NAME

SYNOPSIS

        use XML::Mini::Document;
        
        use Data::Dumper;
        
        
        ###### PARSING XML #######
        
        # create a new object
        my $xmlDoc = XML::Mini::Document->new();
        
        # init the doc from an XML string
        $xmlDoc->parse($XMLString);
        
        # You may use the toHash() method to automatically
        # convert the XML into a hash reference
        my $xmlHash = $xmlDoc->toHash();
        
        print Dumper($xmlHash);
        
        
        # You can also manipulate the elements like directly, like this:        
        
        # Fetch the ROOT element for the document
        # (an instance of XML::Mini::Element)
        my $xmlRoot = $xmlDoc->getRoot();
        
        # play with the element and its children
        # ...
        my $topLevelChildren = $xmlRoot->getAllChildren();
        
        foreach my $childElement (@{$topLevelChildren})
        {
                # ...
        }
        
        
        ###### CREATING XML #######
        
        # Create a new document from scratch
        
        my $newDoc = XML::Mini::Document->new();
        
        # This can be done easily by using a hash:
        my $h = {       
         'spy'  => {
                'id'    => '007',
                'type'  => 'SuperSpy',
                'name'  => 'James Bond',
                'email' => 'mi5@london.uk',
                'address'       => 'Wherever he is needed most',
                },
        };

        $newDoc->fromHash($h);
 
        
        
        # Or new XML can also be created by manipulating 
        #elements directly:
        
        my $newDocRoot = $newDoc->getRoot();
        
        # create the <? xml ?> header
        my $xmlHeader = $newDocRoot->header('xml');
        # add the version 
        $xmlHeader->attribute('version', '1.0');
        
        my $person = $newDocRoot->createChild('person');
        
        my $name = $person->createChild('name');
        $name->createChild('first')->text('John');
        $name->createChild('last')->text('Doe');
        
        my $eyes = $person->createChild('eyes');
        $eyes->attribute('color', 'blue');
        $eyes->attribute('number', 2);
        
        # output the document
        print $newDoc->toString();

This example would output :

 <?xml version="1.0"?>
  <person>
   <name>
    <first>
     John
    </first>
    <last>
     Doe
    </last>
  </name>
  <eyes color="blue" number="2" />
  </person>

DESCRIPTION

It provides an easy, object-oriented interface for manipulating XML documents and their elements. It is currently being used to send requests and understand responses from remote servers in Perl or PHP applications. An XML::Mini based parser is now being tested within the RPC::XML framework.

XML::Mini does not require any external libraries or modules and is pure Perl. If available, XML::Mini will use the Text::Balanced module in order to escape limitations of the regex-only approach (eg "cross-nested" tag parsing).

The Mini.pm module includes a number of variables you may use to tweak XML::Mini's behavior. These include:

$XML::Mini::AutoEscapeEntities - when greater than 0, the values set for nodes are automatically escaped, thus $element->text('4 is > 3') will set the contents of the appended node to '4 is > 3'. Default setting is 1.

$XML::Mini::IgnoreWhitespaces - when greater than 0, extraneous whitespaces will be ignored (maily useful when parsing). Thus <mytag> Hello There </mytag> will be parsed as containing a text node with contents 'Hello There' instead of ' Hello There '. Default setting is 1.

$XML::Mini::CaseSensitive - when greater than 0, element names are treated as case sensitive. Thus, $element->getElement('subelement') and $element->getElement('SubElement') will be equivalent. Defaults to 0.

Class methods

        use XML::Mini;
        
        $XML::Mini::IgnoreDeepRecursionWarnings = 0;
        
        use XML::Mini::Document;
        
        # ...

AUTHOR

Programs that use this code are bound to the terms and conditions of the GNU GPL (see the LICENSE file). If you wish to include these modules in non-GPL code, you need prior written authorisation from the authors.

This library is released under the terms of the GNU GPL version 3, making it available only for free programs ("free" here being used in the sense of the GPL, see http://www.gnu.org for more details). Anyone wishing to use this library within a proprietary or otherwise non-GPLed program MUST contact psychogenic.com to acquire a distinct license for their application. This approach encourages the use of free software while allowing for proprietary solutions that support further development.

    XML::Mini::Element module, part of the XML::Mini XML parser/generator package.
    Copyright (C) 2002-2008 Patrick Deegan
    All rights reserved
    
    XML::Mini is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
    (at your option) any later version.

    XML::Mini is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with XML::Mini.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

SEE ALSO

http://minixml.psychogenic.com