This tutorial has a few tips and suggestions on how to use TinyXML effectively.
I've also tried to include some C tips like how to convert strings to integers and vice versa. This isn't anything to do with TinyXML itself, but it may helpful for your project so I've put it in anyway.
If you don't know basic C concepts this tutorial won't be useful. Likewise if you don't know what a DOM is, look elsewhere first.
Before we start
Some example XML datasets/files will be used.
example1.xml:
代码语言：javascript复制<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<Hello>World</Hello>example2.xml:<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<poetry>
<verse>
Alas
Great World
Alas (again)
</verse>
</poetry>example3.xml:
代码语言：javascript复制<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<shapes>
<circle name="int-based" x="20" y="30" r="50" />
<point name="float-based" x="3.5" y="52.1" />
</shapes>example4.xm
代码语言：javascript复制<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<MyApp>
<!-- Settings for MyApp -->
<Messages>
<Welcome>Welcome to MyApp</Welcome>
<Farewell>Thank you for using MyApp</Farewell>
</Messages>
<Windows>
<Window name="MainFrame" x="5" y="15" w="400" h="250" />
</Windows>
<Connection ip="192.168.0.1" timeout="123.456000" />
</MyApp>Getting Started
Load XML from a file
The simplest way to load a file into a TinyXML DOM is:
代码语言：javascript复制TiXmlDocument doc( "demo.xml" );
doc.LoadFile();A more real-world usage is shown below. This will load the file and display the contents to STDOUT:
代码语言：javascript复制// load the named file and dump its structure to STDOUT
void dump_to_stdout(const char* pFilename)
{
TiXmlDocument doc(pFilename);
bool loadOkay = doc.LoadFile();
if (loadOkay)
{
printf("n%s:n", pFilename);
dump_to_stdout( &doc ); // defined later in the tutorial
}
else
{
printf("Failed to load file "%s"n", pFilename);
}
}A simple demonstration of this function is to use a main like this:
代码语言：javascript复制int main(void)
{
dump_to_stdout("example1.xml");
return 0;
}Recall that Example 1 XML is:
代码语言：javascript复制<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<Hello>World</Hello>Running the program with this XML will display this in the console/DOS window:
代码语言：javascript复制DOCUMENT
DECLARATION
ELEMENT Hello
TEXT[World]The ``dump_to_stdout`` function is defined later in this tutorial and is useful if you want to understand recursive traversal of a DOM.
Building Documents Programatically
This is how to build Example 1 pragmatically:
代码语言：javascript复制void build_simple_doc( )
{
// Make xml: <?xml ..><Hello>World</Hello>
TiXmlDocument doc;
TiXmlDeclaration * decl = new TiXmlDeclaration( "1.0", "", "" );
TiXmlElement * element = new TiXmlElement( "Hello" );
TiXmlText * text = new TiXmlText( "World" );
element->LinkEndChild( text );
doc.LinkEndChild( decl );
doc.LinkEndChild( element );
doc.SaveFile( "madeByHand.xml" );
}This can be loaded and displayed on the console with:
代码语言：javascript复制dump_to_stdout("madeByHand.xml"); // this func defined later in the tutorialand you'll see it is identical to Example 1:
代码语言：javascript复制madeByHand.xml:
Document
Declaration
Element [Hello]
Text: [World]This code produces exactly the same XML DOM but it shows a different ordering to node creation and linking:
代码语言：javascript复制void write_simple_doc2( )
{
// same as write_simple_doc1 but add each node
// as early as possible into the tree.
TiXmlDocument doc;
TiXmlDeclaration * decl = new TiXmlDeclaration( "1.0", "", "" );
doc.LinkEndChild( decl );
TiXmlElement * element = new TiXmlElement( "Hello" );
doc.LinkEndChild( element );
TiXmlText * text = new TiXmlText( "World" );
element->LinkEndChild( text );
doc.SaveFile( "madeByHand2.xml" );
}Both of these produce the same XML, namely:
代码语言：javascript复制<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<Hello>World</Hello>Or in structure form:
代码语言：javascript复制DOCUMENT
DECLARATION
ELEMENT Hello
TEXT[World]Attributes
Given an existing node, settings attributes is easy:
代码语言：javascript复制window = new TiXmlElement( "Demo" );
window->SetAttribute("name", "Circle");
window->SetAttribute("x", 5);
window->SetAttribute("y", 15);
window->SetDoubleAttribute("radius", 3.14159);You can it also work with the TiXmlAttribute objects if you want.
The following code shows one way (not the only way) to get all attributes of an element, print the name and string value, and if the value can be converted to an integer or double, print that value too:
代码语言：javascript复制// print all attributes of pElement.
// returns the number of attributes printed
int dump_attribs_to_stdout(TiXmlElement* pElement, unsigned int indent)
{
if ( !pElement ) return 0;
TiXmlAttribute* pAttrib=pElement->FirstAttribute();
int i=0;
int ival;
double dval;
const char* pIndent=getIndent(indent);
printf("n");
while (pAttrib)
{
printf( "%s%s: value=[%s]", pIndent, pAttrib->Name(), pAttrib->Value());
if (pAttrib->QueryIntValue(&ival)==TIXML_SUCCESS) printf( " int=%d", ival);
if (pAttrib->QueryDoubleValue(&dval)==TIXML_SUCCESS) printf( " d=%1.1f", dval);
printf( "n" );
i ;
pAttrib=pAttrib->Next();
}
return i;
}Writing a document to a file
Writing a pre-built DOM to a file is trivial:
代码语言：javascript复制doc.SaveFile( saveFilename ); Recall, for example, example 4:
代码语言：javascript复制<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<MyApp>
<!-- Settings for MyApp -->
<Messages>
<Welcome>Welcome to MyApp</Welcome>
<Farewell>Thank you for using MyApp</Farewell>
</Messages>
<Windows>
<Window name="MainFrame" x="5" y="15" w="400" h="250" />
</Windows>
<Connection ip="192.168.0.1" timeout="123.456000" />
</MyApp>The following function builds this DOM and writes the file "appsettings.xml":
代码语言：javascript复制void write_app_settings_doc( )
{
TiXmlDocument doc;
TiXmlElement* msg;
TiXmlDeclaration* decl = new TiXmlDeclaration( "1.0", "", "" );
doc.LinkEndChild( decl );
TiXmlElement * root = new TiXmlElement( "MyApp" );
doc.LinkEndChild( root );
TiXmlComment * comment = new TiXmlComment();
comment->SetValue(" Settings for MyApp " );
root->LinkEndChild( comment );
TiXmlElement * msgs = new TiXmlElement( "Messages" );
root->LinkEndChild( msgs );
msg = new TiXmlElement( "Welcome" );
msg->LinkEndChild( new TiXmlText( "Welcome to MyApp" ));
msgs->LinkEndChild( msg );
msg = new TiXmlElement( "Farewell" );
msg->LinkEndChild( new TiXmlText( "Thank you for using MyApp" ));
msgs->LinkEndChild( msg );
TiXmlElement * windows = new TiXmlElement( "Windows" );
root->LinkEndChild( windows );
TiXmlElement * window;
window = new TiXmlElement( "Window" );
windows->LinkEndChild( window );
window->SetAttribute("name", "MainFrame");
window->SetAttribute("x", 5);
window->SetAttribute("y", 15);
window->SetAttribute("w", 400);
window->SetAttribute("h", 250);
TiXmlElement * cxn = new TiXmlElement( "Connection" );
root->LinkEndChild( cxn );
cxn->SetAttribute("ip", "192.168.0.1");
cxn->SetDoubleAttribute("timeout", 123.456); // floating point attrib
dump_to_stdout( &doc );
doc.SaveFile( "appsettings.xml" );
} The dump_to_stdout function will show this structure:
代码语言：javascript复制Document
Declaration
Element [MyApp]
(No attributes)
Comment: [ Settings for MyApp ]
Element [Messages]
(No attributes)
Element [Welcome]
(No attributes)
Text: [Welcome to MyApp]
Element [Farewell]
(No attributes)
Text: [Thank you for using MyApp]
Element [Windows]
(No attributes)
Element [Window]
name: value=[MainFrame]
x: value=[5] int=5 d=5.0
y: value=[15] int=15 d=15.0
w: value=[400] int=400 d=400.0
h: value=[250] int=250 d=250.0
5 attributes
Element [Connection]
ip: value=[192.168.0.1] int=192 d=192.2
timeout: value=[123.456000] int=123 d=123.5
2 attributesI was surprised that TinyXml, by default, writes the XML in what other APIs call a "pretty" format - it modifies the whitespace of text of elements that contain other nodes so that writing the tree includes an indication of nesting level.
I haven't looked yet to see if there is a way to turn off indenting when writing a file - its bound to be easy.
[Lee: It's easy in STL mode, just use cout << myDoc. Non-STL mode is always in "pretty" format. Adding a switch would be a nice feature and has been requested.]
XML to/from C objects
Intro
This example assumes you're loading and saving your app settings in an XML file, e.g. something like example4.xml.
There are a number of ways to do this. For example, look into the TinyBind project at http://sourceforge.net/projects/tinybind
This section shows a plain-old approach to loading and saving a basic object structure using XML.
Set up your object classes
Start off with some basic classes like these:
代码语言：javascript复制#include <string>
#include <map>
using namespace std;
typedef std::map<std::string,std::string> MessageMap;
// a basic window abstraction - demo purposes only
class WindowSettings
{
public:
int x,y,w,h;
string name;
WindowSettings()
: x(0), y(0), w(100), h(100), name("Untitled")
{
}
WindowSettings(int x, int y, int w, int h, const string& name)
{
this->x=x;
this->y=y;
this->w=w;
this->h=h;
this->name=name;
}
};
class ConnectionSettings
{
public:
string ip;
double timeout;
};
class AppSettings
{
public:
string m_name;
MessageMap m_messages;
list<WindowSettings> m_windows;
ConnectionSettings m_connection;
AppSettings() {}
void save(const char* pFilename);
void load(const char* pFilename);
// just to show how to do it
void setDemoValues()
{
m_name="MyApp";
m_messages.clear();
m_messages["Welcome"]="Welcome to " m_name;
m_messages["Farewell"]="Thank you for using " m_name;
m_windows.clear();
m_windows.push_back(WindowSettings(15,15,400,250,"Main"));
m_connection.ip="Unknown";
m_connection.timeout=123.456;
}
};This is a basic main() that shows how to create a default settings object tree, save it and load it again:
代码语言：javascript复制int main(void)
{
AppSettings settings;
settings.save("appsettings2.xml");
settings.load("appsettings2.xml");
return 0;
}The following main() shows creation, modification, saving and then loading of a settings structure:
代码语言：javascript复制int main(void)
{
// block: customise and save settings
{
AppSettings settings;
settings.m_name="HitchHikerApp";
settings.m_messages["Welcome"]="Don't Panic";
settings.m_messages["Farewell"]="Thanks for all the fish";
settings.m_windows.push_back(WindowSettings(15,25,300,250,"BookFrame"));
settings.m_connection.ip="192.168.0.77";
settings.m_connection.timeout=42.0;
settings.save("appsettings2.xml");
}
// block: load settings
{
AppSettings settings;
settings.load("appsettings2.xml");
printf("%s: %sn", settings.m_name.c_str(),
settings.m_messages["Welcome"].c_str());
WindowSettings & w=settings.m_windows.front();
printf("%s: Show window '%s' at %d,%d (%d x %d)n",
settings.m_name.c_str(), w.name.c_str(), w.x, w.y, w.w, w.h);
printf("%s: %sn", settings.m_name.c_str(), settings.m_messages["Farewell"].c_str());
}
return 0;
}When the save() and load() are completed (see below), running this main() displays on the console:
代码语言：javascript复制HitchHikerApp: Don't Panic
HitchHikerApp: Show window 'BookFrame' at 15,25 (300 x 100)
HitchHikerApp: Thanks for all the fishEncode C state as XML
There are lots of different ways to approach saving this to a file. Here's one:
代码语言：javascript复制void AppSettings::save(const char* pFilename)
{
TiXmlDocument doc;
TiXmlElement* msg;
TiXmlComment * comment;
string s;
TiXmlDeclaration* decl = new TiXmlDeclaration( "1.0", "", "" );
doc.LinkEndChild( decl );
TiXmlElement * root = new TiXmlElement(m_name.c_str());
doc.LinkEndChild( root );
comment = new TiXmlComment();
s=" Settings for " m_name " ";
comment->SetValue(s.c_str());
root->LinkEndChild( comment );
// block: messages
{
MessageMap::iterator iter;
TiXmlElement * msgs = new TiXmlElement( "Messages" );
root->LinkEndChild( msgs );
for (iter=m_messages.begin(); iter != m_messages.end(); iter )
{
const string & key=(*iter).first;
const string & value=(*iter).second;
msg = new TiXmlElement(key.c_str());
msg->LinkEndChild( new TiXmlText(value.c_str()));
msgs->LinkEndChild( msg );
}
}
// block: windows
{
TiXmlElement * windowsNode = new TiXmlElement( "Windows" );
root->LinkEndChild( windowsNode );
list<WindowSettings>::iterator iter;
for (iter=m_windows.begin(); iter != m_windows.end(); iter )
{
const WindowSettings& w=*iter;
TiXmlElement * window;
window = new TiXmlElement( "Window" );
windowsNode->LinkEndChild( window );
window->SetAttribute("name", w.name.c_str());
window->SetAttribute("x", w.x);
window->SetAttribute("y", w.y);
window->SetAttribute("w", w.w);
window->SetAttribute("h", w.h);
}
}
// block: connection
{
TiXmlElement * cxn = new TiXmlElement( "Connection" );
root->LinkEndChild( cxn );
cxn->SetAttribute("ip", m_connection.ip.c_str());
cxn->SetDoubleAttribute("timeout", m_connection.timeout);
}
doc.SaveFile(pFilename);
}Running this with the modified main produces this file:
代码语言：javascript复制<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<HitchHikerApp>
<!-- Settings for HitchHikerApp -->
<Messages>
<Farewell>Thanks for all the fish</Farewell>
<Welcome>Don't Panic</Welcome>
</Messages>
<Windows>
<Window name="BookFrame" x="15" y="25" w="300" h="250" />
</Windows>
<Connection ip="192.168.0.77" timeout="42.000000" />
</HitchHikerApp>Decoding state from XML
As with encoding objects, there are a number of approaches to decoding XML into your own C object structure. The following approach uses TiXmlHandles.
代码语言：javascript复制void AppSettings::load(const char* pFilename)
{
TiXmlDocument doc(pFilename);
if (!doc.LoadFile()) return;
TiXmlHandle hDoc(&doc);
TiXmlElement* pElem;
TiXmlHandle hRoot(0);
// block: name
{
pElem=hDoc.FirstChildElement().Element();
// should always have a valid root but handle gracefully if it does
if (!pElem) return;
m_name=pElem->Value();
// save this for later
hRoot=TiXmlHandle(pElem);
}
// block: string table
{
m_messages.clear(); // trash existing table
pElem=hRoot.FirstChild( "Messages" ).FirstChild().Element();
for( pElem; pElem; pElem=pElem->NextSiblingElement())
{
const char *pKey=pElem->Value();
const char *pText=pElem->GetText();
if (pKey && pText)
{
m_messages[pKey]=pText;
}
}
}
// block: windows
{
m_windows.clear(); // trash existing list
TiXmlElement* pWindowNode=hRoot.FirstChild( "Windows" ).FirstChild().Element();
for( pWindowNode; pWindowNode; pWindowNode=pWindowNode->NextSiblingElement())
{
WindowSettings w;
const char *pName=pWindowNode->Attribute("name");
if (pName) w.name=pName;
pWindowNode->QueryIntAttribute("x", &w.x); // If this fails, original value is left as-is
pWindowNode->QueryIntAttribute("y", &w.y);
pWindowNode->QueryIntAttribute("w", &w.w);
pWindowNode->QueryIntAttribute("hh", &w.h);
m_windows.push_back(w);
}
}
// block: connection
{
pElem=hRoot.FirstChild("Connection").Element();
if (pElem)
{
m_connection.ip=pElem->Attribute("ip");
pElem->QueryDoubleAttribute("timeout",&m_connection.timeout);
}
}
}Full listing for dump_to_stdout
Below is a copy-and-paste demo program for loading arbitrary XML files and dumping the structure to STDOUT using the recursive traversal listed above.
代码语言：javascript复制// tutorial demo program
#include "stdafx.h"
#include "tinyxml.h"
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
// STDOUT dump and indenting utility functions
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
const unsigned int NUM_INDENTS_PER_SPACE=2;
const char * getIndent( unsigned int numIndents )
{
static const char * pINDENT=" ";
static const unsigned int LENGTH=strlen( pINDENT );
unsigned int n=numIndents*NUM_INDENTS_PER_SPACE;
if ( n > LENGTH ) n = LENGTH;
return &pINDENT[ LENGTH-n ];
}
// same as getIndent but no " " at the end
const char * getIndentAlt( unsigned int numIndents )
{
static const char * pINDENT=" ";
static const unsigned int LENGTH=strlen( pINDENT );
unsigned int n=numIndents*NUM_INDENTS_PER_SPACE;
if ( n > LENGTH ) n = LENGTH;
return &pINDENT[ LENGTH-n ];
}
int dump_attribs_to_stdout(TiXmlElement* pElement, unsigned int indent)
{
if ( !pElement ) return 0;
TiXmlAttribute* pAttrib=pElement->FirstAttribute();
int i=0;
int ival;
double dval;
const char* pIndent=getIndent(indent);
printf("n");
while (pAttrib)
{
printf( "%s%s: value=[%s]", pIndent, pAttrib->Name(), pAttrib->Value());
if (pAttrib->QueryIntValue(&ival)==TIXML_SUCCESS) printf( " int=%d", ival);
if (pAttrib->QueryDoubleValue(&dval)==TIXML_SUCCESS) printf( " d=%1.1f", dval);
printf( "n" );
i ;
pAttrib=pAttrib->Next();
}
return i;
}
void dump_to_stdout( TiXmlNode* pParent, unsigned int indent = 0 )
{
if ( !pParent ) return;
TiXmlNode* pChild;
TiXmlText* pText;
int t = pParent->Type();
printf( "%s", getIndent(indent));
int num;
switch ( t )
{
case TiXmlNode::DOCUMENT:
printf( "Document" );
break;
case TiXmlNode::ELEMENT:
printf( "Element [%s]", pParent->Value() );
num=dump_attribs_to_stdout(pParent->ToElement(), indent 1);
switch(num)
{
case 0: printf( " (No attributes)"); break;
case 1: printf( "%s1 attribute", getIndentAlt(indent)); break;
default: printf( "%s%d attributes", getIndentAlt(indent), num); break;
}
break;
case TiXmlNode::COMMENT:
printf( "Comment: [%s]", pParent->Value());
break;
case TiXmlNode::UNKNOWN:
printf( "Unknown" );
break;
case TiXmlNode::TEXT:
pText = pParent->ToText();
printf( "Text: [%s]", pText->Value() );
break;
case TiXmlNode::DECLARATION:
printf( "Declaration" );
break;
default:
break;
}
printf( "n" );
for ( pChild = pParent->FirstChild(); pChild != 0; pChild = pChild->NextSibling())
{
dump_to_stdout( pChild, indent 1 );
}
}
// load the named file and dump its structure to STDOUT
void dump_to_stdout(const char* pFilename)
{
TiXmlDocument doc(pFilename);
bool loadOkay = doc.LoadFile();
if (loadOkay)
{
printf("n%s:n", pFilename);
dump_to_stdout( &doc ); // defined later in the tutorial
}
else
{
printf("Failed to load file "%s"n", pFilename);
}
}
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
// main() for printing files named on the command line
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
for (int i=1; i<argc; i )
{
dump_to_stdout(argv[i]);
}
return 0;
}Run this from the command line or a DOS window, e.g.:
代码语言：javascript复制C:devtinyxml> Debugtinyxml_1.exe example1.xml
example1.xml:
Document
Declaration
Element [Hello]
(No attributes)
Text: [World]Authors and Changes
- Written by Ellers, April, May, June 2005
- Minor edits and integration into doc system, Lee Thomason September 2005
- Updated by Ellers, October 2005
