jordi-xml_struct 0.1.1 → 0.1.2
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- data/README.markdown +122 -3
- data/TODO +3 -0
- data/xml_struct.gemspec +2 -1
- metadata +2 -1
data/README.markdown
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# XML Struct
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(This is inspired by Python's `xml_objectify`)
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XML Struct attempts to make accessing small, well-formed XML structures
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convenient, by using dot notation (`foo.bar`) to represent both attributes
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and child elements whenever possible, as well as by converting string values
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onto native objects (`Fixnum`, `Float`, etc).
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XML parsing libraries (in general) have interfaces that are useful when
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one is using XML for its intended purpose, but cumbersome when one always
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sends the same XML structure, and always process all of it in the same
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way. This one is a bit different.
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## Example usage
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<recipe name="bread" prep_time="5 mins" cook_time="3 hours">
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<title>Basic bread</title>
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</instructions>
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</recipe>
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require 'xml_struct'
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recipe = XMLStruct.new io_with_recipe_xml_shown_above
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recipe.name => "bread"
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recipe.title == "Basic bread" => true
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recipe.instructions.first.upcase => "MIX ALL INGREDIENTS TOGETHER."
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recipe.instructions.steps.size => 7
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## Installation instructions
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sudo gem install jordi-xml_struct --source http://gems.github.com
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## Motivation
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XML is an **extensible** markup language. It is extensible because it is
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meant to define markup languages for **any** type of document, so new tags
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are needed depending on the problem domain.
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Sometimes, however, XML ends up being used to solve a much simpler problem:
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the issue of passing a data-structure over the network, and/or between two
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different languages. Tools like JSON or YAML are a much better fit for
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this kind of job, but one doesn't always have that luxury.
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## Caveats
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The dot notation is used as follows. For the given file:
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<outer id="root" name="foo">
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<name>Outer Element</name>
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</outer>
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`outer.name` is the `<name>` element. Child elements are always looked up
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first, then attributes. To access the attribute in the case of ambiguity,
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use `outer[:attr => 'name']`.
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`outer.id` is really `Object#id`, because all of the object methods are
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preserved (this is on purpose). To access the attribute `id`, use
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`outer[:attr => 'id']`, or `outer['id']` since there's no element/attribute
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ambiguity.
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## Features & Problems
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### Collection auto-folding
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Similar to XML::Simple, XML Struct folds same named elements at the same
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level. For example:
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<student>
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<name>Bob</name>
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<course>Math</course>
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<course>Biology</course>
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</student>
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student = XMLStruct.new(xml_file)
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student.course.is_a? Array => true
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student.course.first == 'Math' => true
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student.course.last == 'Biology => true
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### Collection pluralization:
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With the same file from the `Collection auto-folding` section above, you
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also get this (courtesy of `ActiveSupport`'s `Inflector`):
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student.courses == student.course => true
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### Collection proxy:
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Sometimes, collections are expressed with a container element in XML:
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<student>
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<name>Bob</name>
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<courses>
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<course>Math</course>
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<course>Biology</course>
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</courses>
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</student>
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In this case, since the container element `courses` has no text element
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of its own, and it only has elements of one name under it, it delegates
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all methods it doesn't contain to the collection below, so you get:
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student.courses.collect { |c| c.downcase.to_sym } => [:math, :biology]
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### Auto "type-casting"
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Strings that look like integers are promoted via `to_i`, and similarly
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floats via `to_f`. Strings that look like booleans are also promoted, but
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only if called by their question mark names (such as `enabled?`.)
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### Slow
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So far, XML Struct uses REXML to do the actual XML parsing. Support
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for using faster parsers is planned, leaving REXML as a fallback option.
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### Recursive
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The entire XML file is parsed using REXML right now, and then converted to
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an XMLStruct of XMLStruct objects recursively. Deep files are bound to
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throw `SystemStackError`, but for the kinds of files I need to read, things
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are working fine so far. In any case, stream parsing is on the TODO list.
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### Incomplete
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It most likely doesn't work with a ton of features of complex XML files. I
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will always try to accomodate those, as long as they don't make the basic
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usage more complex. As usual, patches welcome.
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## Legal
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Copyright (c) 2008 Jordi Bunster, released under the MIT license
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data/TODO
ADDED
data/xml_struct.gemspec
CHANGED
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
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Gem::Specification.new do |s|
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s.name = 'xml_struct'
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s.version = '0.1.
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s.version = '0.1.2'
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s.date = '2008-10-09'
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s.author = 'Jordi Bunster'
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README.markdown
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Rakefile
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WHATSNEW
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TODO
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lib
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lib/jordi-xml_struct.rb
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lib/xml_struct.rb
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metadata
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--- !ruby/object:Gem::Specification
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name: jordi-xml_struct
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version: !ruby/object:Gem::Version
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version: 0.1.
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version: 0.1.2
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platform: ruby
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authors:
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- Jordi Bunster
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@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ files:
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- README.markdown
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- Rakefile
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- WHATSNEW
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- TODO
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- lib
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- lib/jordi-xml_struct.rb
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- lib/xml_struct.rb
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