001// XMLReader.java - read an XML document.
002// Written by David Megginson, sax@megginson.com
003// NO WARRANTY!  This class is in the Public Domain.
004
005// $Id: XMLReader.java,v 1.1 2001/03/05 21:40:06 jstrachan Exp $
006
007package org.xml.sax;
008
009import java.io.IOException;
010
011
012/**
013 * Interface for reading an XML document using callbacks.
014 *
015 * <blockquote>
016 * <em>This module, both source code and documentation, is in the
017 * Public Domain, and comes with <strong>NO WARRANTY</strong>.</em>
018 * </blockquote>
019 *
020 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> despite its name, this interface does 
021 * <em>not</em> extend the standard Java {@link java.io.Reader Reader} 
022 * interface, because reading XML is a fundamentally different activity 
023 * than reading character data.</p>
024 *
025 * <p>XMLReader is the interface that an XML parser's SAX2 driver must
026 * implement.  This interface allows an application to set and
027 * query features and properties in the parser, to register
028 * event handlers for document processing, and to initiate
029 * a document parse.</p>
030 *
031 * <p>All SAX interfaces are assumed to be synchronous: the
032 * {@link #parse parse} methods must not return until parsing
033 * is complete, and readers must wait for an event-handler callback
034 * to return before reporting the next event.</p>
035 *
036 * <p>This interface replaces the (now deprecated) SAX 1.0 {@link
037 * org.xml.sax.Parser Parser} interface.  The XMLReader interface
038 * contains two important enhancements over the old Parser
039 * interface:</p>
040 *
041 * <ol>
042 * <li>it adds a standard way to query and set features and 
043 *  properties; and</li>
044 * <li>it adds Namespace support, which is required for many
045 *  higher-level XML standards.</li>
046 * </ol>
047 *
048 * <p>There are adapters available to convert a SAX1 Parser to
049 * a SAX2 XMLReader and vice-versa.</p>
050 *
051 * @since SAX 2.0
052 * @author David Megginson, 
053 *         <a href="mailto:sax@megginson.com">sax@megginson.com</a>
054 * @version 2.0
055 * @see org.xml.sax.XMLFilter
056 * @see org.xml.sax.helpers.ParserAdapter
057 * @see org.xml.sax.helpers.XMLReaderAdapter 
058 */
059public interface XMLReader
060{
061
062
063    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
064    // Configuration.
065    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
066
067
068    /**
069     * Look up the value of a feature.
070     *
071     * <p>The feature name is any fully-qualified URI.  It is
072     * possible for an XMLReader to recognize a feature name but
073     * to be unable to return its value; this is especially true
074     * in the case of an adapter for a SAX1 Parser, which has
075     * no way of knowing whether the underlying parser is
076     * performing validation or expanding external entities.</p>
077     *
078     * <p>All XMLReaders are required to recognize the
079     * http://xml.org/sax/features/namespaces and the
080     * http://xml.org/sax/features/namespace-prefixes feature names.</p>
081     *
082     * <p>Some feature values may be available only in specific
083     * contexts, such as before, during, or after a parse.</p>
084     *
085     * <p>Typical usage is something like this:</p>
086     *
087     * <pre>
088     * XMLReader r = new MySAXDriver();
089     *
090     *                         // try to activate validation
091     * try {
092     *   r.setFeature("http://xml.org/sax/features/validation", true);
093     * } catch (SAXException e) {
094     *   System.err.println("Cannot activate validation."); 
095     * }
096     *
097     *                         // register event handlers
098     * r.setContentHandler(new MyContentHandler());
099     * r.setErrorHandler(new MyErrorHandler());
100     *
101     *                         // parse the first document
102     * try {
103     *   r.parse("http://www.foo.com/mydoc.xml");
104     * } catch (IOException e) {
105     *   System.err.println("I/O exception reading XML document");
106     * } catch (SAXException e) {
107     *   System.err.println("XML exception reading document.");
108     * }
109     * </pre>
110     *
111     * <p>Implementors are free (and encouraged) to invent their own features,
112     * using names built on their own URIs.</p>
113     *
114     * @param name The feature name, which is a fully-qualified URI.
115     * @return The current state of the feature (true or false).
116     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXNotRecognizedException When the
117     *            XMLReader does not recognize the feature name.
118     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXNotSupportedException When the
119     *            XMLReader recognizes the feature name but 
120     *            cannot determine its value at this time.
121     * @see #setFeature
122     */
123    public boolean getFeature (String name)
124        throws SAXNotRecognizedException, SAXNotSupportedException;
125
126
127    /**
128     * Set the state of a feature.
129     *
130     * <p>The feature name is any fully-qualified URI.  It is
131     * possible for an XMLReader to recognize a feature name but
132     * to be unable to set its value; this is especially true
133     * in the case of an adapter for a SAX1 {@link org.xml.sax.Parser Parser},
134     * which has no way of affecting whether the underlying parser is
135     * validating, for example.</p>
136     *
137     * <p>All XMLReaders are required to support setting
138     * http://xml.org/sax/features/namespaces to true and
139     * http://xml.org/sax/features/namespace-prefixes to false.</p>
140     *
141     * <p>Some feature values may be immutable or mutable only 
142     * in specific contexts, such as before, during, or after 
143     * a parse.</p>
144     *
145     * @param name The feature name, which is a fully-qualified URI.
146     * @param state The requested state of the feature (true or false).
147     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXNotRecognizedException When the
148     *            XMLReader does not recognize the feature name.
149     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXNotSupportedException When the
150     *            XMLReader recognizes the feature name but 
151     *            cannot set the requested value.
152     * @see #getFeature
153     */
154    public void setFeature (String name, boolean value)
155        throws SAXNotRecognizedException, SAXNotSupportedException;
156
157
158    /**
159     * Look up the value of a property.
160     *
161     * <p>The property name is any fully-qualified URI.  It is
162     * possible for an XMLReader to recognize a property name but
163     * to be unable to return its state; this is especially true
164     * in the case of an adapter for a SAX1 {@link org.xml.sax.Parser
165     * Parser}.</p>
166     *
167     * <p>XMLReaders are not required to recognize any specific
168     * property names, though an initial core set is documented for
169     * SAX2.</p>
170     *
171     * <p>Some property values may be available only in specific
172     * contexts, such as before, during, or after a parse.</p>
173     *
174     * <p>Implementors are free (and encouraged) to invent their own properties,
175     * using names built on their own URIs.</p>
176     *
177     * @param name The property name, which is a fully-qualified URI.
178     * @return The current value of the property.
179     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXNotRecognizedException When the
180     *            XMLReader does not recognize the property name.
181     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXNotSupportedException When the
182     *            XMLReader recognizes the property name but 
183     *            cannot determine its value at this time.
184     * @see #setProperty
185     */
186    public Object getProperty (String name)
187        throws SAXNotRecognizedException, SAXNotSupportedException;
188
189
190    /**
191     * Set the value of a property.
192     *
193     * <p>The property name is any fully-qualified URI.  It is
194     * possible for an XMLReader to recognize a property name but
195     * to be unable to set its value; this is especially true
196     * in the case of an adapter for a SAX1 {@link org.xml.sax.Parser
197     * Parser}.</p>
198     *
199     * <p>XMLReaders are not required to recognize setting
200     * any specific property names, though a core set is provided with 
201     * SAX2.</p>
202     *
203     * <p>Some property values may be immutable or mutable only 
204     * in specific contexts, such as before, during, or after 
205     * a parse.</p>
206     *
207     * <p>This method is also the standard mechanism for setting
208     * extended handlers.</p>
209     *
210     * @param name The property name, which is a fully-qualified URI.
211     * @param state The requested value for the property.
212     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXNotRecognizedException When the
213     *            XMLReader does not recognize the property name.
214     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXNotSupportedException When the
215     *            XMLReader recognizes the property name but 
216     *            cannot set the requested value.
217     */
218    public void setProperty (String name, Object value)
219        throws SAXNotRecognizedException, SAXNotSupportedException;
220
221
222
223    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
224    // Event handlers.
225    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
226
227
228    /**
229     * Allow an application to register an entity resolver.
230     *
231     * <p>If the application does not register an entity resolver,
232     * the XMLReader will perform its own default resolution.</p>
233     *
234     * <p>Applications may register a new or different resolver in the
235     * middle of a parse, and the SAX parser must begin using the new
236     * resolver immediately.</p>
237     *
238     * @param resolver The entity resolver.
239     * @exception java.lang.NullPointerException If the resolver 
240     *            argument is null.
241     * @see #getEntityResolver
242     */
243    public void setEntityResolver (EntityResolver resolver);
244
245
246    /**
247     * Return the current entity resolver.
248     *
249     * @return The current entity resolver, or null if none
250     *         has been registered.
251     * @see #setEntityResolver
252     */
253    public EntityResolver getEntityResolver ();
254
255
256    /**
257     * Allow an application to register a DTD event handler.
258     *
259     * <p>If the application does not register a DTD handler, all DTD
260     * events reported by the SAX parser will be silently ignored.</p>
261     *
262     * <p>Applications may register a new or different handler in the
263     * middle of a parse, and the SAX parser must begin using the new
264     * handler immediately.</p>
265     *
266     * @param handler The DTD handler.
267     * @exception java.lang.NullPointerException If the handler 
268     *            argument is null.
269     * @see #getDTDHandler
270     */
271    public void setDTDHandler (DTDHandler handler);
272
273
274    /**
275     * Return the current DTD handler.
276     *
277     * @return The current DTD handler, or null if none
278     *         has been registered.
279     * @see #setDTDHandler
280     */
281    public DTDHandler getDTDHandler ();
282
283
284    /**
285     * Allow an application to register a content event handler.
286     *
287     * <p>If the application does not register a content handler, all
288     * content events reported by the SAX parser will be silently
289     * ignored.</p>
290     *
291     * <p>Applications may register a new or different handler in the
292     * middle of a parse, and the SAX parser must begin using the new
293     * handler immediately.</p>
294     *
295     * @param handler The content handler.
296     * @exception java.lang.NullPointerException If the handler 
297     *            argument is null.
298     * @see #getContentHandler
299     */
300    public void setContentHandler (ContentHandler handler);
301
302
303    /**
304     * Return the current content handler.
305     *
306     * @return The current content handler, or null if none
307     *         has been registered.
308     * @see #setContentHandler
309     */
310    public ContentHandler getContentHandler ();
311
312
313    /**
314     * Allow an application to register an error event handler.
315     *
316     * <p>If the application does not register an error handler, all
317     * error events reported by the SAX parser will be silently
318     * ignored; however, normal processing may not continue.  It is
319     * highly recommended that all SAX applications implement an
320     * error handler to avoid unexpected bugs.</p>
321     *
322     * <p>Applications may register a new or different handler in the
323     * middle of a parse, and the SAX parser must begin using the new
324     * handler immediately.</p>
325     *
326     * @param handler The error handler.
327     * @exception java.lang.NullPointerException If the handler 
328     *            argument is null.
329     * @see #getErrorHandler
330     */
331    public void setErrorHandler (ErrorHandler handler);
332
333
334    /**
335     * Return the current error handler.
336     *
337     * @return The current error handler, or null if none
338     *         has been registered.
339     * @see #setErrorHandler
340     */
341    public ErrorHandler getErrorHandler ();
342
343
344
345    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
346    // Parsing.
347    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
348
349    /**
350     * Parse an XML document.
351     *
352     * <p>The application can use this method to instruct the XML
353     * reader to begin parsing an XML document from any valid input
354     * source (a character stream, a byte stream, or a URI).</p>
355     *
356     * <p>Applications may not invoke this method while a parse is in
357     * progress (they should create a new XMLReader instead for each
358     * nested XML document).  Once a parse is complete, an
359     * application may reuse the same XMLReader object, possibly with a
360     * different input source.</p>
361     *
362     * <p>During the parse, the XMLReader will provide information
363     * about the XML document through the registered event
364     * handlers.</p>
365     *
366     * <p>This method is synchronous: it will not return until parsing
367     * has ended.  If a client application wants to terminate 
368     * parsing early, it should throw an exception.</p>
369     *
370     * @param source The input source for the top-level of the
371     *        XML document.
372     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException Any SAX exception, possibly
373     *            wrapping another exception.
374     * @exception java.io.IOException An IO exception from the parser,
375     *            possibly from a byte stream or character stream
376     *            supplied by the application.
377     * @see org.xml.sax.InputSource
378     * @see #parse(java.lang.String)
379     * @see #setEntityResolver
380     * @see #setDTDHandler
381     * @see #setContentHandler
382     * @see #setErrorHandler 
383     */
384    public void parse (InputSource input)
385        throws IOException, SAXException;
386
387
388    /**
389     * Parse an XML document from a system identifier (URI).
390     *
391     * <p>This method is a shortcut for the common case of reading a
392     * document from a system identifier.  It is the exact
393     * equivalent of the following:</p>
394     *
395     * <pre>
396     * parse(new InputSource(systemId));
397     * </pre>
398     *
399     * <p>If the system identifier is a URL, it must be fully resolved
400     * by the application before it is passed to the parser.</p>
401     *
402     * @param systemId The system identifier (URI).
403     * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException Any SAX exception, possibly
404     *            wrapping another exception.
405     * @exception java.io.IOException An IO exception from the parser,
406     *            possibly from a byte stream or character stream
407     *            supplied by the application.
408     * @see #parse(org.xml.sax.InputSource)
409     */
410    public void parse (String systemId)
411        throws IOException, SAXException;
412
413}
414
415// end of XMLReader.java