INSTALLATION

  Installation is simple.  Follow the following steps:

	$ ruby extconf.rb
	$ make
	# make install

  If extconf yacks up an error, follow the instructions it provides.
  Once installed, look at the test scripts (*.rb, not extconf.rb) and
  make sure you run document_self.rb to see what's available.



DEPENDENCIES

  libxml requires a few other libraries to be installed inorder to
  function properly.

  *) libm      (math routines: very standard)
  *) libz      (zlib)
  *) libiconv
  *) libxml2


USAGE

  Basic usage for reading and writing documents.

  WRITING

  Writing a simple document:

    require 'xml/libxml'
    doc = XML::Document.new()
    doc.root = XML::Node.new('root_node')
    root = doc.root

    root << elem1 = XML::Node.new('elem1')
    elem1['attr1'] = 'val1'
    elem1['attr2'] = 'val2'

    root << elem2 = XML::Node.new('elem2')
    elem2['attr1'] = 'val1'
    elem2['attr2'] = 'val2'

    root << elem3 = XML::Node.new('elem3')
    elem3 << elem4 = XML::Node.new('elem4')
    elem3 << elem5 = XML::Node.new('elem5')

    elem5 << elem6 = XML::Node.new('elem6')
    elem6 << 'Content for element 6'

    elem3['attr'] = 'baz'

    # Namespace hack to reduce the numer of times XML:: is typed
    include XML
    root << elem7 = Node.new('foo')
    1.upto(10) do |i|
      elem7 << n = Node.new('bar')
      n << i
    end

    format = true
    doc.save('output.xml', format)

  The file output.xml contains:

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <root_node>
      <elem1 attr1="val1" attr2="val2"/>
      <elem2 attr1="val1" attr2="val2"/>
      <elem3 attr="baz">
        <elem4/>
        <elem5>
          <elem6>Content for element 6</elem6>
        </elem5>
      </elem3>
      <foo>
        <bar>1</bar>
        <bar>2</bar>
        <bar>3</bar>
        <bar>4</bar>
        <bar>5</bar>
        <bar>6</bar>
        <bar>7</bar>
        <bar>8</bar>
        <bar>9</bar>
        <bar>10</bar>
      </foo>
    </root_node>


  READING

  Reading XML is slightly more complex and there are many more ways to
  perform this operation.  This reads in and processes the above
  generated XML document, output.xml. This script assumes that the
  structure of the document is already known.

    require 'xml/libxml'
    doc = XML::Document.file('output.xml')
    root = doc.root

    puts "Root element name: #{root.name}"

    elem3 = root.find('elem3').to_a.first
    puts "Elem3: #{elem3['attr']}"

    doc.find('//root_node/foo/bar').each do |node|
      puts "Node path: #{node.path} \t Contents: #{node}"
    end

  And your terminal should look like:

    Root element name: root_node
    Elem3: baz
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[1]         Contents: 1
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[2]         Contents: 2
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[3]         Contents: 3
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[4]         Contents: 4
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[5]         Contents: 5
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[6]         Contents: 6
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[7]         Contents: 7
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[8]         Contents: 8
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[9]         Contents: 9
    Node path: /root_node/foo/bar[10]        Contents: 10


If you have any questions, please send email to devel@rubynet.org.

# $Id: README,v 1.1.1.1 2003/08/23 15:08:42 xpovolny Exp $