XML Parser for C

Question

Can you suggest some of the best XML Parser for C

User · Answer

On Windows  it s native with Win32 api

User · Answer

Could you give some indication of what platforms you are writing for  This should weigh heavily on what is  best   You might find a super  xml-foo  library that does not ship commonly on most systems by default    while its great  the lack of the library might prevent  or at least  annoy users   Mostly  I use libxml2    because its standard or easy to install on the platforms that I target   As you see   best  is also determined by the library being available on your target platforms

User · Answer

Could you give some indication of what platforms you are writing for  This should weigh heavily on what is  best   You might find a super  xml-foo  library that does not ship commonly on most systems by default    while its great  the lack of the library might prevent  or at least  annoy users   Mostly  I use libxml2    because its standard or easy to install on the platforms that I target   As you see   best  is also determined by the library being available on your target platforms

User · Answer

How about one written in pure assembler  -  Don t forget to check out the benchmarks

User · Answer

Two examples with expat and libxml2  The second one is  IMHO  much easier to use since it creates a tree in memory  a data structure which is easy to work with  expat  on the other hand  does not build anything  you have to do it yourself   it just allows you to call handlers at specific events during the parsing  But expat may be faster  I didn t measure    With expat  reading a XML file and displaying the elements indented          A simple test program to parse XML documents with expat     lt http   expat sourceforge net  gt   It just displays the element    names      On Debian  compile with      gcc -Wall -o expat-test -lexpat expat-test c       Inspired from  lt http   www xml com pub a 1999 09 expat index html gt        include  lt expat h gt   include  lt stdio h gt   include  lt string h gt      Keep track of the current level in the XML tree    int             Depth    define MAXCHARS 1000000  void start void  data  const char  el  const char   attr        int             i       for  i   0  i  lt  Depth  i            printf             printf   s   el        for  i   0  attr i   i    2            printf    s   s    attr i   attr i   1               printf   n        Depth                       End of start handler     void end void  data  const char  el        Depth--                     End of end handler     int main int argc  char   argv         char            filename      FILE            f      size t          size      char            xmltext      XML Parser      parser       if  argc    2            fprintf stderr   Usage   s filename n   argv 0            return  1             filename   argv 1       parser   XML ParserCreate NULL       if  parser    NULL            fprintf stderr   Parser not created n            return  1                Tell expat to use functions start   and end   each times it encounters        the start or end of an element         XML SetElementHandler parser  start  end       f   fopen filename   r        xmltext   malloc MAXCHARS          Slurp the XML file in the buffer xmltext        size   fread xmltext  sizeof char   MAXCHARS  f       if  XML Parse parser  xmltext  strlen xmltext   XML TRUE             XML STATUS ERROR            fprintf stderr               Cannot parse  s  file may be too large or not well-formed XML n               filename           return  1             fclose f       XML ParserFree parser       fprintf stdout   Successfully parsed  i characters in file  s n   size          filename       return  0       With libxml2  a program which displays the name of the root element and the names of its children         Simple test with libxml2  lt http   xmlsoft org gt   It displays the name    of the root element and the names of all its children  not    descendents  just children       On Debian  compiles with     gcc -Wall -o read-xml2   xml2-config --cflags    xml2-config --libs                        read-xml2 c           include  lt stdio h gt   include  lt string h gt   include  lt libxml parser h gt   int main int argc  char   argv        xmlDoc          document      xmlNode         root   first child   node      char            filename       if  argc  lt  2            fprintf stderr   Usage   s filename xml n   argv 0            return 1            filename   argv 1        document   xmlReadFile filename  NULL  0       root   xmlDocGetRootElement document       fprintf stdout   Root is  lt  s gt    i  n   root- gt name  root- gt type       first child   root- gt children      for  node   first child  node  node   node- gt next            fprintf stdout    t Child is  lt  s gt    i  n   node- gt name  node- gt type             fprintf stdout       n        return 0

User · Answer

Expat is pretty decent  It s hard to give good recommendations without more information though

User · Answer

For C   I suggest using CMarkup

User · Answer

Two of the most widely used parsers are Expat and libxml   If you are okay with using C    there s Xerces-C   too

User · Answer

Two examples with expat and libxml2  The second one is  IMHO  much easier to use since it creates a tree in memory  a data structure which is easy to work with  expat  on the other hand  does not build anything  you have to do it yourself   it just allows you to call handlers at specific events during the parsing  But expat may be faster  I didn t measure    With expat  reading a XML file and displaying the elements indented          A simple test program to parse XML documents with expat     lt http   expat sourceforge net  gt   It just displays the element    names      On Debian  compile with      gcc -Wall -o expat-test -lexpat expat-test c       Inspired from  lt http   www xml com pub a 1999 09 expat index html gt        include  lt expat h gt   include  lt stdio h gt   include  lt string h gt      Keep track of the current level in the XML tree    int             Depth    define MAXCHARS 1000000  void start void  data  const char  el  const char   attr        int             i       for  i   0  i  lt  Depth  i            printf             printf   s   el        for  i   0  attr i   i    2            printf    s   s    attr i   attr i   1               printf   n        Depth                       End of start handler     void end void  data  const char  el        Depth--                     End of end handler     int main int argc  char   argv         char            filename      FILE            f      size t          size      char            xmltext      XML Parser      parser       if  argc    2            fprintf stderr   Usage   s filename n   argv 0            return  1             filename   argv 1       parser   XML ParserCreate NULL       if  parser    NULL            fprintf stderr   Parser not created n            return  1                Tell expat to use functions start   and end   each times it encounters        the start or end of an element         XML SetElementHandler parser  start  end       f   fopen filename   r        xmltext   malloc MAXCHARS          Slurp the XML file in the buffer xmltext        size   fread xmltext  sizeof char   MAXCHARS  f       if  XML Parse parser  xmltext  strlen xmltext   XML TRUE             XML STATUS ERROR            fprintf stderr               Cannot parse  s  file may be too large or not well-formed XML n               filename           return  1             fclose f       XML ParserFree parser       fprintf stdout   Successfully parsed  i characters in file  s n   size          filename       return  0       With libxml2  a program which displays the name of the root element and the names of its children         Simple test with libxml2  lt http   xmlsoft org gt   It displays the name    of the root element and the names of all its children  not    descendents  just children       On Debian  compiles with     gcc -Wall -o read-xml2   xml2-config --cflags    xml2-config --libs                        read-xml2 c           include  lt stdio h gt   include  lt string h gt   include  lt libxml parser h gt   int main int argc  char   argv        xmlDoc          document      xmlNode         root   first child   node      char            filename       if  argc  lt  2            fprintf stderr   Usage   s filename xml n   argv 0            return 1            filename   argv 1        document   xmlReadFile filename  NULL  0       root   xmlDocGetRootElement document       fprintf stdout   Root is  lt  s gt    i  n   root- gt name  root- gt type       first child   root- gt children      for  node   first child  node  node   node- gt next            fprintf stdout    t Child is  lt  s gt    i  n   node- gt name  node- gt type             fprintf stdout       n        return 0

User · Answer

http   www minixml org is also pretty good   Small and just ANSI C

User · Answer

Two of the most widely used parsers are Expat and libxml   If you are okay with using C    there s Xerces-C   too

User · Answer

Two examples with expat and libxml2  The second one is  IMHO  much easier to use since it creates a tree in memory  a data structure which is easy to work with  expat  on the other hand  does not build anything  you have to do it yourself   it just allows you to call handlers at specific events during the parsing  But expat may be faster  I didn t measure    With expat  reading a XML file and displaying the elements indented          A simple test program to parse XML documents with expat     lt http   expat sourceforge net  gt   It just displays the element    names      On Debian  compile with      gcc -Wall -o expat-test -lexpat expat-test c       Inspired from  lt http   www xml com pub a 1999 09 expat index html gt        include  lt expat h gt   include  lt stdio h gt   include  lt string h gt      Keep track of the current level in the XML tree    int             Depth    define MAXCHARS 1000000  void start void  data  const char  el  const char   attr        int             i       for  i   0  i  lt  Depth  i            printf             printf   s   el        for  i   0  attr i   i    2            printf    s   s    attr i   attr i   1               printf   n        Depth                       End of start handler     void end void  data  const char  el        Depth--                     End of end handler     int main int argc  char   argv         char            filename      FILE            f      size t          size      char            xmltext      XML Parser      parser       if  argc    2            fprintf stderr   Usage   s filename n   argv 0            return  1             filename   argv 1       parser   XML ParserCreate NULL       if  parser    NULL            fprintf stderr   Parser not created n            return  1                Tell expat to use functions start   and end   each times it encounters        the start or end of an element         XML SetElementHandler parser  start  end       f   fopen filename   r        xmltext   malloc MAXCHARS          Slurp the XML file in the buffer xmltext        size   fread xmltext  sizeof char   MAXCHARS  f       if  XML Parse parser  xmltext  strlen xmltext   XML TRUE             XML STATUS ERROR            fprintf stderr               Cannot parse  s  file may be too large or not well-formed XML n               filename           return  1             fclose f       XML ParserFree parser       fprintf stdout   Successfully parsed  i characters in file  s n   size          filename       return  0       With libxml2  a program which displays the name of the root element and the names of its children         Simple test with libxml2  lt http   xmlsoft org gt   It displays the name    of the root element and the names of all its children  not    descendents  just children       On Debian  compiles with     gcc -Wall -o read-xml2   xml2-config --cflags    xml2-config --libs                        read-xml2 c           include  lt stdio h gt   include  lt string h gt   include  lt libxml parser h gt   int main int argc  char   argv        xmlDoc          document      xmlNode         root   first child   node      char            filename       if  argc  lt  2            fprintf stderr   Usage   s filename xml n   argv 0            return 1            filename   argv 1        document   xmlReadFile filename  NULL  0       root   xmlDocGetRootElement document       fprintf stdout   Root is  lt  s gt    i  n   root- gt name  root- gt type       first child   root- gt children      for  node   first child  node  node   node- gt next            fprintf stdout    t Child is  lt  s gt    i  n   node- gt name  node- gt type             fprintf stdout       n        return 0

User · Answer

On Windows  it s native with Win32 api

User · Answer

My personal preference is libxml2  It s very easy to use but I never bothered to benchmark it  as I ve only used it for configuration file parsing

User · Answer

How about one written in pure assembler  -  Don t forget to check out the benchmarks

User · Answer

Could you give some indication of what platforms you are writing for  This should weigh heavily on what is  best   You might find a super  xml-foo  library that does not ship commonly on most systems by default    while its great  the lack of the library might prevent  or at least  annoy users   Mostly  I use libxml2    because its standard or easy to install on the platforms that I target   As you see   best  is also determined by the library being available on your target platforms

User · Answer

You can try ezxml -- it s a lightweight parser written entirely in C   For C   you can check out TinyXML

User · Answer

For C   I suggest using CMarkup

User · Answer

Could you give some indication of what platforms you are writing for  This should weigh heavily on what is  best   You might find a super  xml-foo  library that does not ship commonly on most systems by default    while its great  the lack of the library might prevent  or at least  annoy users   Mostly  I use libxml2    because its standard or easy to install on the platforms that I target   As you see   best  is also determined by the library being available on your target platforms

User · Answer

On Windows  it s native with Win32 api

User · Answer

You can try ezxml -- it s a lightweight parser written entirely in C   For C   you can check out TinyXML

User · Answer

Expat is pretty decent  It s hard to give good recommendations without more information though

User · Answer

http   www minixml org is also pretty good   Small and just ANSI C

User · Answer

Two of the most widely used parsers are Expat and libxml   If you are okay with using C    there s Xerces-C   too

User · Answer

My personal preference is libxml2  It s very easy to use but I never bothered to benchmark it  as I ve only used it for configuration file parsing

User · Answer

You can try ezxml -- it s a lightweight parser written entirely in C   For C   you can check out TinyXML

User · Answer

You can try ezxml -- it s a lightweight parser written entirely in C   For C   you can check out TinyXML

User · Answer

Two examples with expat and libxml2  The second one is  IMHO  much easier to use since it creates a tree in memory  a data structure which is easy to work with  expat  on the other hand  does not build anything  you have to do it yourself   it just allows you to call handlers at specific events during the parsing  But expat may be faster  I didn t measure    With expat  reading a XML file and displaying the elements indented          A simple test program to parse XML documents with expat     lt http   expat sourceforge net  gt   It just displays the element    names      On Debian  compile with      gcc -Wall -o expat-test -lexpat expat-test c       Inspired from  lt http   www xml com pub a 1999 09 expat index html gt        include  lt expat h gt   include  lt stdio h gt   include  lt string h gt      Keep track of the current level in the XML tree    int             Depth    define MAXCHARS 1000000  void start void  data  const char  el  const char   attr        int             i       for  i   0  i  lt  Depth  i            printf             printf   s   el        for  i   0  attr i   i    2            printf    s   s    attr i   attr i   1               printf   n        Depth                       End of start handler     void end void  data  const char  el        Depth--                     End of end handler     int main int argc  char   argv         char            filename      FILE            f      size t          size      char            xmltext      XML Parser      parser       if  argc    2            fprintf stderr   Usage   s filename n   argv 0            return  1             filename   argv 1       parser   XML ParserCreate NULL       if  parser    NULL            fprintf stderr   Parser not created n            return  1                Tell expat to use functions start   and end   each times it encounters        the start or end of an element         XML SetElementHandler parser  start  end       f   fopen filename   r        xmltext   malloc MAXCHARS          Slurp the XML file in the buffer xmltext        size   fread xmltext  sizeof char   MAXCHARS  f       if  XML Parse parser  xmltext  strlen xmltext   XML TRUE             XML STATUS ERROR            fprintf stderr               Cannot parse  s  file may be too large or not well-formed XML n               filename           return  1             fclose f       XML ParserFree parser       fprintf stdout   Successfully parsed  i characters in file  s n   size          filename       return  0       With libxml2  a program which displays the name of the root element and the names of its children         Simple test with libxml2  lt http   xmlsoft org gt   It displays the name    of the root element and the names of all its children  not    descendents  just children       On Debian  compiles with     gcc -Wall -o read-xml2   xml2-config --cflags    xml2-config --libs                        read-xml2 c           include  lt stdio h gt   include  lt string h gt   include  lt libxml parser h gt   int main int argc  char   argv        xmlDoc          document      xmlNode         root   first child   node      char            filename       if  argc  lt  2            fprintf stderr   Usage   s filename xml n   argv 0            return 1            filename   argv 1        document   xmlReadFile filename  NULL  0       root   xmlDocGetRootElement document       fprintf stdout   Root is  lt  s gt    i  n   root- gt name  root- gt type       first child   root- gt children      for  node   first child  node  node   node- gt next            fprintf stdout    t Child is  lt  s gt    i  n   node- gt name  node- gt type             fprintf stdout       n        return 0

User · Answer

Expat is pretty decent  It s hard to give good recommendations without more information though

User · Answer

Expat is pretty decent  It s hard to give good recommendations without more information though

User · Answer

How about one written in pure assembler  -  Don t forget to check out the benchmarks

User · Answer

On Windows  it s native with Win32 api

User · Answer

How about one written in pure assembler  -  Don t forget to check out the benchmarks

User · Answer

Two of the most widely used parsers are Expat and libxml   If you are okay with using C    there s Xerces-C   too

[c] XML Parser for C

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