javax.xml.parsers

Class SAXParserFactory


public abstract class SAXParserFactory
extends java.lang.Object

Defines a factory API that enables applications to configure and obtain a SAX based parser to parse XML documents.
Version:
$Revision: 226183 $, $Date: 2005-04-08 12:39:14 +0200 (Fri, 08 Apr 2005) $
Author:
Jeff Suttor

Constructor Summary

SAXParserFactory()
Protected constructor to force use of newInstance().

Method Summary

abstract boolean
getFeature(String name)
Returns the particular property requested for in the underlying implementation of org.xml.sax.XMLReader.
Schema
getSchema()
Gets the Schema object specified through the setSchema(Schema schema) method.
boolean
isNamespaceAware()
Indicates whether or not the factory is configured to produce parsers which are namespace aware.
boolean
isValidating()
Indicates whether or not the factory is configured to produce parsers which validate the XML content during parse.
boolean
isXIncludeAware()
Get state of XInclude processing.
static SAXParserFactory
newInstance()
Obtain a new instance of a SAXParserFactory.
abstract SAXParser
newSAXParser()
Creates a new instance of a SAXParser using the currently configured factory parameters.
abstract void
setFeature(String name, boolean value)
Sets the particular feature in the underlying implementation of org.xml.sax.XMLReader.
void
setNamespaceAware(boolean awareness)
Specifies that the parser produced by this code will provide support for XML namespaces.
void
setSchema(Schema schema)
Set the Schema to be used by parsers created from this factory.
void
setValidating(boolean validating)
Specifies that the parser produced by this code will validate documents as they are parsed.
void
setXIncludeAware(boolean state)
Set state of XInclude processing.

Constructor Details

SAXParserFactory

protected SAXParserFactory()

Method Details

getFeature

public abstract boolean getFeature(String name)
            throws ParserConfigurationException,
                   SAXNotRecognizedException,
                   SAXNotSupportedException
Returns the particular property requested for in the underlying implementation of org.xml.sax.XMLReader.
Parameters:
name - The name of the property to be retrieved.
Returns:
Value of the requested property.
Throws:
ParserConfigurationException - if a parser cannot be created which satisfies the requested configuration.
SAXNotRecognizedException - When the underlying XMLReader does not recognize the property name.
SAXNotSupportedException - When the underlying XMLReader recognizes the property name but doesn't support the property.

getSchema

public Schema getSchema()
Gets the Schema object specified through the setSchema(Schema schema) method.
Returns:
the Schema object that was last set through the setSchema(Schema) method, or null if the method was not invoked since a SAXParserFactory is created.
Since:
1.5

isNamespaceAware

public boolean isNamespaceAware()
Indicates whether or not the factory is configured to produce parsers which are namespace aware.
Returns:
true if the factory is configured to produce parsers which are namespace aware; false otherwise.

isValidating

public boolean isValidating()
Indicates whether or not the factory is configured to produce parsers which validate the XML content during parse.
Returns:
true if the factory is configured to produce parsers which validate the XML content during parse; false otherwise.

isXIncludeAware

public boolean isXIncludeAware()
Get state of XInclude processing.
Returns:
current state of XInclude processing
Since:
1.5

newInstance

public static SAXParserFactory newInstance()
Obtain a new instance of a SAXParserFactory. This static method creates a new factory instance This method uses the following ordered lookup procedure to determine the SAXParserFactory implementation class to load:
  • Use the javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory system property.
  • Use the properties file "lib/jaxp.properties" in the JRE directory. This configuration file is in standard java.util.Properties format and contains the fully qualified name of the implementation class with the key being the system property defined above. The jaxp.properties file is read only once by the JAXP implementation and it's values are then cached for future use. If the file does not exist when the first attempt is made to read from it, no further attempts are made to check for its existence. It is not possible to change the value of any property in jaxp.properties after it has been read for the first time.
  • Use the Services API (as detailed in the JAR specification), if available, to determine the classname. The Services API will look for a classname in the file META-INF/services/javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory in jars available to the runtime.
  • Platform default SAXParserFactory instance.
Once an application has obtained a reference to a SAXParserFactory it can use the factory to configure and obtain parser instances.

Tip for Trouble-shooting

Setting the jaxp.debug system property will cause this method to print a lot of debug messages to System.err about what it is doing and where it is looking at.

If you have problems loading DocumentBuilders, try:

 java -Djaxp.debug=1 YourProgram ....
 
Returns:
A new instance of a SAXParserFactory.

newSAXParser

public abstract SAXParser newSAXParser()
            throws ParserConfigurationException,
                   SAXException
Creates a new instance of a SAXParser using the currently configured factory parameters.
Returns:
A new instance of a SAXParser.
Throws:
ParserConfigurationException - if a parser cannot be created which satisfies the requested configuration.
SAXException - for SAX errors.

setFeature

public abstract void setFeature(String name,
                                boolean value)
            throws ParserConfigurationException,
                   SAXNotRecognizedException,
                   SAXNotSupportedException
Sets the particular feature in the underlying implementation of org.xml.sax.XMLReader. A list of the core features and properties can be found at http://www.saxproject.org/

All implementations are required to support the XMLConstants.FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING feature. When the feature is

  • true: the implementation will limit XML processing to conform to implementation limits. Examples include enity expansion limits and XML Schema constructs that would consume large amounts of resources. If XML processing is limited for security reasons, it will be reported via a call to the registered org.xml.sax.ErrorHandler.fatalError(SAXParseException exception). See SAXParser parse methods for handler specification.
  • When the feature is false, the implementation will processing XML according to the XML specifications without regard to possible implementation limits.
Parameters:
name - The name of the feature to be set.
value - The value of the feature to be set.
Throws:
ParserConfigurationException - if a parser cannot be created which satisfies the requested configuration.
SAXNotRecognizedException - When the underlying XMLReader does not recognize the property name.
SAXNotSupportedException - When the underlying XMLReader recognizes the property name but doesn't support the property.

setNamespaceAware

public void setNamespaceAware(boolean awareness)
Specifies that the parser produced by this code will provide support for XML namespaces. By default the value of this is set to false.
Parameters:
awareness - true if the parser produced by this code will provide support for XML namespaces; false otherwise.

setSchema

public void setSchema(Schema schema)
Set the Schema to be used by parsers created from this factory.

When a Schema is non-null, a parser will use a validator created from it to validate documents before it passes information down to the application.

When warnings/errors/fatal errors are found by the validator, the parser must handle them as if those errors were found by the parser itself. In other words, if the user-specified ErrorHandler is set, it must receive those errors, and if not, they must be treated according to the implementation specific default error handling rules.

A validator may modify the SAX event stream (for example by adding default values that were missing in documents), and a parser is responsible to make sure that the application will receive those modified event stream.

Initialy, null is set as the Schema.

This processing will take effect even if the isValidating() method returns false.

It is an error to use the http://java.sun.com/xml/jaxp/properties/schemaSource property and/or the http://java.sun.com/xml/jaxp/properties/schemaLanguage property in conjunction with a non-null Schema object. Such configuration will cause a SAXException exception when those properties are set on a SAXParser.

Note for implmentors

A parser must be able to work with any Schema implementation. However, parsers and schemas are allowed to use implementation-specific custom mechanisms as long as they yield the result described in the specification.

Parameters:
schema - Schema to use, null to remove a schema.
Since:
1.5

setValidating

public void setValidating(boolean validating)
Specifies that the parser produced by this code will validate documents as they are parsed. By default the value of this is set to false.

Note that "the validation" here means a validating parser as defined in the XML recommendation. In other words, it essentially just controls the DTD validation. (except the legacy two properties defined in JAXP 1.2. See here for more details.)

To use modern schema languages such as W3C XML Schema or RELAX NG instead of DTD, you can configure your parser to be a non-validating parser by leaving the setValidating(boolean) method false, then use the setSchema(Schema) method to associate a schema to a parser.

Parameters:
validating - true if the parser produced by this code will validate documents as they are parsed; false otherwise.

setXIncludeAware

public void setXIncludeAware(boolean state)
Parameters:
state - Set XInclude processing to true or false
Since:
1.5