METHODS

• new([%attrs])

  Create a new SVG::Parser object. Optional attributes may be passed as arguments; all attributes without a leading '-' prefix are passed to the parent constructor. For example:

     my $parser=new SVG::Parser(%parser_options);
      

  Note that parser options are dependant on which parser type is selected.

  Attributes with a leading '-' are processed by SVG::Parser. Currently the only recognised attribute is '-debug', which generates a simple but possibly useful debug trace of the parsing process to standard error. For example:

     my $parser=new SVG::Parser(-debug => 1);
      

  or:

     my $parser=SVG::Parser->new(-debug => 1);
      

  Attributes with a leading '--' are passed to the SVG constructor when creating the SVG object returned as the result of the parse:

     my $parser=new SVG::Parser(
          -debug => 1,
          "--indent" => "\t",
          "--raiseerror" => 1
     );
      

  The leading '-' is stripped from attribute names passed this way, so this sets the '-indent' and '-raiseerror' attributes in the SVG module. See SVG for a list of valid SVG options.

  (The "new" constructor is provided by XML::SAX::Expat or SVG::Parser::SAX, but operates identically in either case.)

• parse($xml)

  Parse an XML document and return an SVG object which may then be used to manipulate the SVG content before regenerating the output XML. For example:

      my $svg=$parser->parse($svgxml);
      

  Because the parse() method differs in use beteen XML::Parser and XML::SAX, SVG::Parser provides its own parse() method. This calls the parent parser with the correct first argument when given either a filehandle or a string as input.

  Additional arguments are passed to the parent parser class, but since XML::Parser and XML::SAX parsers take options in different formats this is of limited use. SVG::Parser does not currently provide any translation of parser options.

  See XML::Parser, XML::SAX, and XML::Parser::PerlSAX for other ways to parse input XML.

• parse_file($filehandle|$filename)
• parsefile($filehandle|$filename)

  Since the parse_file() method (XML::SAX) and parsefile() method (XML::Parser) differ in both name and usage, SVG::Parser provides its own version of both methods that determines whether the passed argument is a filehandle or a file name and directs the call to the appropriate parent parser method.

  Both methods will work equally well whichever parent parser class is in use:

      my $svg=$parser->parse_file($svgxml);
      my $svg=$parser->parsefile($svgxml);
      my $svg=$parser->parse_file(*SVGIN);
      my $svg=$parser->parsefile(*SVGIN);
      ...etc...
      

  (These methods will also work when using SVG::Parser::Expat or SVG::Parser::SAX directly.)

EXPORTS

Each parser specification consists of one of the two supported SVG parsers, SVG::Parser::Expat or SVG::Parser::SAX, optionally followed by an '=' and an explicit parser package. For example:

    use SVG::Parser qw(SVG::Parser::SAX SVG::Parser::Expat);

Instead of specifying the full SVG parser name, 'Expat' and 'SAX' may be used as shorthand. For example:

    use SVG::Parser qw(SAX Expat);

Both the above examples produce the default behaviour. To prefer Expat over SAX use either of:

    use SVG::Parser qw(SVG::Parser::Expat SVG::Parser::SAX);
    use SVG::Parser qw(Expat SAX);

To use Expat with a specific XML::Parser subclass:

    use SVG::Parser qw(SVG::Parser::Expat=My::XML::Parser::Subclass);

To use SAX with the XML::LibXML SAX parser:

    use SVG::Parser qw(SVG::Parser::SAX=XML::LibXML::SAX::Parser);

A number of specifications can be listed to have SVG::Parse try a number of possible parser alternatives in decreasing order of preference:

    use SVG::Parser qw(
        SAX=My::SAXParser
        Expat=My::Best::ExpatParser
        SAX=XML::LibXML::SAX::Parser
        Expat=My::Other::ExpatParser
        Expat
        SAX
    )

You can test different scenarios from the command line. For example:

    perl -MSVG::Parser=SAX mysvgapp.pl
    perl -MSVG::Parser=Expat,SAX mysvgapp.pl
    perl -MSVG::Parser=SAX=XML::LibXML::SAX::Parser,Expat mysvgapp.pl

To pass additional items in the import list to the parent Expat or SAX parser class, use additional '=' separators in the parser specification. In the case of XML::SAX a minimum version number may be required this way:

    # require version 1.40+ of the LibXML SAX parser, otherwise use Perl
    use SVG::Parser qw(
        SAX=XML::LibXML::SAX::Parser=1.40
        SAX=XML::SAX::PurePerl
    );

Similarly, from the command line:

    perl -MSVG::Parser=SAX=XML::LibXML::SAX::Parser=1.40,SAX=XML::SAX::PurePerl mysvgapp.pl

EXAMPLES