TinyXml is a simple, small, C++ XML parser that can be easily integrating into other programs.
In brief, TinyXml parses an XML document, and builds from that a Document Object Model that can be read, modified, and saved.
XML stands for "eXtensible Markup Language." It allows you to create your own document markups. Where HTML does a very good job of marking documents for browsers, XML allows you to define any kind of document markup, for example a document that describes a "to do" list for an organizer application. XML is a very structured and convenient format. All those random file formats created to store application data can all be replaced with XML. One parser for everything.
There are different ways to access and interact with XML data. TinyXml uses a Document Object Model, meaning the XML data is parsed into a tree objects that can be browsed and manipulated, and then written back to disk. You can also construct an XML document from scratch with C++ objects and write this to disk (or another output stream.)
TinyXml is designed to be easy and fast. It is two headers and four cpp files. Simply add these to your project and off you go. There is an example to get you started. It is released under the ZLib license, so you can use it in open source or commercial code.
It attempts to be a flexible parser, but with truly correct and compliant XML output (with the exception of the character set, below.) TinyXml should compile on any reasonably C++ system. It does not rely on exceptions or RTTI. It can be compiled with or without STL support.
It doesnt parse or use DTDs (Document Type Definitions) or XSLs (eXtensible Stylesheet Language.) It is limited to the ASCII character set. There are other parsers out there (check out www.sourceforge.org, search for XML) that are much more fully featured. But they are also much bigger, take longer to set up in your project, have a higher learning curve, and often have a more restrictive license. If you are working with browsers or have more complete XML needs, TinyXml is not the parser for you.
TinyXml is mature, tested code. It is very stable. If you find bugs, send them in and we'll get them straightened out as soon as possible.
There are some areas of improvement; please check sourceforge if you are interested in working on TinyXml.
TinyXml can be compiled to use or not use STL. When using STL, TinyXml uses the std::string class, and fully supports std::istream, std::ostream, operator<<, and operator>>. Many API methods have both 'const char*' and 'const std::string&' forms.
When STL support is compiled out, no STL files are included whatsover. All the string classes are implemented by TinyXml itself. API methods all use the 'const char*' form for input.
Use the compile time define:
TIXML_USE_STL
to compile one version or the other. This can be passed by the compiler, or set as the first line of "tinyxml.h".
Note: If compiling the test code in Linux, setting the environment variable TINYXML_USE_STL=YES/NO will control STL compilation. In the Windows project file, STL and non STL targets are provided. In your project, its probably easiest to add the line "define TIXML_USE_STL" as the first line of tinyxml.h.
& & < < > > " " '
These are recognized when the XML document is read, and translated to there ASCII equivalents. For instance, text with the XML of:
Far & Away
will have the Value() of "Far & Away" when queried from the TiXmlText object, but will be written back to the XML stream/file as an entitity.
C style output:
C style input:
C++ style ouput:
C++ style input:
It's an issue that hasn't been resolved to my satisfaction. TinyXml supports both motifs. Call TiXmlBase::SetCondenseWhiteSpace( bool ) to set the desired behavior. The default is to condense white space.
If you change the default, you should call TiXmlBase::SetCondenseWhiteSpace( bool ) before making any calls to Parse XML data, and I don't recommend changing it after it has been set.
To Compile and Run xmltest:
A Linux Makefile and a Windows Visual C++ .dsw file is provided. Simply compile and run. It will write the file demotest.xml to your disk and generate output on the screen. It also tests walking the DOM by printing out the number of nodes found using different techniques.
The Linux makefile is very generic and will probably run on other systems, but is only tested on Linux. You no longer need to run 'make depend'. The dependecies have been hard coded.
PROFILE, DEBUG, and TINYXML_USE_STL. Details (such that they are) are in the makefile.
In the tinyxml directory, type "make clean" then "make". The executable file 'xmltest' will be created.
Add tinyxml.cpp, tinyxml.h, tinyxmlerror.cpp, tinyxmlparser.cpp, and tinystr.cpp to your project or make file. That's it! It should compile on any reasonably compliant C++ system. You do not need to enable exceptions or RTTI for TinyXml.
At this point, I'm focusing on tightening up remaining issues. Bug fixes (though comfortably rare) and minor interface corrections.
There are some "it would be nice if..." items. I'll keep those posted as tasks on SourceForge. (www.sourceforge.net/projects/tinyxml)
An example is probably the best way to go. Take:
<?xml version="1.0" standalone=no> <?-- Our to do list data --> <ToDo> <Item priority="1"> Go to the <bold>Toy store!</bold></Item> <Item priority="2"> Do bills</Item> </ToDo>
Its not much of a To Do list, but it will do. To read this file (say "demo.xml") you would create a document, and parse it in:
TiXmlDocument doc( "demo.xml" ); doc.LoadFile();
And its ready to go. Now lets look at some lines and how they relate to the DOM.
<?xml version="1.0" standalone=no>
The first line is a declaration, and gets turned into the TiXmlDeclaration class. It will be the first child of the document node.
This is the only directive/special tag parsed by by TinyXml. Generally directive targs are stored in TiXmlUnknown so the commands wont be lost when it is saved back to disk.
<?-- Our to do list data -->
A comment. Will become a TiXmlComment object.
<ToDo>
The ToDo tag defines a TiXmlElement object. This one does not have any attributes, but will contain 2 other elements, both of which are items.
<Item priority="1">
Creates another TiXmlElement which is a child of the "ToDo" element. This element has 1 attribute, with the name priority and the value 1.
Go to the
A TiXmlText. This is a leaf node and cannot contain other nodes. It is a child of the Item" Element.
<bold>
Another TiXmlElement, this one a child of the "Item" element.
Etc.
Looking at the entire object tree, you end up with:
TiXmlDocument "demo.xml" TiXmlDeclaration "version='1.0'" "standalone=no" TiXmlComment " Our to do list data" TiXmlElement "ToDo" TiXmlElement "Item" Attribtutes: priority = 1 TiXmlText "Go to the " TiXmlElement "bold" TiXmlText "Toy store!" TiXmlElement "Item" Attributes: priority=2 TiXmlText "bills"
The documentation is build with Doxygen, using the 'dox' configuration file.
TinyXml is released under the zlib license:
This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages arising from the use of this software.
Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose, including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it freely, subject to the following restrictions:
1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is not required.
2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be misrepresented as being the original software.
3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
The World Wide Web Consortium is the definitive standard body for XML, and there web pages contain huge amounts of information. I also recommend "XML Pocket Reference" by Robert Eckstein and published by OReilly.
Thanks very much to everyone who sends suggestions, bugs, ideas, and encouragement. It all helps, and makes this project fun. A special thanks to the contributors on the web pages that keep it lively.
So many people have sent in bugs and ideas, that rather than list here we try to give credit due in the "changes.txt" file.
TinyXml was originally written be Lee Thomason. (Often the "I" still in the documenation.) Lee reviews changes and releases new versions, but the project is on maintained and managed by Yves Berquin, with the help of the tinyXml community.
We appreciate your suggestions, and would love to know if you use TinyXml. Hopefully you will enjoy it and find it useful. Please post questions, comments, file bugs, or contact us at:
www.sourceforge.net/projects/tinyxml
Lee Thomason Yves Berquin