes in
the sample XML document in the Using Mini-XML chapter:
mxml_node_t *node;
for (node = xml;
node != NULL;
node = mxmlWalkNext(node, xml, MXML_DESCEND_ALL))
{
... do something ...
}
The nodes will be returned in the following order:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<data>
<node>
val1
<node>
val2
<node>
val3
<group>
<node>
val4
<node>
val5
<node>
val6
<node>
val7
<node>
val8
Indexing
The mxmlIndexNew function allows you to create an index of nodes for faster searching and enumeration:
mxml_index_t *
mxmlIndexNew(mxml_node_t *node, const char *element,
const char *attr);
The element
and attr
arguments control which elements are included in the
index. If element
is not NULL
then only elements with the specified name
are added to the index. Similarly, if attr
is not NULL
then only elements
containing the specified attribute are added to the index. The nodes are sorted
in the index.
For example, the following code creates an index of all "id" values in an XML document:
mxml_index_t *ind = mxmlIndexNew(xml, NULL, "id");
Once the index is created, the mxmlIndexFind function can be used to find a matching node:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlIndexFind(mxml_index_t *ind, const char *element,
const char *value);
For example, the following code will find the element whose "id" string is "42":
mxml_node_t *node = mxmlIndexFind(ind, NULL, "42");
Alternately, the mxmlIndexReset and mxmlIndexEnum functions can be used to enumerate the nodes in the index:
mxml_node_t *
mxmlIndexReset(mxml_index_t *ind);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlIndexEnum(mxml_index_t *ind);
Typically these functions will be used in a for
loop:
mxml_node_t *node;
for (node = mxmlIndexReset(ind);
node != NULL;
node = mxmlIndexEnum(ind))
{
... do something ...
}
The mxmlIndexCount function returns the number of nodes in the index:
size_t
mxmlIndexGetCount(mxml_index_t *ind);
Finally, the mxmlIndexDelete function frees all memory associated with the index:
void
mxmlIndexDelete(mxml_index_t *ind);
Advanced Usage
Custom Data Types
Mini-XML supports custom data types via load and save callback options.
Only a single set of callbacks can be active at any time for a mxml_options_t
pointer, however your callbacks can store additional information in order to
support multiple custom data types as needed. The MXML_TYPE_CUSTOM
node type
identifies custom data nodes.
The mxmlGetCustom function retrieves the custom value pointer for a node.
const void *
mxmlGetCustom(mxml_node_t *node);
Custom (MXML_TYPE_CUSTOM
) nodes are created using the mxmlNewCustom
function or using the custom load callback specified using the
mxmlOptionsSetCustomCallbacks function:
typedef void (*mxml_custfree_cb_t)(void *cbdata, void *data);
typedef bool (*mxml_custload_cb_t)(void *cbdata, mxml_node_t *, const char *);
typedef char *(*mxml_custsave_cb_t)(void *cbdata, mxml_node_t *);
mxml_node_t *
mxmlNewCustom(mxml_node_t *parent, void *data,
mxml_custfree_cb_t free_cb, void *free_cbdata);
int
mxmlSetCustom(mxml_node_t *node, void *data,
mxml_custfree_cb_t free_cb, void *free_cbdata);
void
mxmlOptionsSetCustomCallbacks(mxml_option_t *options,
mxml_custload_cb_t load_cb,
mxml_custsave_cb_t save_cb,
void *cbdata);
The load callback receives the callback data pointer, a pointer to the current data node, and a string of opaque character data from the XML source with character entities converted to the corresponding UTF-8 characters. For example, if we wanted to support a custom date/time type whose value is encoded as "yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ" (ISO 8601 format), the load callback would look like the following:
typedef struct iso_date_time_s
{
unsigned year, /* Year */
month, /* Month */
day, /* Day */
hour, /* Hour */
minute, /* Minute */
second; /* Second */
time_t unix; /* UNIX time */
} iso_date_time_t;
bool
custom_load_cb(void *cbdata, mxml_node_t *node, const char *data)
{
iso_date_time_t *dt;
struct tm tmdata;
/*
* Allocate data structure...
*/
dt = calloc(1, sizeof(iso_date_time_t));
/*
* Try reading 6 unsigned integers from the data string...
*/
if (sscanf(data, "%u-%u-%uT%u:%u:%uZ", &(dt->year),
&(dt->month), &(dt->day), &(dt->hour),
&(dt->minute), &(dt->second)) != 6)
{
/*
* Unable to read numbers, free the data structure and
* return an error...
*/
free(dt);
return (false);
}
/*
* Range check values...
*/
if (dt->month < 1 || dt->month > 12 ||
dt->day < 1 || dt->day > 31 ||
dt->hour < 0 || dt->hour > 23 ||
dt->minute < 0 || dt->minute > 59 ||
dt->second < 0 || dt->second > 60)
{
/*
* Date information is out of range...
*/
free(dt);
return (false);
}
/*
* Convert ISO time to UNIX time in seconds...
*/
tmdata.tm_year = dt->year - 1900;
tmdata.tm_mon = dt->month - 1;
tmdata.tm_day = dt->day;
tmdata.tm_hour = dt->hour;
tmdata.tm_min = dt->minute;
tmdata.tm_sec = dt->second;
dt->unix = gmtime(&tmdata);
/*
* Assign custom node data and free callback function/data...
*/
mxmlSetCustom(node, data, custom_free_cb, cbdata);
/*
* Return with no errors...
*/
return (true);
}
The function itself can return true
on success or false
if it is unable to
decode the custom data or the data contains an error. Custom data nodes contain
a void
pointer to the allocated custom data for the node and a pointer to a
destructor function which will free the custom data when the node is deleted.
In this example, we use the standard free
function since everything is
contained in a single calloc'd block.
The save callback receives the node pointer and returns an allocated string containing the custom data value. The following save callback could be used for our ISO date/time type:
char *
custom_save_cb(void *cbdata, mxml_node_t *node)
{
char data[255];
iso_date_time_t *dt;
dt = (iso_date_time_t *)mxmlGetCustom(node);
snprintf(data, sizeof(data),
"%04u-%02u-%02uT%02u:%02u:%02uZ",
dt->year, dt->month, dt->day, dt->hour,
dt->minute, dt->second);
return (strdup(data));
}
You register these callback functions using the mxmlOptionsSetCustomCallbacks function:
mxmlOptionsSetCustomCallbacks(options, custom_load_cb,
custom_save_cb, /*cbdata*/NULL);
SAX (Stream) Loading of Documents
Mini-XML supports an implementation of the Simple API for XML (SAX) which allows you to load and process an XML document as a stream of nodes. Aside from allowing you to process XML documents of any size, the Mini-XML implementation also allows you to retain portions of the document in memory for later processing.
The mxmlLoadXxx functions support a SAX option that is enabled by setting a
callback function and data pointer with the mxmlOptionsSetSAXCallback
function. The callback function receives the data pointer you supplied, the
node, and an event code and returns true
to continue processing or false
to stop:
bool
sax_cb(void *cbdata, mxml_node_t *node,
mxml_sax_event_t event)
{
... do something ...
// Continue processing...
return (true);
}
The event will be one of the following:
MXML_SAX_EVENT_CDATA
: CDATA was just read.MXML_SAX_EVENT_COMMENT
: A comment was just read.MXML_SAX_EVENT_DATA
: Data (integer, opaque, real, or text) was just read.MXML_SAX_EVENT_DECLARATION
: A declaration was just read.MXML_SAX_EVENT_DIRECTIVE
: A processing directive/instruction was just read.MXML_SAX_EVENT_ELEMENT_CLOSE
- A close element was just read (</element>
)MXML_SAX_EVENT_ELEMENT_OPEN
- An open element was just read (<element>
)
Elements are released after the close element is processed. All other nodes are released after they are processed. The SAX callback can retain the node using the mxmlRetain function. For example, the following SAX callback will retain all nodes, effectively simulating a normal in-memory load:
bool
sax_cb(void *cbdata, mxml_node_t *node, mxml_sax_event_t event)
{
if (event != MXML_SAX_ELEMENT_CLOSE)
mxmlRetain(node);
return (true);
}
More typically the SAX callback will only retain a small portion of the document
that is needed for post-processing. For example, the following SAX callback
will retain the title and headings in an XHTML file. It also retains the
(parent) elements like <html>
, <head>
, and <body>
, and processing
directives like <?xml ... ?>
and declarations like <!DOCTYPE ... >
:
bool
sax_cb(void *cbdata, mxml_node_t *node,
mxml_sax_event_t event)
{
if (event == MXML_SAX_ELEMENT_OPEN)
{
/*
* Retain headings and titles...
*/
const char *element = mxmlGetElement(node);
if (!strcmp(element, "html") ||
!strcmp(element, "head") ||
!strcmp(element, "title") ||
!strcmp(element, "body") ||
!strcmp(element, "h1") ||
!strcmp(element, "h2") ||
!strcmp(element, "h3") ||
!strcmp(element, "h4") ||
!strcmp(element, "h5") ||
!strcmp(element, "h6"))
mxmlRetain(node);
}
else if (event == MXML_SAX_DECLARATION)
mxmlRetain(node);
else if (event == MXML_SAX_DIRECTIVE)
mxmlRetain(node);
else if (event == MXML_SAX_DATA)
{
if (mxmlGetRefCount(mxmlGetParent(node)) > 1)
{
/*
* If the parent was retained, then retain this data
* node as well.
*/
mxmlRetain(node);
}
}
return (true);
}
The resulting skeleton document tree can then be searched just like one loaded without the SAX callback function. For example, a filter that reads an XHTML document from stdin and then shows the title and headings in the document would look like:
mxml_options_t *options;
mxml_node_t *xml, *title, *body, *heading;
options = mxmlOptionsNew();
mxmlOptionsSetSAXCallback(options, sax_cb,
/*cbdata*/NULL);
xml = mxmlLoadFd(/*top*/NULL, options, /*fd*/0);
title = mxmlFindElement(doc, doc, "title", NULL, NULL,
MXML_DESCEND_ALL);
if (title)
print_children(title);
body = mxmlFindElement(doc, doc, "body", NULL, NULL,
MXML_DESCEND_ALL);
if (body)
{
for (heading = mxmlGetFirstChild(body);
heading;
heading = mxmlGetNextSibling(heading))
print_children(heading);
}
mxmlDelete(xml);
mxmlOptionsDelete(options);
The print_children
function is:
void
print_children(mxml_node_t *parent)
{
mxml_node_t *node;
const char *text;
bool whitespace;
for (node = mxmlGetFirstChild(parent);
node != NULL;
node = mxmlGetNextSibling(node))
{
text = mxmlGetText(node, &whitespace);
if (whitespace)
putchar(' ');
fputs(text, stdout);
}
putchar('\n');
}
User Data
Each node has an associated user data pointer that can be used to store useful information for your application. The memory used by the data pointer is not managed by Mini-XML so it is up to you to free it as necessary.
The mxmlSetUserData function sets any user (application) data associated with the node while the mxmlGetUserData function gets any user (application) data associated with the node:
void *
mxmlGetUserData(mxml_node_t *node);
void
mxmlSetUserData(mxml_node_t *node, void *user_data);
Memory Management
Nodes support reference counting to manage memory usage. The mxmlRetain
and mxmlRelease functions increment and decrement a node's reference
count, respectively. When the reference count goes to zero, mxmlRelease
calls mxmlDelete to actually free the memory used by the node tree. New
nodes start with a reference count of 1
. You can get a node's current
reference count using the mxmlGetRefCount function.
Strings can also support different kinds of memory management. The default is to use the standard C library strdup and free functions. To use alternate an alternate mechanism, call the mxmlSetStringCallbacks function to set string copy and free callbacks. The copy callback receives the callback data pointer and the string to copy, and returns a new string that will persist for the life of the XML data. The free callback receives the callback data pointer and the copied string and potentially frees the memory used for it. For example, the following code implements a simple string pool that eliminates duplicate strings:
typedef struct string_pool_s
{
size_t num_strings; // Number of strings
size_t alloc_strings; // Allocated strings
char **strings; // Array of strings
} string_pool_t;
char *
copy_string(string_pool_t *pool, const char *s)
{
size_t i; // Looping var
char *news; // Copy of string
// See if the string is already in the pool...
for (i = 0; i < pool->num_strings; i ++)
{
if (!strcmp(pool->strings[i], s))
return (pool->strings[i]);
}
// Not in the pool, add new string
if (pool->num_strings >= pool->alloc_strings)
{
// Expand the string pool...
char **temp; // New strings array
temp = realloc(pool->strings,
(pool->alloc_strings + 32) *
sizeof(char *));
if (temp == NULL)
return (NULL);
pool->alloc_strings += 32;
pool->strings = temp;
}
if ((news = strdup(s)) != NULL)
pool->strings[pool->num_strings ++] = news;
return (news);
}
void
free_string(string_pool_t *pool, char *s)
{
// Do nothing here...
}
void
free_all_strings(string_pool_t *pool)
{
size_t i; // Looping var
for (i = 0; i < pool->num_strings; i ++)
free(pool->strings[i]);
free(pool->strings);
}
...
// Setup the string pool...
string_pool_t pool = { 0, 0, NULL };
mxmlSetStringCallbacks((mxml_strcopy_cb_t)copy_string,
(mxml_strfree_cb_t)free_string,
&pool);
// Load an XML file...
mxml_node_t *xml;
xml = mxmlLoadFilename(/*top*/NULL, /*options*/NULL,
"example.xml");
// Process the XML file...
...
// Free memory used by the XML file...
mxmlDelete(xml);
// Free all strings in the pool...
free_all_strings(&pool);
Migrating from Mini-XML v3.x
The following incompatible API changes were made in Mini-XML v4.0:
- Load and save callbacks and options are now managed using
mxml_options_t
values. - The mxmlSAXLoadXxx functions have been removed in favor of setting the SAX
callback function and data pointers of the
mxml_options_t
value prior to calling the corresponding mxmlLoadXxx functions. - SAX events are now named
MXML_SAX_EVENT_foo
instead ofMXML_SAX_foo
. - SAX callbacks now return a boolean value.
- Node types are now named
MXML_TYPE_foo
instead ofMXML_foo
. - Descend values are now normalized to
MXML_DESCEND_ALL
,MXML_DESCEND_FIRST
, andMXML_DESCEND_NONE
. - Functions that returned
0
on success and-1
on error now returntrue
on success andfalse
on error. - CDATA nodes ("
<![CDATA[...]]>
") now have their own type (MXML_TYPE_CDATA
). - Comment nodes ("
<!-- ... -->
") now have their own type (MXML_TYPE_COMMENT
). - Declaration nodes ("
<!...>
") now have their own type (MXML_TYPE_DECLARATION
). - Element attributes are now cleared with the mxmlElementClearAttr function instead of mxmlElementDeleteAttr.
- Processing instruction/directive nodes ("
<?...?>
") now have their own type (MXML_TYPE_DIRECTIVE
). - Integer nodes (
MXML_TYPE_INTEGER
) now use thelong
type. - Text nodes (
MXML_TYPE_TEXT
) now use thebool
type for the whitespace value. - Custom node callbacks are now set using the mxmlOptionsSetCustomCallbacks function instead of the thread-global mxmlSetCustomHandlers function.