The document discusses Simple API for XML (SAX), an event-based model for parsing XML documents. SAX involves defining handler methods that are called when XML parsing events occur, like start elements or character data. This allows applications to process XML documents as they are parsed without loading the entire document into memory. The example shows a SAX parser that outputs a tree structure of an XML document by overriding handler methods.

1. Simple API for XML (SAX) XML http://yht4ever.blogspot.com [email_address] B070066 - NIIT Quang Trung 08/2007

2. Contents Events SAX-based Parsers DOM vs. SAX Introduction

3. Introduction Simple API for XML Another method for accessing XML document’s contents Developed by XML-DEV mailing-list members Uses event-based model Notifications (events) are raised as document is parsed Originally designed as Java API "Others (C++, Python, Perl) are now supported

4. DOM vs. SAX DOM Tree-based model Stores document data in node hierarchy Data is accessed quickly Provides facilities for adding and removing nodes SAX Invoke methods when markup (specific tag) is encountered Greater performance than DOM Less memory overhead than DOM Typically used for reading documents (not modifying them) (see more on slide note)

5. SAX-based Parsers Available for variety of programming languages e.g., Java, Python, etc. Some SAX-based parsers.

6. SAX-based Parsers SAX parser Invokes certain methods when events occur Programmers override these methods to process data

7. Example: Tree Diagram 1 // Fig. 9.3 : Tree.java 2 // Using the SAX Parser to generate a tree diagram. 3 4 import java.io.*; 5 import org.xml.sax.*; // for HandlerBase class 6 import javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory; 7 import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException; 8 import javax.xml.parsers.SAXParser; 9 10 public class Tree extends HandlerBase { 11 private int indent = 0; // indentation counter 12 13 // returns the spaces needed for indenting 14 private String spacer( int count ) 15 { 16 String temp = &quot;&quot;; 17 18 for ( int i = 0; i < count; i++ ) 19 temp += &quot; &quot;; 20 21 return temp; 22 } 23 24 // method called before parsing 25 // it provides the document location 26 public void setDocumentLocator( Locator loc ) 27 { 28 System.out.println( &quot;URL: &quot; + loc.getSystemId() ); 29 } 30 1 // Fig. 9.3 : Tree.java 2 // Using the SAX Parser to generate a tree diagram. 3 4 import java.io.*; 5 import org.xml.sax.*; // for HandlerBase class 6 import javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory; 7 import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException; 8 import javax.xml.parsers.SAXParser; 9 10 public class Tree extends HandlerBase { 11 private int indent = 0; // indentation counter 12 13 // returns the spaces needed for indenting 14 private String spacer( int count ) 15 { 16 String temp = &quot;&quot;; 17 18 for ( int i = 0; i < count; i++ ) 19 temp += &quot; &quot;; 20 21 return temp; 22 } 23 24 // method called before parsing 25 // it provides the document location 26 public void setDocumentLocator( Locator loc ) 27 { 28 System.out.println( &quot;URL: &quot; + loc.getSystemId() ); 29 } 30 import specifies location of classes needed by application Assists in formatting Override method to output parsed document’s URL

8. 31 // method called at the beginning of a document 32 public void startDocument() throws SAXException 33 { 34 System.out.println( &quot;[ document root ]&quot; ); 35 } 36 37 // method called at the end of the document 38 public void endDocument() throws SAXException 39 { 40 System.out.println( &quot;[ document end ]&quot; ); 41 } 42 43 // method called at the start tag of an element 44 public void startElement( String name, 45 AttributeList attributes ) throws SAXException 46 { 47 System.out.println( spacer( indent++ ) + 48 &quot;+-[ element : &quot; + name + &quot; ]&quot;); 49 50 if ( attributes != null ) 51 52 for ( int i = 0; i < attributes.getLength(); i++ ) 53 System.out.println( spacer( indent ) + 54 &quot;+-[ attribute : &quot; + attributes.getName( i ) + 55 &quot; ] \&quot;&quot; + attributes.getValue( i ) + &quot;\&quot;&quot; ); 56 } 57 Overridden method called when root node encountered Overridden method called when end of document is encountered Overridden method called when start tag is encountered Output each attribute’s name and value (if any)

9. 58 // method called at the end tag of an element 59 public void endElement( String name ) throws SAXException 60 { 61 indent--; 62 } 63 64 // method called when a processing instruction is found 65 public void processingInstruction( String target, 66 String value ) throws SAXException 67 { 68 System.out.println( spacer( indent ) + 69 &quot;+-[ proc-inst : &quot; + target + &quot; ] \&quot;&quot; + value + &quot;\&quot;&quot; ); 70 } 71 72 // method called when characters are found 73 public void characters( char buffer[], int offset, 74 int length ) throws SAXException 75 { 76 if ( length > 0 ) { 77 String temp = new String( buffer, offset, length ); 78 79 System.out.println( spacer( indent ) + 80 &quot;+-[ text ] \&quot;&quot; + temp + &quot;\&quot;&quot; ); 81 } 82 } 83 Overridden method called when end of element is encountered Overridden method called when processing instruction is encountered Overridden method called when character data is encountered

10. 84 // method called when ignorable whitespace is found 85 public void ignorableWhitespace( char buffer[], 86 int offset, int length ) 87 { 88 if ( length > 0 ) { 89 System.out.println( spacer( indent ) + &quot;+-[ ignorable ]&quot; ); 90 } 91 } 92 93 // method called on a non-fatal (validation) error 94 public void error( SAXParseException spe ) 95 throws SAXParseException 96 { 97 // treat non-fatal errors as fatal errors 98 throw spe; 99 } 100 101 // method called on a parsing warning 102 public void warning( SAXParseException spe ) 103 throws SAXParseException 104 { 105 System.err.println( &quot;Warning: &quot; + spe.getMessage() ); 106 } 107 108 // main method 109 public static void main( String args[] ) 110 { 111 boolean validate = false ; 112 Overridden method called when ignorable whitespace is encountered Overridden method called when error (usually validation) occurs Overridden method called when problem is detected (but not considered error) Method main starts application

11. 113 if ( args.length != 2 ) { 114 System.err.println( &quot;Usage: java Tree [validate] &quot; + 115 &quot;[filename]\n&quot; ); 116 System.err.println( &quot;Options:&quot; ); 117 System.err.println( &quot; validate [yes|no] : &quot; + 118 &quot;DTD validation&quot; ); 119 System.exit( 1 ); 120 } 121 122 if ( args[ 0 ].equals( &quot;yes&quot; ) ) 123 validate = true ; 124 125 SAXParserFactory saxFactory = 126 SAXParserFactory.newInstance(); 127 128 saxFactory.setValidating( validate ); 129 Allow command-line arguments (if we want to validate document) SAXParserFactory can instantiate SAX-based parser

12. 130 try { 131 SAXParser saxParser = saxFactory.newSAXParser(); 132 saxParser.parse( new File( args[ 1 ] ), new Tree() ); 133 } 134 catch ( SAXParseException spe ) { 135 System.err.println( &quot;Parse Error: &quot; + spe.getMessage() ); 136 } 137 catch ( SAXException se ) { 138 se.printStackTrace(); 139 } 140 catch ( ParserConfigurationException pce ) { 141 pce.printStackTrace(); 142 } 143 catch ( IOException ioe ) { 144 ioe.printStackTrace(); 145 } 146 147 System.exit( 0 ); 148 } 149 } Instantiate SAX-based parser Handles errors (if any)

13. URL: file:C:/Tree/spacing1.xml [ document root ] +-[ element : test ] +-[ attribute : name ] &quot; spacing 1 &quot; +-[ text ] &quot; &quot; +-[ text ] &quot; &quot; +-[ element : example ] +-[ element : object ] +-[ text ] &quot;World&quot; +-[ text ] &quot; &quot; [ document end ] 1 <?xml version = &quot;1.0&quot; ?> 2 3 <!-- Fig. 9.4 : spacing1.xml --> 4 <!-- Whitespaces in nonvalidating parsing --> 5 <!-- XML document without DTD --> 6 7 <test name = &quot; spacing 1 &quot; > 8 <example><object> World </object></example> 9 </test> Root element test contains attribute name with value “ spacing 1 ” XML document with elements test , example and object XML document does not reference DTD Note that whitespace is preserved: attribute value (line 7), line feed (end of line 7), indentation (line 8) and line feed (end of line 8)

14. URL: file:C:/Tree/spacing2.xml [ document root ] +-[ element : test ] +-[ attribute : name ] &quot; spacing 2 &quot; +-[ ignorable ] +-[ ignorable ] +-[ element : example ] +-[ element : object ] +-[ text ] &quot;World&quot; +-[ ignorable ] [ document end ] 1 <?xml version = &quot;1.0&quot; ?> 2 3 <!-- Fig. 9.5 : spacing2.xml --> 4 <!-- Whitespace and nonvalidated parsing --> 5 <!-- XML document with DTD --> 6 7 <!DOCTYPE test [ 8 <!ELEMENT test (example) > 9 <!ATTLIST test name CDATA #IMPLIED> 10 <!ELEMENT element (object*) > 11 <!ELEMENT object ( #PCDATA ) > 12 ]> 13 14 <test name = &quot; spacing 2 &quot; > 15 <example><object> World </object></example> 16 </test> DTD checks document’s characters, so any “removable” whitespace is ignorable Line feed at line 14, spaces at beginning of line 15 and line feed at line 15 are ignored

15. URL: file:C:/Tree/notvalid.xml [ document root ] +-[ element : test ] +-[ ignorable ] +-[ ignorable ] +-[ proc-inst : test ] &quot;message&quot; +-[ ignorable ] +-[ ignorable ] +-[ element : example ] +-[ element : item ] +-[ text ] &quot;Hello & Welcome!&quot; +-[ ignorable ] [ document end ] 1 <?xml version = &quot;1.0&quot; ?> 2 3 <!-- Fig. 9.6 : notvalid.xml --> 4 <!-- Validation and non-validation --> 5 6 <!DOCTYPE test [ 7 <!ELEMENT test (example) > 8 <!ELEMENT example ( #PCDATA ) > 9 ]> 10 11 <test> 12 <?test message?> 13 <example><item><![CDATA[ Hello & Welcome! ]]></item></example> 14 </test> Invalid document because element example cannot contain element item Validation disabled, so document parses successfully Parser does not process text in CDATA section and returns character data

16. URL: file:C:/Tree/notvalid.xml [ document root ] +-[ element : test ] +-[ ignorable ] +-[ ignorable ] +-[ proc-inst : test ] &quot;message&quot; +-[ ignorable ] +-[ ignorable ] +-[ element : example ] Parse Error: Element &quot;example&quot; does not allow &quot;item&quot; Parsing terminates when fatal error occurs at element item Validation enabled

17. URL: file:C:/Tree/valid.xml [ document root ] +-[ element : test ] +-[ text ] &quot; &quot; +-[ text ] &quot; &quot; +-[ element : example ] +-[ text ] &quot;Hello &quot; +-[ text ] &quot;&&quot; +-[ text ] &quot; Welcome!&quot; +-[ text ] &quot; &quot; [ document end ] URL: file:C:/Tree/valid.xml [ document root ] Warning: Valid documents must have a <!DOCTYPE declaration. Parse Error: Element type &quot;test&quot; is not declared. 1 <?xml version = &quot;1.0&quot; ?> 2 3 <!-- Fig. 9.7 : valid.xml --> 4 <!-- DTD-less document --> 5 6 <test> 7 <example> Hello &amp; Welcome! </example> 8 </test> Validation disabled in first output, so document parses successfully Validation enabled in second output, and parsing fails because DTD does not exist

18. To be continued… To be continued…

19. Reference XML How to program Sang Sin Presentation (sang.sin@sun.com)

20. Q&A Feel free to post questions at http://yht4ever.blogspot.com or email to: [email_address] or [email_address]

21. http://yht4ever.blogspot.com Thank You !