javax.xml.stream
Interface XMLStreamReader

All Superinterfaces:
XMLStreamConstants
All Known Implementing Classes:
ReaderDelegate

public interface XMLStreamReader
extends XMLStreamConstants

The XMLStreamReader interface allows forward, read-only access to XML. It is designed to be the lowest level and most efficient way to read XML data.

The XMLStreamReader is designed to iterate over XML using next() and hasNext(). The data can be accessed using methods such as getEventType(), getNamespaceURI(), getLocalName() and getText();

The next() method causes the reader to read the next parse event. The next() method returns an integer which identifies the type of event just read.

The event type can be determined using getEventType().

Parsing events are defined as the XML Declaration, a DTD, start tag, character data, white space, end tag, comment, or processing instruction. An attribute or namespace event may be encountered at the root level of a document as the result of a query operation.

For XML 1.0 compliance an XML processor must pass the identifiers of declared unparsed entities, notation declarations and their associated identifiers to the application. This information is provided through the property API on this interface. The following two properties allow access to this information: javax.xml.stream.notations and javax.xml.stream.entities. When the current event is a DTD the following call will return a list of Notations List l = (List) getProperty("javax.xml.stream.notations"); The following call will return a list of entity declarations: List l = (List) getProperty("javax.xml.stream.entities"); These properties can only be accessed during a DTD event and are defined to return null if the information is not available.

The following table describes which methods are valid in what state. If a method is called in an invalid state the method will throw a java.lang.IllegalStateException.

Valid methods for each state
Event Type Valid Methods
All States getProperty(), hasNext(), require(), close(), getNamespaceURI(), isStartElement(), isEndElement(), isCharacters(), isWhiteSpace(), getNamespaceContext(), getEventType(),getLocation(), hasText()
START_ELEMENT next(), getName(), getLocalName(), hasName(), getPrefix(), getAttributeXXX(), isAttributeSpecified(), getNamespaceXXX(), getElementText(), nextTag()
ATTRIBUTE next(), nextTag() getAttributeXXX(), isAttributeSpecified(),
NAMESPACE next(), nextTag() getNamespaceXXX()
END_ELEMENT next(), getName(), getLocalName(), hasName(), getPrefix(), getNamespaceXXX(), nextTag()
CHARACTERS next(), getTextXXX(), nextTag()
CDATA next(), getTextXXX(), nextTag()
COMMENT next(), getTextXXX(), nextTag()
SPACE next(), getTextXXX(), nextTag()
START_DOCUMENT next(), getEncoding(), next(), getPrefix(), getVersion(), isStandalone(), standaloneSet(), getCharacterEncodingScheme(), nextTag()
END_DOCUMENT close()
PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION next(), getPITarget(), getPIData(), nextTag()
ENTITY_REFERENCE next(), getLocalName(), getText(), nextTag()
DTD next(), getText(), nextTag()

See Also:
XMLEvent, XMLInputFactory, XMLStreamWriter

Field Summary
 
Fields inherited from interface javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamConstants
ATTRIBUTE, CDATA, CHARACTERS, COMMENT, DTD, END_DOCUMENT, END_ELEMENT, END_ENTITY, ENTITY_DECLARATION, ENTITY_REFERENCE, NAMESPACE, NOTATION_DECLARATION, PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION, SPACE, START_DOCUMENT, START_ELEMENT, START_ENTITY
 
Method Summary
 void close()
          Frees any resources associated with this Reader.
 int getAttributeCount()
          Returns the count of attributes on this START_ELEMENT, this method is only valid on a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE.
 java.lang.String getAttributeName(int index)
          Returns the localName of the attribute at the provided index
 java.lang.String getAttributeNamespace(int index)
          Returns the namespace of the attribute at the provided index
 java.lang.String getAttributePrefix(int index)
          Returns the prefix of this attribute at the provided index
 QName getAttributeQName(int index)
          Returns the qname of the attribute at the provided index
 java.lang.String getAttributeType(int index)
          Returns the XML type of the attribute at the provided index
 java.lang.String getAttributeValue(int index)
          Returns the value of the attribute at the index
 java.lang.String getAttributeValue(java.lang.String namespaceURI, java.lang.String localName)
          Returns the normalized attribute value of the attribute with the namespace and localName If the namespaceURI is null the namespace is not checked for equality
 java.lang.String getCharacterEncodingScheme()
          Returns the character encoding declared on the xml declaration Returns null if none was declared
 java.lang.String getElementText()
          Reads the content of a text-only element.
 java.lang.String getEncoding()
          Return input encoding if known or null if unknown.
 int getEventType()
          Returns an integer code that indicates the type of the event the cursor is pointing to.
 java.lang.String getLocalName()
          Returns the (local) name of the current event.
 Location getLocation()
          Return the current location of the processor.
 QName getName()
          Returns a QName for the current START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT event
 NamespaceContext getNamespaceContext()
          Returns a read only namespace context for the current position.
 int getNamespaceCount()
          Returns the count of namespaces declared on this START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT, this method is only valid on a START_ELEMENT, END_ELEMENT or NAMESPACE.
 java.lang.String getNamespacePrefix(int index)
          Returns the prefix for the namespace declared at the index.
 java.lang.String getNamespaceURI()
          If the current event is a START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT this method returns the URI of the prefix or the default namespace.
 java.lang.String getNamespaceURI(int index)
          Returns the uri for the namespace declared at the index.
 java.lang.String getNamespaceURI(java.lang.String prefix)
          Return the uri for the given prefix.
 java.lang.String getPIData()
          Get the data section of a processing instruction
 java.lang.String getPITarget()
          Get the target of a processing instruction
 java.lang.String getPrefix()
          Returns the prefix of the current event or null if the event does not have a prefix
 java.lang.Object getProperty(java.lang.String name)
          Get the value of a feature/property from the underlying implementation
 java.lang.String getText()
          Returns the current value of the parse event as a string, this returns the string value of a CHARACTERS event, returns the value of a COMMENT, the replacement value for an ENTITY_REFERENCE, or the String value of the DTD
 char[] getTextCharacters()
          Returns an array which contains the characters from this event.
 int getTextCharacters(int sourceStart, char[] target, int targetStart, int length)
          Gets the the text associated with a CHARACTERS, SPACE or CDATA event.
 int getTextLength()
          Returns the length of the sequence of characters for this Text event within the text character array.
 int getTextStart()
          Returns the offset into the text character array where the first character (of this text event) is stored.
 java.lang.String getVersion()
          Get the xml version declared on the xml declaration Returns null if none was declared
 boolean hasName()
          returns true if the current event has a name, START_ELEMENT, END_ELEMENT, ENTITY_REFERENCE, and PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION have a name returns false otherwise
 boolean hasNext()
          Returns true if there are more parsing events and false if there are no more events.
 boolean hasText()
          Return true if the current event has text, false otherwise The following events have text: CHARACTERS,DTD ,ENTITY_REFERENCE, COMMENT
 boolean isAttributeSpecified(int index)
          Returns a boolean which indicates if this attribute was created by default
 boolean isCharacters()
          Returns true if the cursor points to a character data event
 boolean isEndElement()
          Returns true if the cursor points to an end tag (otherwise false)
 boolean isStandalone()
          Get the standalone declaration from the xml declaration
 boolean isStartElement()
          Returns true if the cursor points to a start tag (otherwise false)
 boolean isWhiteSpace()
          Returns true if the cursor points to a character data event that consists of all whitespace
 int next()
          Get next parsing event - a processor may return all contiguous character data in a single chunk, or it may split it into several chunks.
 int nextTag()
          Skips any insignificant events (COMMENT and PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION) until a START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT is reached.
 void require(int type, java.lang.String namespaceURI, java.lang.String localName)
          Test if the current event is of the given type and if the namespace and name match the current namespace and name of the current event.
 boolean standaloneSet()
          Checks if standalone was set in the document
 

Method Detail

getProperty

public java.lang.Object getProperty(java.lang.String name)
                             throws java.lang.IllegalArgumentException
Get the value of a feature/property from the underlying implementation

Parameters:
name - The name of the property, may not be null
Returns:
The value of the property
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if name is null

next

public int next()
         throws XMLStreamException
Get next parsing event - a processor may return all contiguous character data in a single chunk, or it may split it into several chunks. If the property javax.xml.stream.isCoalescing is set to true element content must be coalesced and only one CHARACTERS event must be returned for contiguous element content or CDATA Sections. By default entity references must be expanded and reported transparently to the application. An exception will be thrown if an entity reference cannot be expanded. If element content is empty (i.e. content is "") then no CHARACTERS event will be reported.

Given the following XML:
<foo><!--description-->content text<![CDATA[<greeting>Hello</greeting>]]>other content</foo>
The behavior of calling next() when being on foo will be:
1- the comment (COMMENT)
2- then the characters section (CHARACTERS)
3- then the CDATA section (another CHARACTERS)
4- then the next characters section (another CHARACTERS)
5- then the END_ELEMENT

NOTE: empty element (such as <tag/>) will be reported with two separate events: START_ELEMENT, END_ELEMENT - This preserves parsing equivalency of empty element to <tag></tag>. This method will throw an IllegalStateException if it is called after hasNext() returns false.

Returns:
the integer code corresponding to the current parse event
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is called when hasNext() returns false
XMLStreamException - if there is an error processing the underlying XML source
See Also:
XMLEvent

require

public void require(int type,
                    java.lang.String namespaceURI,
                    java.lang.String localName)
             throws XMLStreamException
Test if the current event is of the given type and if the namespace and name match the current namespace and name of the current event. If the namespaceURI is null it is not checked for equality, if the localName is null it is not checked for equality.

Parameters:
type - the event type
namespaceURI - the uri of the event, may be null
localName - the localName of the event, may be null
Throws:
XMLStreamException - if the required values are not matched.

getElementText

public java.lang.String getElementText()
                                throws XMLStreamException
Reads the content of a text-only element. Precondition: the current event is START_ELEMENT. Postcondition: The current event is the corresponding END_ELEMENT.

Throws:
XMLStreamException - if the current event is not a START_ELEMENT or if a non text element is encountered

nextTag

public int nextTag()
            throws XMLStreamException
Skips any insignificant events (COMMENT and PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION) until a START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT is reached. If other than space characters are encountered, an exception is thrown. This method should be used when processing element-only content because the parser is not able to recognize ignorable whitespace if then DTD is missing or not interpreted.

Returns:
the event type of the element read
Throws:
XMLStreamException - if the current event is not white space

hasNext

public boolean hasNext()
                throws XMLStreamException
Returns true if there are more parsing events and false if there are no more events. This method will return false if the current state of the XMLStreamReader is END_DOCUMENT

Returns:
true if there are more events, false otherwise
Throws:
XMLStreamException - if there is a fatal error detecting the next state

close

public void close()
           throws XMLStreamException
Frees any resources associated with this Reader. This method does not close the underlying input source.

Throws:
XMLStreamException - if there are errors freeing associated resources

getNamespaceURI

public java.lang.String getNamespaceURI(java.lang.String prefix)
Return the uri for the given prefix. The uri returned depends on the current state of the processor.

NOTE:The 'xml' prefix is bound as defined in Namespaces in XML specification to "http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace".

NOTE: The 'xmlns' prefix must be resolved to following namespace http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/

Parameters:
prefix - The prefix to lookup, may not be null
Returns:
the uri bound to the given prefix or null if it is not bound
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if the prefix is null

isStartElement

public boolean isStartElement()
Returns true if the cursor points to a start tag (otherwise false)

Returns:
true if the cursor points to a start tag, false otherwise

isEndElement

public boolean isEndElement()
Returns true if the cursor points to an end tag (otherwise false)

Returns:
true if the cursor points to an end tag, false otherwise

isCharacters

public boolean isCharacters()
Returns true if the cursor points to a character data event

Returns:
true if the cursor points to character data, false otherwise

isWhiteSpace

public boolean isWhiteSpace()
Returns true if the cursor points to a character data event that consists of all whitespace

Returns:
true if the cursor points to all whitespace, false otherwise

getAttributeValue

public java.lang.String getAttributeValue(java.lang.String namespaceURI,
                                          java.lang.String localName)
Returns the normalized attribute value of the attribute with the namespace and localName If the namespaceURI is null the namespace is not checked for equality

Parameters:
namespaceURI - the namespace of the attribute, cannot be null
localName - the local name of the attribute, cannot be null
Returns:
returns the value of the attribute , returns null if not found
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE

getAttributeCount

public int getAttributeCount()
Returns the count of attributes on this START_ELEMENT, this method is only valid on a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE. This count excludes namespace definitions. Attribute indices are zero-based.

Returns:
returns the number of attributes
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE

getAttributeQName

public QName getAttributeQName(int index)
Returns the qname of the attribute at the provided index

Parameters:
index - the position of the attribute
Returns:
the QName of the attribute
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE

getAttributeNamespace

public java.lang.String getAttributeNamespace(int index)
Returns the namespace of the attribute at the provided index

Parameters:
index - the position of the attribute
Returns:
the namespace URI (can be null)
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE

getAttributeName

public java.lang.String getAttributeName(int index)
Returns the localName of the attribute at the provided index

Parameters:
index - the position of the attribute
Returns:
the localName of the attribute
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE

getAttributePrefix

public java.lang.String getAttributePrefix(int index)
Returns the prefix of this attribute at the provided index

Parameters:
index - the position of the attribute
Returns:
the prefix of the attribute
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE

getAttributeType

public java.lang.String getAttributeType(int index)
Returns the XML type of the attribute at the provided index

Parameters:
index - the position of the attribute
Returns:
the XML type of the attribute
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE

getAttributeValue

public java.lang.String getAttributeValue(int index)
Returns the value of the attribute at the index

Parameters:
index - the position of the attribute
Returns:
the attribute value
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE

isAttributeSpecified

public boolean isAttributeSpecified(int index)
Returns a boolean which indicates if this attribute was created by default

Parameters:
index - the position of the attribute
Returns:
true if this is a default attribute
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT or ATTRIBUTE

getNamespaceCount

public int getNamespaceCount()
Returns the count of namespaces declared on this START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT, this method is only valid on a START_ELEMENT, END_ELEMENT or NAMESPACE. On an END_ELEMENT the count is of the namespaces that are about to go out of scope. This is the equivalent of the information reported by SAX callback for an end element event.

Returns:
returns the number of namespace declarations on this specific element
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT, END_ELEMENT or NAMESPACE

getNamespacePrefix

public java.lang.String getNamespacePrefix(int index)
Returns the prefix for the namespace declared at the index. Returns null if this is the default namespace declaration

Parameters:
index - the position of the namespace declaration
Returns:
returns the namespace prefix
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT, END_ELEMENT or NAMESPACE

getNamespaceURI

public java.lang.String getNamespaceURI(int index)
Returns the uri for the namespace declared at the index.

Parameters:
index - the position of the namespace declaration
Returns:
returns the namespace uri
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this is not a START_ELEMENT, END_ELEMENT or NAMESPACE

getNamespaceContext

public NamespaceContext getNamespaceContext()
Returns a read only namespace context for the current position. The context is transient and only valid until a call to next() changes the state of the reader.

Returns:
return a namespace context

getEventType

public int getEventType()
Returns an integer code that indicates the type of the event the cursor is pointing to.


getText

public java.lang.String getText()
Returns the current value of the parse event as a string, this returns the string value of a CHARACTERS event, returns the value of a COMMENT, the replacement value for an ENTITY_REFERENCE, or the String value of the DTD

Returns:
the current text or null
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this state is not a valid text state.

getTextCharacters

public char[] getTextCharacters()
Returns an array which contains the characters from this event. This array should be treated as read-only and transient. I.e. the array will contain the text characters until the XMLStreamReader moves on to the next event. Attempts to hold onto the character array beyond that time or modify the contents of the array are breaches of the contract for this interface.

Returns:
the current text or an empty array
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this state is not a valid text state.

getTextCharacters

public int getTextCharacters(int sourceStart,
                             char[] target,
                             int targetStart,
                             int length)
                      throws XMLStreamException
Gets the the text associated with a CHARACTERS, SPACE or CDATA event. Text starting a "sourceStart" is copied into "destination" starting at "targetStart". Up to "length" characters are copied. The number of characters actually copied is returned. The "sourceStart" argument must be greater or equal to 0 and less than or equal to the number of characters associated with the event. Usually, one requests text starting at a "sourceStart" of 0. If the number of characters actually copied is less than the "length", then there is no more text. Otherwise, subsequent calls need to be made until all text has been retrieved. For example: int length = 1024; char[] myBuffer = new char[ length ]; for ( int sourceStart = 0 ; ; sourceStart += length ) { int nCopied = stream.getTextCharacters( sourceStart, myBuffer, 0, length ); if (nCopied < length) break; } XMLStreamException may be thrown if there are any XML errors in the underlying source. The "targetStart" argument must be greater than or equal to 0 and less than the length of "target", Length must be greater than 0 and "targetStart + length" must be less than or equal to length of "target".

Parameters:
sourceStart - the index of the first character in the source array to copy
target - the destination array
targetStart - the start offset in the target array
length - the number of characters to copy
Returns:
the number of characters actually copied
Throws:
XMLStreamException - if the underlying XML source is not well-formed
java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException - if targetStart < 0 or > than the length of target
java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException - if length < 0 or targetStart + length > length of target
java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException - if this method is not supported
java.lang.NullPointerException - is if target is null

getTextStart

public int getTextStart()
Returns the offset into the text character array where the first character (of this text event) is stored.

Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this state is not a valid text state.

getTextLength

public int getTextLength()
Returns the length of the sequence of characters for this Text event within the text character array.

Throws:
java.lang.IllegalStateException - if this state is not a valid text state.

getEncoding

public java.lang.String getEncoding()
Return input encoding if known or null if unknown.

Returns:
the encoding of this instance or null

hasText

public boolean hasText()
Return true if the current event has text, false otherwise The following events have text: CHARACTERS,DTD ,ENTITY_REFERENCE, COMMENT


getLocation

public Location getLocation()
Return the current location of the processor. If the Location is unknown the processor should return an implementation of Location that returns -1 for the location and null for the publicId and systemId. The location information is only valid until next() is called.


getName

public QName getName()
Returns a QName for the current START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT event

Returns:
the QName for the current START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT event

getLocalName

public java.lang.String getLocalName()
Returns the (local) name of the current event. For START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT returns the (local) name of the current element. For ENTITY_REFERENCE it returns entity name. For PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION it returns the target. The current event must be START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT, PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION, or ENTITY_REFERENCE, otherwise null is returned.

Returns:
the localName or null if none is available

hasName

public boolean hasName()
returns true if the current event has a name, START_ELEMENT, END_ELEMENT, ENTITY_REFERENCE, and PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION have a name returns false otherwise


getNamespaceURI

public java.lang.String getNamespaceURI()
If the current event is a START_ELEMENT or END_ELEMENT this method returns the URI of the prefix or the default namespace. Returns null if the event does not have a prefix.

Returns:
the URI bound to this elements prefix, the default namespace, or null

getPrefix

public java.lang.String getPrefix()
Returns the prefix of the current event or null if the event does not have a prefix

Returns:
the prefix or null

getVersion

public java.lang.String getVersion()
Get the xml version declared on the xml declaration Returns null if none was declared

Returns:
the XML version or null

isStandalone

public boolean isStandalone()
Get the standalone declaration from the xml declaration

Returns:
true if this is standalone, or false otherwise

standaloneSet

public boolean standaloneSet()
Checks if standalone was set in the document

Returns:
true if standalone was set in the document, or false otherwise

getCharacterEncodingScheme

public java.lang.String getCharacterEncodingScheme()
Returns the character encoding declared on the xml declaration Returns null if none was declared

Returns:
the encoding declared in the document or null

getPITarget

public java.lang.String getPITarget()
Get the target of a processing instruction

Returns:
the target or null

getPIData

public java.lang.String getPIData()
Get the data section of a processing instruction

Returns:
the data or null