Package com.jamesmurty.utils
Class XMLBuilder
java.lang.Object
com.jamesmurty.utils.XMLBuilder
XML Builder is a utility that creates simple XML documents using relatively
sparse Java code. It is intended to allow for quick and painless creation of
XML documents where you might otherwise be tempted to use concatenated
strings, rather than face the tedium and verbosity of coding with
JAXP (http://jaxp.dev.java.net/).
Internally, XML Builder uses JAXP to build a standard W3C
Document
model (DOM) that you can easily export as a
string, or access and manipulate further if you have special requirements.
The XMLBuilder class serves as a wrapper of Element
nodes,
and provides a number of utility methods that make it simple to
manipulate the underlying element and the document to which it belongs.
In essence, this class performs dual roles: it represents a specific XML
node, and also allows manipulation of the entire underlying XML document.
The platform's default DocumentBuilderFactory
and
DocumentBuilder
classes are used to build the document.
- Author:
- James Murty
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Constructor Summary
ConstructorsModifierConstructorDescriptionprotected
XMLBuilder
(Document xmlDocument) Construct a new builder object that wraps the given XML document.protected
XMLBuilder
(Element myElement, Element parentElement) Construct a new builder object that wraps the given XML document and element element. -
Method Summary
Modifier and TypeMethodDescriptionSynonym forattribute(String, String)
.protected void
asString()
Serialize the XML document to a string excluding the XML declaration.asString
(Properties outputProperties) Serialize the XML document to a string by delegating to thetoWriter(Writer, Properties)
method.Synonym forattribute(String, String)
.Add a named attribute value to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the attribute was added (not the new attribute node).Synonym forcomment(String)
.cdata
(byte[] data) Add a CDATA value to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the data was added (not the new CDATA node).Synonym forcomment(String)
.Add a comment to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the comment was added (not the new comment node).static XMLBuilder
Construct a builder for new XML document.d
(byte[] data) Synonym forinvalid reference
#cdata(String)
data
(byte[] data) Synonym forinvalid reference
#cdata(String)
Synonym forelement(String)
.Synonym forelement(String)
.Add a named XML element to the document as a child of this builder node, and return the builder node representing the new child.boolean
Synonym forinstruction(String, String)
.importXMLBuilder
(XMLBuilder builder) Imports another XMLBuilder document into this document at the current position.Synonym forinstruction(String, String)
.instruction
(String target, String data) Add an instruction to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the instruction was added (not the new instruction node).static XMLBuilder
parse
(InputSource inputSource) Construct a builder from an existing XML document.Synonym forreference(String)
.Synonym forreference(String)
.Add a reference to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the reference was added (not the new reference node).root()
Synonmy fortext(String)
.Add a text value to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the text was added (not the new text node).void
toWriter
(Writer writer, Properties outputProperties) Serialize the XML document to the given writer using the defaultTransformerFactory
andTransformer
classes.up()
Return the builder node representing the parent of the current node.up
(int steps) Return the builder node representing the nth ancestor element of this node, or the root node if n exceeds the document's depth.Find the first element in the builder's DOM matching the given XPath expression.
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Constructor Details
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XMLBuilder
Construct a new builder object that wraps the given XML document. This constructor is for internal use only.- Parameters:
xmlDocument
- an XML document that the builder will manage and manipulate.
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XMLBuilder
Construct a new builder object that wraps the given XML document and element element. This constructor is for internal use only.- Parameters:
myElement
- the XML element that this builder node will wrap. This element may be part of the XML document, or it may be a new element that is to be added to the document.parentElement
- If not null, the given myElement will be appended as child node of the parentElement node.
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Method Details
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create
public static XMLBuilder create(String name) throws ParserConfigurationException, FactoryConfigurationError Construct a builder for new XML document. The document will be created with the given root element, and the builder returned by this method will serve as the starting-point for any further document additions.- Parameters:
name
- the name of the document's root element.- Returns:
- a builder node that can be used to add more nodes to the XML document.
- Throws:
FactoryConfigurationError
ParserConfigurationException
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parse
public static XMLBuilder parse(InputSource inputSource) throws ParserConfigurationException, SAXException, IOException Construct a builder from an existing XML document. The provided XML document will be parsed and an XMLBuilder object referencing the document's root element will be returned.- Parameters:
inputSource
- an XML document input source that will be parsed into a DOM.- Returns:
- a builder node that can be used to add more nodes to the XML document.
- Throws:
ParserConfigurationException
FactoryConfigurationError
ParserConfigurationException
IOException
SAXException
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importXMLBuilder
Imports another XMLBuilder document into this document at the current position. The entire document provided is imported.- Parameters:
builder
- the XMLBuilder document to be imported.- Returns:
- a builder node at the same location as before the import, but now containing the entire document tree provided.
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equals
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getElement
- Returns:
- the XML element that this builder node will manipulate.
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root
- Returns:
- the builder node representing the root element of the XML document.
In other words, the same builder node returned by the initial
create(String)
orparse(InputSource)
method.
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getDocument
- Returns:
- the XML document constructed by all builder nodes.
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xpathFind
Find the first element in the builder's DOM matching the given XPath expression.- Parameters:
xpath
- An XPath expression that *must* resolve to an existing Element within the document object model.- Returns:
- a builder node representing the first Element that matches the XPath expression.
- Throws:
XPathExpressionException
- If the XPath is invalid, or if does not resolve to at least oneinvalid reference
Node.ELEMENT_NODE
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element
Add a named XML element to the document as a child of this builder node, and return the builder node representing the new child.- Parameters:
name
- the name of the XML element.- Returns:
- a builder node representing the new child.
- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if you attempt to add a child element to an XML node that already contains a text node value.
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elem
Synonym forelement(String)
.- Parameters:
name
- the name of the XML element.- Returns:
- a builder node representing the new child.
- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if you attempt to add a child element to an XML node that already contains a text node value.
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e
Synonym forelement(String)
.- Parameters:
name
- the name of the XML element.- Returns:
- a builder node representing the new child.
- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if you attempt to add a child element to an XML node that already contains a text node value.
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attribute
Add a named attribute value to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the attribute was added (not the new attribute node).- Parameters:
name
- the attribute's name.value
- the attribute's value.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the attribute was added.
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attr
Synonym forattribute(String, String)
.- Parameters:
name
- the attribute's name.value
- the attribute's value.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the attribute was added.
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a
Synonym forattribute(String, String)
.- Parameters:
name
- the attribute's name.value
- the attribute's value.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the attribute was added.
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text
Add a text value to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the text was added (not the new text node).- Parameters:
value
- the text value to add to the element.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the text was added.
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t
Synonmy fortext(String)
.- Parameters:
value
- the text value to add to the element.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the text was added.
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cdata
Add a CDATA value to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the data was added (not the new CDATA node).- Parameters:
data
- the data value that will be Base64-encoded and added to a CDATA element.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the data was added.
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data
Synonym forinvalid reference
#cdata(String)
- Parameters:
data
- the data value to add to the element.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the data was added.
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d
Synonym forinvalid reference
#cdata(String)
- Parameters:
data
- the data value to add to the element.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the data was added.
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comment
Add a comment to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the comment was added (not the new comment node).- Parameters:
comment
- the comment to add to the element.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the comment was added.
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cmnt
Synonym forcomment(String)
.- Parameters:
comment
- the comment to add to the element.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the comment was added.
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c
Synonym forcomment(String)
.- Parameters:
comment
- the comment to add to the element.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the comment was added.
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instruction
Add an instruction to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the instruction was added (not the new instruction node).- Parameters:
target
- the target value for the instruction.data
- the data value for the instruction- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the instruction was added.
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inst
Synonym forinstruction(String, String)
.- Parameters:
target
- the target value for the instruction.data
- the data value for the instruction- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the instruction was added.
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i
Synonym forinstruction(String, String)
.- Parameters:
target
- the target value for the instruction.data
- the data value for the instruction- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the instruction was added.
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reference
Add a reference to the element represented by this builder node, and return the node representing the element to which the reference was added (not the new reference node).- Parameters:
name
- the name value for the reference.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the reference was added.
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ref
Synonym forreference(String)
.- Parameters:
name
- the name value for the reference.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the reference was added.
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r
Synonym forreference(String)
.- Parameters:
name
- the name value for the reference.- Returns:
- the builder node representing the element to which the reference was added.
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up
Return the builder node representing the nth ancestor element of this node, or the root node if n exceeds the document's depth.- Parameters:
steps
- the number of parent elements to step over while navigating up the chain of node ancestors. A steps value of 1 will find a node's parent, 2 will find its grandparent etc.- Returns:
- the nth ancestor of this node, or the root node if this is reached before the nth parent is found.
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up
Return the builder node representing the parent of the current node.- Returns:
- the parent of this node, or the root node if this method is called on the root node.
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assertCurrentElementHasNoTextNodes
protected void assertCurrentElementHasNoTextNodes()- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if the current element contains any child text nodes.
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toWriter
Serialize the XML document to the given writer using the defaultTransformerFactory
andTransformer
classes. If output options are provided, these options are provided to theTransformer
serializer.- Parameters:
writer
- a writer to which the serialized document is written.outputProperties
- settings for theTransformer
serializer. This parameter may be null or an empty Properties object, in which case the default output properties will be applied.- Throws:
TransformerException
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asString
Serialize the XML document to a string by delegating to thetoWriter(Writer, Properties)
method. If output options are provided, these options are provided to theTransformer
serializer.- Parameters:
outputProperties
- settings for theTransformer
serializer. This parameter may be null or an empty Properties object, in which case the default output properties will be applied.- Returns:
- the XML document as a string
- Throws:
TransformerException
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asString
Serialize the XML document to a string excluding the XML declaration.- Returns:
- the XML document as a string without the XML declaration at the beginning of the output.
- Throws:
TransformerException
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