org.apache.xml.serializer
Interface Serializer

All Known Subinterfaces:

SerializationHandler

public interface Serializer

The Serializer interface is implemented by a serializer to enable users to:

• get and set streams or writers
• configure the serializer with key/value properties
• get an org.xml.sax.ContentHandler or a DOMSerializer to provide input to

Here is an example using the asContentHandler() method:

 java.util.Properties props = 
   OutputPropertiesFactory.getDefaultMethodProperties(Method.TEXT);
 Serializer ser = SerializerFactory.getSerializer(props);
 java.io.PrintStream ostream = System.out; 
 ser.setOutputStream(ostream);
 
 // Provide the SAX input events
 ContentHandler handler = ser.asContentHandler();
 handler.startDocument();
 char[] chars = { 'a', 'b', 'c' };
 handler.characters(chars, 0, chars.length);
 handler.endDocument();
 
 ser.reset(); // get ready to use the serializer for another document
              // of the same output method (TEXT).
 

As an alternate to supplying a series of SAX events as input through the ContentHandler interface, the input to serialize may be given as a DOM.

For example:

 org.w3c.dom.Document     inputDoc;
 org.apache.xml.serializer.Serializer   ser;
 java.io.Writer owriter;
 
 java.util.Properties props = 
   OutputPropertiesFactory.getDefaultMethodProperties(Method.XML);
 Serializer ser = SerializerFactory.getSerializer(props);
 owriter = ...;  // create a writer to serialize the document to
 ser.setWriter( owriter );
 
 inputDoc = ...; // create the DOM document to be serialized
 DOMSerializer dser = ser.asDOMSerializer(); // a DOM will be serialized
 dser.serialize(inputDoc); // serialize the DOM, sending output to owriter
 
 ser.reset(); // get ready to use the serializer for another document
              // of the same output method.
 

This interface is a public API.

See Also:

Method, OutputPropertiesFactory, SerializerFactory, DOMSerializer, ContentHandler

Usage:

Method Summary

ContentHandler	asContentHandler() Return a ContentHandler interface to provide SAX input to.
DOMSerializer	asDOMSerializer() Return a DOMSerializer interface into this serializer.
java.util.Properties	getOutputFormat() Returns the output format properties for this serializer.
java.io.OutputStream	getOutputStream() Get the output stream where the events will be serialized to.
java.io.Writer	getWriter() Get the character stream where the events will be serialized to.
boolean	reset() This method resets the serializer.
void	setOutputFormat(java.util.Properties format) Specifies an output format for this serializer.
void	setOutputStream(java.io.OutputStream output) Specifies an output stream to which the document should be serialized.
void	setWriter(java.io.Writer writer) Specifies a writer to which the document should be serialized.

Method Detail

setOutputStream

public void setOutputStream(java.io.OutputStream output)

Specifies an output stream to which the document should be serialized. This method should not be called while the serializer is in the process of serializing a document.

The encoding specified in the output Properties is used, or if no encoding was specified, the default for the selected output method.

Only one of setWriter() or setOutputStream() should be called.

Parameters:

output - The output stream

getOutputStream

public java.io.OutputStream getOutputStream()

Get the output stream where the events will be serialized to.

Returns:

reference to the result stream, or null if only a writer was set.

setWriter

public void setWriter(java.io.Writer writer)

Specifies a writer to which the document should be serialized. This method should not be called while the serializer is in the process of serializing a document.

The encoding specified for the output Properties must be identical to the output format used with the writer.

Only one of setWriter() or setOutputStream() should be called.

Parameters:

writer - The output writer stream

getWriter

public java.io.Writer getWriter()

Get the character stream where the events will be serialized to.

Returns:

Reference to the result Writer, or null.

setOutputFormat

public void setOutputFormat(java.util.Properties format)

Specifies an output format for this serializer. It the serializer has already been associated with an output format, it will switch to the new format. This method should not be called while the serializer is in the process of serializing a document.

The standard property keys supported are: "method", "version", "encoding", "omit-xml-declaration", "standalone", doctype-public", "doctype-system", "cdata-section-elements", "indent", "media-type". These property keys and their values are described in the XSLT recommendation, see XSLT 1.0 recommendation

The non-standard property keys supported are defined in OutputPropertiesFactory.

This method can be called multiple times before a document is serialized. Each time it is called more, or over-riding property values, can be specified. One property value that can not be changed is that of the "method" property key.

The value of the "cdata-section-elements" property key is a whitespace separated list of elements. If the element is in a namespace then value is passed in this format: {uri}localName

If the "cdata-section-elements" key is specified on multiple calls to this method the set of elements specified in the value is not replaced from one call to the next, but it is cumulative across the calls.

Parameters:

format - The output format to use, as a set of key/value pairs.

getOutputFormat

public java.util.Properties getOutputFormat()

Returns the output format properties for this serializer.

Returns:

The output format key/value pairs in use.

asContentHandler

public ContentHandler asContentHandler()
                                throws java.io.IOException

Return a ContentHandler interface to provide SAX input to. Through the returned object the document to be serailized, as a series of SAX events, can be provided to the serialzier. If the serializer does not support the ContentHandler interface, it will return null.

In principle only one of asDOMSerializer() or asContentHander() should be called.

Returns:

A ContentHandler interface into this serializer, or null if the serializer is not SAX 2 capable

Throws:

java.io.IOException - An I/O exception occured

asDOMSerializer

public DOMSerializer asDOMSerializer()
                              throws java.io.IOException

Return a DOMSerializer interface into this serializer. Through the returned object the document to be serialized, a DOM, can be provided to the serializer. If the serializer does not support the DOMSerializer interface, it should return null.

In principle only one of asDOMSerializer() or asContentHander() should be called.

Returns:

A DOMSerializer interface into this serializer, or null if the serializer is not DOM capable

Throws:

java.io.IOException - An I/O exception occured

reset

public boolean reset()

This method resets the serializer. If this method returns true, the serializer may be used for subsequent serialization of new documents. It is possible to change the output format and output stream prior to serializing, or to reuse the existing output format and output stream or writer.

Returns:

True if serializer has been reset and can be reused