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This README file describes the Mini-XML library version
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Mini-XML is a small XML parsing library that you can use to
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read XML and XML-like data files in your application without
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requiring large non-standard libraries. Mini-XML only
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requires an ANSI C compatible compiler (GCC works, as do
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most vendors' ANSI C compilers) and a "make" program.
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Mini-XML provides the following functionality:
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- Reading of UTF-8 and UTF-16 and writing of UTF-8
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encoded XML files and strings.
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- Data is stored in a linked-list tree structure,
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preserving the XML data hierarchy.
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- Supports arbitrary element names, attributes, and
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attribute values with no preset limits, just available
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- Supports integer, real, opaque ("cdata"), and text
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data types in "leaf" nodes.
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- Functions for creating and managing trees of data.
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- "Find" and "walk" functions for easily locating and
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navigating trees of data.
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Mini-XML doesn't do validation or other types of processing
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on the data based upon schema files or other sources of
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definition information.
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Mini-XML comes with an autoconf-based configure script; just
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type the following command to get things going:
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The default install prefix is /usr/local, which can be
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overridden using the --prefix option:
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./configure --prefix=/foo
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Other configure options can be found using the --help
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Once you have configured the software, type "make" to do the
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build and run the test program to verify that things are
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If you are using Mini-XML under Microsoft Windows with
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Visual C++, use the included project files in the "vcnet"
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subdirectory to build the library instead.
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The "install" target will install Mini-XML in the lib and
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Once you have installed it, use the "-lmxml" option to link
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your application against it.
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The documentation is available in the "doc" subdirectory in
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the files "mxml.html" (HTML) and "mxml.pdf" (PDF). You can
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also look at the "testmxml.c" and "mxmldoc.c" source files
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for examples of using Mini-XML.
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Mini-XML provides a single header file which you include:
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Nodes are defined by the "mxml_node_t" structure; the "type"
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member defines the node type (element, integer, opaque,
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real, or text) which determines which value you want to look
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at in the "value" union. New nodes can be created using the
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"mxmlNewElement()", "mxmlNewInteger()", "mxmlNewOpaque()",
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"mxmlNewReal()", and "mxmlNewText()" functions. Only
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elements can have child nodes, and the top node must be an
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element, usually "?xml".
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You load an XML file using the "mxmlLoadFile()" function:
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fp = fopen("filename.xml", "r");
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tree = mxmlLoadFile(NULL, fp, MXML_NO_CALLBACK);
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Similarly, you save an XML file using the "mxmlSaveFile()"
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fp = fopen("filename.xml", "w");
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mxmlSaveFile(tree, fp, MXML_NO_CALLBACK);
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The "mxmlLoadString()", "mxmlSaveAllocString()", and
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"mxmlSaveString()" functions load XML node trees from and
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save XML node trees to strings:
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tree = mxmlLoadString(NULL, buffer, MXML_NO_CALLBACK);
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mxmlSaveString(tree, buffer, sizeof(buffer), MXML_NO_CALLBACK);
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ptr = mxmlSaveAllocString(tree, MXML_NO_CALLBACK);
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You can find a named element/node using the
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"mxmlFindElement()" function:
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mxml_node_t *node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, "name", "attr",
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"value", MXML_DESCEND);
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The "name", "attr", and "value" arguments can be passed as
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NULL to act as wildcards, e.g.:
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/* Find the first "a" element */
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node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, "a", NULL, NULL, MXML_DESCEND);
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/* Find the first "a" element with "href" attribute */
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node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, "a", "href", NULL, MXML_DESCEND);
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/* Find the first "a" element with "href" to a URL */
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node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, "a", "href",
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"http://www.easysw.com/~mike/mxml/",
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/* Find the first element with a "src" attribute*/
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node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, NULL, "src", NULL, MXML_DESCEND);
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/* Find the first element with a "src" = "foo.jpg" */
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node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, NULL, "src", "foo.jpg",
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You can also iterate with the same function:
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for (node = mxmlFindElement(tree, tree, "name", NULL, NULL,
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node = mxmlFindElement(node, tree, "name", NULL, NULL,
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Finally, once you are done with the XML data, use the
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"mxmlDelete()" function to recursively free the memory that
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is used for a particular node or the entire tree:
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GETTING HELP AND REPORTING PROBLEMS
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You can email me at "mxml@easysw.com" to report problems
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and/or ask for help. Just don't expect an instant response,
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as I get a *lot* of email...
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The Mini-XML library is Copyright 2003-2005 by Michael Sweet.
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This library is free software; you can redistribute it
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and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General
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Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
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either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any
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This library is distributed in the hope that it will be
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useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
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warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
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PURPOSE. See the GNU Library General Public License for
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You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General
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Public License along with this library; if not, write to the
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Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA
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menuselect/mxml/README
