Free Form XML Java Parser

A very simple XML parser loosely binding text into the given Java class structure.

Written by zencd. Java7+.

Key features

• Parsing done by a Java model, no annoytations needed
• XML may come in different (free) forms but it gonna be parsed anyway

A sample model

public static class CarXml {
public String color;
public List<Wheel> wheel;
public static class Wheel {
public String name;
}
}

Free form XML

Attributes

Setting a Java property could be done via an XML attribute, but also via a dedicated tag:

<root color='red'/>
<root>
<color>red</color>
</root>

Collections

The full form:

<root>
<wheels>
<wheel name='one'/>
<wheel name='two'/>
</wheels>
</root>

Without the parent <wheels> it works too:

<root>
<wheel name='one'/>
<wheel name='two'/>
</root>

A special tag <item> automatically recognized as a <wheel> being inside a collection:

<root>
<wheels>
<item name='one'/>
</wheels>
</root>

You may also mix all the approaches.

Parser usage

CarXml root = FreeFormXmlParser.parse(CarXml.class, xmlContent);

Also refer to tests like FreeFormXmlParserTest.

Setting Java properties in your way

See PropertyBinder and its derivation DefaultPropertyBinder.

TODO

• Bind properties like some-prop to Java, and tag names also
• Be able to bind 'NaMe' to 'NamE' (any forms)