Practical XML for Java Programs

Average Rating: 4.3/5 | Rate this item | 4 users have rated this item.

When dealing with XML, you need a convenient representation of the XML data in memory. This article offers Java programmers a solution to achieve this goal: an easy-to-use package for handling XML data in Java.

by Vlad Patryshev

July 25, 2003

he true raison d'être for XML is to replace ASCII. The only difference is that with XML you work more with hierarchy and less with flat data, switching from this:


project=My First Project 
module.count=2 
module.1=Hammers 
module.1.file.count=3 
module.1.file.1=MyHammer.java 
module.1.file.2=MyMainHammer.java 
module.1.file.3=MyHammerHelper.java 
module.2=Nails 
module.2.file.count=2 
module.2.file.1=MyNail.java 
module.2.file.2=MyScrew.class



				
				


to this: 

<project id="My First Project"> 
 <module id="Hammers"> 
  <file id="ArmandHammer.java"/> 
  <file id="Hammer.java"/> 
  <file id="SledgeHammer.java"/> 
 </module> 
 <module id="Nails"> 
  <file id="RoofNail.java" type="source"/> 
  <file id="DeckNail.class" type="binary"/> 
 </module> 
</project> 


But, while anyone can read an ASCII file and even write a "Hello, World!", there is a learning curve between you and your first: 

<?xml version="1.0"> ? <hello>Hello, World!</hello>


You will have to learn the meaning of entities, elements, attributes—probably the whole DOM (Document Object Model) concept. With ASCII, nobody remembers—or even cares—what the code for '&' is. It's not important; the ability to easily store data into a file and retrieve it is. The same should be true for XML. 

When dealing with XML, you need a convenient representation of the XML data in memory. Such a representation will make finding nodes and their attributes by their "type" and "id" values and scanning or filtering the whole tree easy. This article offers Java programmers a solution to achieve this goal: an easy-to-use package for handling XML data in Java. First, it gives some practical advice on what is and isn't important in this data.
				
			

Page 1 of 4




 
Download The Code for this Article