The xml.parsers.expat Module

(Optional) The xml.parsers.expat module is an interface to James Clark's Expat XML parser. Example 5-3 demonstrates this full-featured and fast parser, which is an excellent choice for production use.

Example 5-3. Using the xml.parsers.expat Module

File: xml-parsers-expat-example-1.py from xml.parsers import expat class Parser: def _ _init_ _(self): self._parser = expat.ParserCreate() self._parser.StartElementHandler = self.start self._parser.EndElementHandler = self.end self._parser.CharacterDataHandler = self.data def feed(self, data): self._parser.Parse(data, 0) def close(self): self._parser.Parse("", 1) # end of data del self._parser # get rid of circular references def start(self, tag, attrs): print "START", repr(tag), attrs def end(self, tag): print "END", repr(tag) def data(self, data): print "DATA", repr(data) p = Parser() p.feed("data") p.close() START u'tag' {} DATA u'data' END u'tag'

Note that the parser returns Unicode strings, even if you pass it ordinary text. By default, the parser interprets the source text as UTF-8 (as per the XML standard). To use other encodings, make sure the XML file contains an encoding directive. Example 5-4 shows how to read ISO Latin-1 text using xml.parsers.expat.

Example 5-4. Using the xml.parsers.expat Module to Read ISO Latin-1 Text

File: xml-parsers-expat-example-2.py from xml.parsers import expat class Parser: def _ _init_ _(self): self._parser = expat.ParserCreate() self._parser.StartElementHandler = self.start self._parser.EndElementHandler = self.end self._parser.CharacterDataHandler = self.data def feed(self, data): self._parser.Parse(data, 0) def close(self): self._parser.Parse("", 1) # end of data del self._parser # get rid of circular references def start(self, tag, attrs): print "START", repr(tag), attrs def end(self, tag): print "END", repr(tag) def data(self, data): print "DATA", repr(data) p = Parser() p.feed(""" fredrik lundh linköping """ ) p.close() START u'author' {} DATA u'12' START u'name' {} DATA u'fredrik lundh' END u'name' DATA u'12' START u'city' {} DATA u'link366ping' END u'city' DATA u'12' END u'author'