There are two kinds of XML parsers. One is named "DOM" parser, the another is named "SAX" parser.

The DOM parser expands XML document onto memory as the DOM tree. With the DOM parser, it is very easy to operate an XML document, but usually a lot of memory is needed.

The SAX parser is a set of APIs that read XML document sequentially from the beginning and processes it in an event driven style. It needs less memory and is faster than the DOM parser, but there is no update function for XML documents such as adding, deleting a node etc.

SophiaFramework provides you with SFXXMLDOMParser as the DOM parser, SFXXMLSAXParser as the SAX parser.

19.3.1. Basic Function of SFXXMLDOMParser and SFXXMLSAXParser

The basic functions of SFXXMLDOMParser and SFXXMLSAXParser used by SophiaFramework are as follows:

Table 19.6. Parse

Function Name of the SFXXMLDOMParser class	Function Name of the SFXXMLSAXParser class	Description
SFXXMLDOMParser::Parse	SFXXMLSAXParser::Parse	Function to read and parse XML document.

Set a parser attribute

Parser attributes are set by using the Set function.

Table 19.7. Function of Setting Parser Attributes

Function Name of the SFXXMLDOMParser class	Function Name of the SFXXMLSAXParser class	Description
SFXXMLDOMParser::SetGrammar	SFXXMLSAXParser::SetGrammar	Set the grammar used by the parser.
SFXXMLDOMParser::SetDoNamespaces	SFXXMLSAXParser::SetDoNamespaces	Set the flag to process the namespace.
SFXXMLDOMParser::SetDoSchema	SFXXMLSAXParser::SetDoSchema	Set the flag to process the schema.
SFXXMLDOMParser::SetSchemaLocation	SFXXMLSAXParser::SetSchemaLocation	Set the XSD file to load.
SFXXMLDOMParser::SetValidationSchema	SFXXMLSAXParser::SetValidationSchema	Set the flag to validate the XML document with the schema.
SFXXMLDOMParser::SetLoadExternalDTD	SFXXMLSAXParser::SetLoadExternalDTD	Set the flag to load the external DTD file.
SFXXMLDOMParser::SetValidationDTD	SFXXMLSAXParser::SetValidationDTD	Set the flag to validate the XML document with the DTD.
SFXXMLDOMParser::SetCreateCommentNodes	------	Set the flag to generate the comment node.
SFXXMLDOMParser::SetDoIndent	SFXXMLSAXParser::SetDoIndent	Set the flag to indent the XML document.

	caution
	In these SetXXXXXXXXX functions, the attribute value is set to "false" by default except for the SFXXMLDOMParser::SetIgnoreAnnotations / SFXXMLSAXParser::SetIgnoreAnnotations function.

Get a parser attribute

Parser attributes can be obtained by using Get functions.

Table 19.8. Function of Getting Parser Attributes

Function Name of the SFXXMLDOMParser class	Function Name of the SFXXMLSAXParser class	Description
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetDoNamespaces	SFXXMLSAXParser::GetDoNamespaces	Get the value of the flag to process the namespace.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetDoSchema	SFXXMLSAXParser::GetDoSchema	Get the value of the flag to process the schema.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetValidationSchema	SFXXMLSAXParser::GetValidationSchema	Get the value of the flag to validate the XML document with the schema.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetLoadExternalDTD	SFXXMLSAXParser::GetLoadExternalDTD	Get the value of the flag to load the external DTD file.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetValidationDTD	SFXXMLSAXParser::GetValidationDTD	Get the value of the flag to validate the XML document with the DTD.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetDocument	------	Get the root node of the DOM tree.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetCreateCommentNodes	------	Get the value of the flag to generate the comment node.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetDoIndent	SFXXMLSAXParser::GetDoIndent	Get the value of the flag to indent the XML document.

Helper function

Table 19.9. Helper function

Function Name of the SFXXMLDOMParser class	Description
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetFirstChildElement	Get the first child Element node of the Element node with the specified name.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetFirstChildElementNS	Get the first child Element node of the Element node with the specified namespace URI and local name.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetNextSiblingElement	Get the next sibling Element node of the Element node with the specified name.
SFXXMLDOMParser::GetNextSiblingElementNS	Get the next sibling Element node of the Element node with the specified namespace URI and local name.

	Helper functions
	Only available for SFXXMLDOMParser, not available for SFXXMLSAXParser

	Function of Parsing with SFXXMLSAXParser
	To parse by using SFXXMLSAXParser, it is necessary to inherit from the SFXXMLDefaultHandler class for setting a handler interface to notify events.