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Reference Manual
Version 1.3.2

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# xmerl_scan

### MODULE

xmerl_scan

### MODULE SUMMARY

This module is the interface to the XML parser, it handles XML 1.0.

### DESCRIPTION

This module is the interface to the XML parser, it handles XML 1.0. The XML parser is activated through xmerl_scan:string/[1,2] or xmerl_scan:file/[1,2]. It returns records of the type defined in xmerl.hrl. See also tutorial on customization functions.

### DATA TYPES

document() = xmlElement() | xmlDocument()

  The document returned by xmerl_scan:string/[1,2] and xmerl_scan:file/[1,2]. The type of the returned record depends on the value of the document option passed to the function.

global_state()

  The global state of the scanner, represented by the #xmerl_scanner{} record.

option_list()

  Options allow to customize the behaviour of the scanner. See also tutorial on customization functions.

  Possible options are:

  {acc_fun, Fun}

    Call back function to accumulate contents of entity.

  {continuation_fun, Fun} | {continuation_fun, Fun, ContinuationState}

    Call back function to decide what to do if the scanner runs into EOF before the document is complete.

  {event_fun, Fun} | {event_fun, Fun, EventState}

    Call back function to handle scanner events.

  {fetch_fun, Fun} | {fetch_fun, Fun, FetchState}

    Call back function to fetch an external resource.

  {hook_fun, Fun} | {hook_fun, Fun, HookState}

    Call back function to process the document entities once identified.

  {close_fun, Fun}

    Called when document has been completely parsed.

  {rules, ReadFun, WriteFun, RulesState} | {rules, Rules}

    Handles storing of scanner information when parsing.

  {user_state, UserState}

    Global state variable accessible from all customization functions

  {fetch_path, PathList}

    PathList is a list of directories to search when fetching files. If the file in question is not in the fetch_path, the URI will be used as a file name.

  {space, Flag}

    'preserve' (default) to preserve spaces, 'normalize' to accumulate consecutive whitespace and replace it with one space.

  {line, Line}

    To specify starting line for scanning in document which contains fragments of XML.

  {namespace_conformant, Flag}

    Controls whether to behave as a namespace conformant XML parser, 'false' (default) to not otherwise 'true'.

  {validation, Flag}

    Controls whether to process as a validating XML parser: 'off' (default) no validation, or validation 'dtd' by DTD or 'schema' by XML Schema. 'false' and 'true' options are obsolete (i.e. they may be removed in a future release), if used 'false' equals 'off' and 'true' equals 'dtd'.

  {schemaLocation, [{Namespace,Link}|...]}

    Tells explicitly which XML Schema documents to use to validate the XML document. Used together with the {validation,schema} option.

  {quiet, Flag}

    Set to 'true' if xmerl should behave quietly and not output any information to standard output (default 'false').

  {doctype_DTD, DTD}

    Allows to specify DTD name when it isn't available in the XML document. This option has effect only together with {validation,'dtd' option.

  {xmlbase, Dir}

    XML Base directory. If using string/1 default is current directory. If using file/1 default is directory of given file.

  {encoding, Enc}

    Set default character set used (default UTF-8). This character set is used only if not explicitly given by the XML declaration.

  {document, Flag}

    Set to 'true' if xmerl should return a complete XML document as an xmlDocument record (default 'false').

  {comments, Flag}

    Set to 'false' if xmerl should skip comments otherwise they will be returned as xmlComment records (default 'true').

  {default_attrs, Flag}

    Set to 'true' if xmerl should add to elements missing attributes with a defined default value (default 'false').

### EXPORTS

accumulate_whitespace(T::string(), S::global_state(), X3::atom(), Acc::string()) -> {Acc, T1, S1}

Function to accumulate and normalize whitespace.

cont_state(S::global_state()) -> global_state()

Equivalent to cont_state(ContinuationState, S).

cont_state(X::ContinuationState, S::global_state()) -> global_state()

For controlling the ContinuationState, to be used in a continuation function, and called when the parser encounters the end of the byte stream. See tutorial on customization functions.

event_state(S::global_state()) -> global_state()

Equivalent to event_state(EventState, S).

event_state(X::EventState, S::global_state()) -> global_state()

For controlling the EventState, to be used in an event function, and called at the beginning and at the end of a parsed entity. See tutorial on customization functions.

fetch_state(S::global_state()) -> global_state()

Equivalent to fetch_state(FetchState, S).

fetch_state(X::FetchState, S::global_state()) -> global_state()

For controlling the FetchState, to be used in a fetch function, and called when the parser fetch an external resource (eg. a DTD). See tutorial on customization functions.

file(Filename::string()) -> {xmlElement(), Rest}

Types:

Rest = list()

Equivalent to file(Filename, []).

file(Filename::string(), Options::option_list()) -> {document(), Rest}

Types:

Rest = list()

Parse file containing an XML document

hook_state(S::global_state()) -> global_state()

Equivalent to hook_state(HookState, S).

hook_state(X::HookState, S::global_state()) -> global_state()

For controlling the HookState, to be used in a hook function, and called when the parser has parsed a complete entity. See tutorial on customization functions.

rules_state(S::global_state()) -> global_state()

Equivalent to rules_state(RulesState, S).

rules_state(X::RulesState, S::global_state()) -> global_state()

For controlling the RulesState, to be used in a rules function, and called when the parser store scanner information in a rules database. See tutorial on customization functions.

string(Text::list()) -> {xmlElement(), Rest}

Types:

Rest = list()

Equivalent to string(Test, []).

string(Text::list(), Options::option_list()) -> {document(), Rest}

Types:

Rest = list()

Parse string containing an XML document

user_state(S::global_state()) -> global_state()

Equivalent to user_state(UserState, S).

user_state(X::UserState, S::global_state()) -> global_state()

For controlling the UserState, to be used in a user function. See tutorial on customization functions.