org.simpleframework.xml.stream

Interface InputNode

All Superinterfaces:

Node

public interface InputNode
extends Node

The InputNode object represents an iterator for the elements within an element. This allows the input node object to become a self contained iterator for an element and its children. Each child taken from the input node object, is itself an input node, and can be used to explore its sub elements without having any affect on its outer elements.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
InputNode	getAttribute(String name) Provides an attribute from the element represented.
NodeMap<InputNode>	getAttributes() This returns a map of the attributes contained within the element.
InputNode	getNext() This returns the next child element within this element if one exists.
InputNode	getNext(String name) This returns the next child in this element if that child has the name provided.
InputNode	getParent() This is used to acquire the Node that is the parent of this node.
Position	getPosition() This provides the position of this node within the document.
String	getPrefix() This is used to acquire the namespace prefix for the node.
String	getReference() This allows the namespace reference URI to be determined.
Object	getSource() This is used to return the source object for this node.
boolean	isElement() This is used to determine if this node is an element.
boolean	isEmpty() This is used to determine if this input node is empty.
boolean	isRoot() This method is used to determine if this node is the root node for the XML document.
void	skip() This method is used to skip all child elements from this element.

Methods inherited from interface org.simpleframework.xml.stream.Node

getName, getValue

Method Detail

isRoot

boolean isRoot()

This method is used to determine if this node is the root node for the XML document. The root node is the first node in the document and has no sibling nodes. This is false if the node has a parent node or a sibling node.

Returns:

true if this is the root node within the document

isElement

boolean isElement()

This is used to determine if this node is an element. This allows users of the framework to make a distinction between nodes that represent attributes and nodes that represent elements. This is particularly useful given that attribute nodes do not maintain a node map of attributes.

Returns:

this returns true if the node is an element node

getPrefix

String getPrefix()

This is used to acquire the namespace prefix for the node. If there is no namespace prefix for the node then this will return null. Acquiring the prefix enables the qualification of the node to be determined. It also allows nodes to be grouped by its prefix and allows group operations.

Returns:

this returns the prefix associated with this node

getReference

String getReference()

This allows the namespace reference URI to be determined. A reference is a globally unique string that allows the node to be identified. Typically the reference will be a URI but it can be any unique string used to identify the node. This allows the node to be identified within the namespace.

Returns:

this returns the associated namespace reference URI

getPosition

Position getPosition()

This provides the position of this node within the document. This allows the user of this node to report problems with the location within the document, allowing the XML to be debugged if it does not match the class schema.

Returns:

this returns the position of the XML read cursor

getAttribute

InputNode getAttribute(String name)

Provides an attribute from the element represented. If an attribute for the specified name does not exist within the element represented then this method will return null.

Parameters:

name - this is the name of the attribute to retrieve

Returns:

this returns the value for the named attribute

getAttributes

NodeMap<InputNode> getAttributes()

This returns a map of the attributes contained within the element. If no elements exist within the element then this returns an empty map.

Returns:

this returns a map of attributes for the element

getParent

InputNode getParent()

This is used to acquire the Node that is the parent of this node. This will return the node that is the direct parent of this node and allows for siblings to make use of nodes with their parents if required.

Specified by:

getParent in interface Node

Returns:

this returns the parent node for this node

getSource

Object getSource()

This is used to return the source object for this node. This is used primarily as a means to determine which XML provider is parsing the source document and producing the nodes. It is useful to be able to determine the XML provider like this.

Returns:

this returns the source of this input node

getNext

InputNode getNext()
           throws Exception

This returns the next child element within this element if one exists. If all children have been read, or if there are no child elements for this element then this returns null.

Returns:

this returns an input node for the next child

Throws:

Exception - thrown if there was a parse error

getNext

InputNode getNext(String name)
           throws Exception

This returns the next child in this element if that child has the name provided. If the next child element in this node does not have the name given then null is returned.

Parameters:

name - this is the name of the next child element

Returns:

the next element if it has the name specified

Throws:

Exception - thrown if there was a parse error

skip

void skip()
   throws Exception

This method is used to skip all child elements from this element. This allows elements to be effectively skipped such that when parsing a document if an element is not required then that element can be completely removed from the XML.

Throws:

Exception - thrown if there was a parse error

isEmpty

boolean isEmpty()
         throws Exception

This is used to determine if this input node is empty. An empty node is one with no attributes or children. This can be used to determine if a given node represents an empty entity, with which no extra data can be extracted.

Returns:

this returns true if the node is an empty element

Throws:

Exception - thrown if there was a parse error