Module:SLAXML/doc

This is the documentation page for Module:SLAXML

Note - this module has not yet been tested thoroughly on Meta. Some features may not work.

SLAXML is a pure-Lua SAX-like streaming XML parser. It is more robust than many (simpler) pattern-based parsers that exist, properly supporting code like <expr test="5 > 7" />, CDATA nodes, comments, namespaces, and processing instructions.

It is currently not a truly valid XML parser, however, as it allows certain XML that is syntactically-invalid (not well-formed) to be parsed without reporting an error.

Features

Pure Lua in a single file (two files if you use the DOM parser).
Streaming parser does a single pass through the input and reports what it sees along the way.
Supports processing instructions (<?foo bar?>).
Supports comments ().
Supports CDATA sections (<![CDATA[ whoa <xml> & other content as text ]]>).
Supports namespaces, resolving prefixes to the proper namespace URI (<foo xmlns="bar"> and <wrap xmlns:bar="bar"><bar:kittens/></wrap>).
Supports unescaped greater-than symbols in attribute content (a common failing for simpler pattern-based parsers).
Unescapes named XML entities (< > & " ') and numeric entities (e.g. 
) in attributes and text nodes (but—properly—not in comments or CDATA). Properly handles edge cases like &.
Optionally ignore whitespace-only text nodes (as appear when indenting XML markup).
Includes a DOM parser that is both a convenient way to pull in XML to use as well as a nice example of using the streaming parser.
Does not add any keys to the global namespace.

Usage

local SLAXML = require 'slaxml'

local myxml = io.open('my.xml'):read()

-- Specify as many/few of these as you like
parser = SLAXML:parser{
  startElement = function(name,nsURI)       end, -- When "<foo" or <x:foo is seen
  attribute    = function(name,value,nsURI) end, -- attribute found on current element
  closeElement = function(name,nsURI)       end, -- When "</foo>" or </x:foo> or "/>" is seen
  text         = function(text)             end, -- text and CDATA nodes
  comment      = function(content)          end, -- comments
  pi           = function(target,content)   end, -- processing instructions e.g. "<?yes mon?>"
}

-- Ignore whitespace-only text nodes and strip leading/trailing whitespace from text
-- (does not strip leading/trailing whitespace from CDATA)
parser:parse(myxml,{stripWhitespace=true})

If you just want to see if it will parse your document correctly, you can simply do:

local SLAXML = require 'slaxml'
SLAXML:parse(myxml)

…which will cause SLAXML to use its built-in callbacks that print the results as seen.

DOM Builder

If you simply want to build tables from your XML, you can alternatively:

local SLAXML = require 'slaxdom' -- also requires slaxml.lua; be sure to copy both files
local doc = SLAXML:dom(myxml)

The returned table is a 'document' comprising tables for elements, attributes, text nodes, comments, and processing instructions. See the following documentation for what each supports.

DOM Table Features

Document - the root table returned from the SLAXML:dom() method.
- doc.type : the string "document"
- doc.name : the string "#doc"
- doc.kids : an array table of child processing instructions, the root element, and comment nodes.
- doc.root : the root element for the document
Element
- someEl.type : the string "element"
- someEl.name : the string name of the element (without any namespace prefix)
- someEl.nsURI : the namespace URI for this element; nil if no namespace is applied
- someEl.attr : a table of attributes, indexed by name and index
  - local value = someEl.attr['attribute-name'] : any namespace prefix of the attribute is not part of the name
  - local someAttr = someEl.attr[1] : an single attribute table (see below); useful for iterating all attributes of an element, or for disambiguating attributes with the same name in different namespaces
- someEl.kids : an array table of child elements, text nodes, comment nodes, and processing instructions
- someEl.el : an array table of child elements only
- someEl.parent : reference to the parent element or document table
Attribute
- someAttr.type : the string "attribute"
- someAttr.name : the name of the attribute (without any namespace prefix)
- someAttr.value : the string value of the attribute (with XML and numeric entities unescaped)
- someEl.nsURI : the namespace URI for the attribute; nil if no namespace is applied
- someEl.parent : reference to the parent element table
Text - for both CDATA and normal text nodes
- someText.type : the string "text"
- someText.name : the string "#text"
- someText.value : the string content of the text node (with XML and numeric entities unescaped for non-CDATA elements)
- someText.parent : reference to the parent element table
Comment
- someComment.type : the string "comment"
- someComment.name : the string "#comment"
- someComment.value : the string content of the attribute
- someComment.parent : reference to the parent element or document table
Processing Instruction
- someComment.type : the string "pi"
- someComment.name : the string name of the PI, e.g. <?foo …?> has a name of "foo"
- someComment.value : the string content of the PI, i.e. everything but the name
- someComment.parent : reference to the parent element or document table

Finding Text for a DOM Element

The following function can be used to calculate the "inner text" for an element:

function elementText(el)
  local pieces = {}
  for _,n in ipairs(el.kids) do
    if n.type=='element' then pieces[#pieces+1] = elementText(n)
    elseif n.type=='text' then pieces[#pieces+1] = n.value
    end
  end
  return table.concat(pieces)
end

local xml  = [[<p>Hello <em>you crazy <b>World</b></em>!</p>>]]
local para = SLAXML:dom(xml).root
print(elementText(para)) --> "Hello you crazy World!""

A Simpler DOM

If you want the DOM tables to be simpler-to-serialize you can supply the simple option via:

local dom = SLAXML:dom(myXML,{ simple=true })

In this case no table will have a parent attribute, elements will not have the el collection, and the attr collection will be a simple array (without values accessible directly via attribute name). In short, the output will be a strict hierarchy with no internal references to other tables, and all data represented in exactly one spot.

Known Limitations / TODO

Does not require or enforce well-formed XML. Certain syntax errors are silently ignored and consumed. For example:
- foo="yes & no" is seen as a valid attribute
- <root><child> invokes two startElement() calls but no closeElement() calls
- <foo></bar> invokes startElement("foo") followed by closeElement("bar")
- <foo> 5 < 6 </foo> is seen as valid text contents
No support for custom entity expansion other than the standard XML entities (< > " ' &) and numeric ASCII entities (e.g. )
XML Declarations (<?xml version="1.x"?>) are incorrectly reported as Processing Instructions
No support for DTDs
No support for extended (Unicode) characters in element/attribute names
No support for charset
No support for XInclude

History

v0.5.2 2013-Nov-7

Lua 5.2 compatible
Parser now errors if it finishes without finding a root element, or if there are unclosed elements at the end.
(Proper element pairing is not enforced by the parser, but is—as in previous releases—enforced by the DOM builder.)

v0.5.1 2013-Feb-18

<foo xmlns="bar"> now directly generates startElement("foo","bar") with no post callback for namespace required.

v0.5 2013-Feb-18

Use the local SLAXML=require 'slaxml' pattern to prevent any pollution of the global namespace.

v0.4.3 2013-Feb-17

Bugfix to allow empty attributes, i.e. foo=""
closeElement no longer includes namespace prefix in the name, includes the nsURI

v0.4 2013-Feb-16

DOM adds .parent references
SLAXML.ignoreWhitespace is now :parse(xml,{stripWhitespace=true})
"simple" mode for DOM parsing

v0.3 2013-Feb-15

Support namespaces for elements and attributes
- <foo xmlns="barURI"> will call startElement("foo",nil) followed by namespace("barURI") (and then attribute("xmlns","barURI",nil)); you must apply the namespace to your element after creation.
- Child elements without a namespace prefix that inherit a namespace will receive startElement("child","barURI")
- <xy:foo> will call startElement("foo","uri-for-xy")
- <foo xy:bar="yay"> will call attribute("bar","yay","uri-for-xy")
- Runtime errors are generated for any namespace prefix that cannot be resolved
Add (optional) DOM parser that validates hierarchy and supports namespaces

v0.2 2013-Feb-15

Supports expanding numeric entities e.g. " -> "
Utility functions are local to parsing (not spamming the global namespace)

v0.1 2013-Feb-7

Option to ignore whitespace-only text nodes
Supports unescaped > in attributes
Supports CDATA
Supports Comments
Supports Processing Instructions

License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.