Re: [xml] need info on using libxml2 - build, merge, template xml files

["Senthil Nathan" <rsennat gmail com>]

Hi Rush,
Gr8. Thanks for the info.

And reg. the 4th point, I need to insert the values in the proper places of the DOM tree.
You got it rightly. So how do I get that done??

Senthil

On 8/17/07, Rush Manbert <rush manbert com> wrote:

Senthil Nathan wrote:
>  Hi,
> I'm new to use libxml2. I need general clarifications of using libxml2 for
> my application.
>
> Say, I have a XML content as,
>
> <hostName>
>       <defaultValue>value</defaultValue>
>       <description>
>              <shortDescr>Hostname descr.</shortDescr>
>              <longDescr>long descr of Hostname</longDescr>
>       </description>
>
>       <dataType>string</dataType>
>       <operations>set,delete</operations>
>
> </hostName>
>
> 1. Here, Is it possible to build a DOM tree using libxml2. (basic question.
> but still)
>

Yes.

> 2. And is it possible to have "description", "datatype", "operations" as
> attributes
>     in the DOM tree, instead of as sub nodes of "hostName".
>

I think you need XSLT to do this. Luckily, libxslt is available. You
just read and parse the original XML file, then apply your XSL style
sheet to it.

> 3. Is there anyway to overlay XML file on an existing xml tree. ie., merge /
> append different xml files.
>

Again, XSLT might be your friend here. There have been lots of threads
on the subject of document merging on the Mulberry Tech XSL list. Check out:
http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/

You can get high quality help here. My personal experience with libxslt
used in conjunction with libxml2 has been very good. It works very well.

> 4. I have a template XML file and a config XML file. All the values for the
> template should be available in the config file. Is that possible with
> libxml2?
>

So you would have a template file that looks like this:
<hostName>
       <defaultValue></defaultValue>
       <description>
              <shortDescr></shortDescr>
              <longDescr></longDescr>
       </description>

       <dataType></dataType>
       <operations></operations>

</hostName>

and, according to your example, you want to insert these values:
value
Hostname descr.
long descr of Hostname
string
set,delete

into the proper places in the DOM structure.
Or maybe just into the proper places in a text file.
Or maybe as attributes on some element.

Do I understand this correctly?

- Rush

-- 
http://www.jaxtr.com/rsennat - You can call me for free by clicking on this link.