diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/lib/xmldom.tex')
-rw-r--r-- | Doc/lib/xmldom.tex | 928 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 928 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/lib/xmldom.tex b/Doc/lib/xmldom.tex deleted file mode 100644 index d651bf0..0000000 --- a/Doc/lib/xmldom.tex +++ /dev/null @@ -1,928 +0,0 @@ -\section{\module{xml.dom} --- - The Document Object Model API} - -\declaremodule{standard}{xml.dom} -\modulesynopsis{Document Object Model API for Python.} -\sectionauthor{Paul Prescod}{paul@prescod.net} -\sectionauthor{Martin v. L\"owis}{martin@v.loewis.de} - -\versionadded{2.0} - -The Document Object Model, or ``DOM,'' is a cross-language API from -the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for accessing and modifying XML -documents. A DOM implementation presents an XML document as a tree -structure, or allows client code to build such a structure from -scratch. It then gives access to the structure through a set of -objects which provided well-known interfaces. - -The DOM is extremely useful for random-access applications. SAX only -allows you a view of one bit of the document at a time. If you are -looking at one SAX element, you have no access to another. If you are -looking at a text node, you have no access to a containing element. -When you write a SAX application, you need to keep track of your -program's position in the document somewhere in your own code. SAX -does not do it for you. Also, if you need to look ahead in the XML -document, you are just out of luck. - -Some applications are simply impossible in an event driven model with -no access to a tree. Of course you could build some sort of tree -yourself in SAX events, but the DOM allows you to avoid writing that -code. The DOM is a standard tree representation for XML data. - -%What if your needs are somewhere between SAX and the DOM? Perhaps -%you cannot afford to load the entire tree in memory but you find the -%SAX model somewhat cumbersome and low-level. There is also a module -%called xml.dom.pulldom that allows you to build trees of only the -%parts of a document that you need structured access to. It also has -%features that allow you to find your way around the DOM. -% See http://www.prescod.net/python/pulldom - -The Document Object Model is being defined by the W3C in stages, or -``levels'' in their terminology. The Python mapping of the API is -substantially based on the DOM Level~2 recommendation. The mapping of -the Level~3 specification, currently only available in draft form, is -being developed by the \ulink{Python XML Special Interest -Group}{http://www.python.org/sigs/xml-sig/} as part of the -\ulink{PyXML package}{http://pyxml.sourceforge.net/}. Refer to the -documentation bundled with that package for information on the current -state of DOM Level~3 support. - -DOM applications typically start by parsing some XML into a DOM. How -this is accomplished is not covered at all by DOM Level~1, and Level~2 -provides only limited improvements: There is a -\class{DOMImplementation} object class which provides access to -\class{Document} creation methods, but no way to access an XML -reader/parser/Document builder in an implementation-independent way. -There is also no well-defined way to access these methods without an -existing \class{Document} object. In Python, each DOM implementation -will provide a function \function{getDOMImplementation()}. DOM Level~3 -adds a Load/Store specification, which defines an interface to the -reader, but this is not yet available in the Python standard library. - -Once you have a DOM document object, you can access the parts of your -XML document through its properties and methods. These properties are -defined in the DOM specification; this portion of the reference manual -describes the interpretation of the specification in Python. - -The specification provided by the W3C defines the DOM API for Java, -ECMAScript, and OMG IDL. The Python mapping defined here is based in -large part on the IDL version of the specification, but strict -compliance is not required (though implementations are free to support -the strict mapping from IDL). See section \ref{dom-conformance}, -``Conformance,'' for a detailed discussion of mapping requirements. - - -\begin{seealso} - \seetitle[http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Core/]{Document Object - Model (DOM) Level~2 Specification} - {The W3C recommendation upon which the Python DOM API is - based.} - \seetitle[http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-DOM-Level-1/]{Document Object - Model (DOM) Level~1 Specification} - {The W3C recommendation for the - DOM supported by \module{xml.dom.minidom}.} - \seetitle[http://pyxml.sourceforge.net]{PyXML}{Users that require a - full-featured implementation of DOM should use the PyXML - package.} - \seetitle[http://www.omg.org/docs/formal/02-11-05.pdf]{Python - Language Mapping Specification} - {This specifies the mapping from OMG IDL to Python.} -\end{seealso} - -\subsection{Module Contents} - -The \module{xml.dom} contains the following functions: - -\begin{funcdesc}{registerDOMImplementation}{name, factory} -Register the \var{factory} function with the name \var{name}. The -factory function should return an object which implements the -\class{DOMImplementation} interface. The factory function can return -the same object every time, or a new one for each call, as appropriate -for the specific implementation (e.g. if that implementation supports -some customization). -\end{funcdesc} - -\begin{funcdesc}{getDOMImplementation}{\optional{name\optional{, features}}} -Return a suitable DOM implementation. The \var{name} is either -well-known, the module name of a DOM implementation, or -\code{None}. If it is not \code{None}, imports the corresponding -module and returns a \class{DOMImplementation} object if the import -succeeds. If no name is given, and if the environment variable -\envvar{PYTHON_DOM} is set, this variable is used to find the -implementation. - -If name is not given, this examines the available implementations to -find one with the required feature set. If no implementation can be -found, raise an \exception{ImportError}. The features list must be a -sequence of \code{(\var{feature}, \var{version})} pairs which are -passed to the \method{hasFeature()} method on available -\class{DOMImplementation} objects. -\end{funcdesc} - - -Some convenience constants are also provided: - -\begin{datadesc}{EMPTY_NAMESPACE} - The value used to indicate that no namespace is associated with a - node in the DOM. This is typically found as the - \member{namespaceURI} of a node, or used as the \var{namespaceURI} - parameter to a namespaces-specific method. - \versionadded{2.2} -\end{datadesc} - -\begin{datadesc}{XML_NAMESPACE} - The namespace URI associated with the reserved prefix \code{xml}, as - defined by - \citetitle[http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml-names/]{Namespaces in XML} - (section~4). - \versionadded{2.2} -\end{datadesc} - -\begin{datadesc}{XMLNS_NAMESPACE} - The namespace URI for namespace declarations, as defined by - \citetitle[http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Core/core.html]{Document - Object Model (DOM) Level~2 Core Specification} (section~1.1.8). - \versionadded{2.2} -\end{datadesc} - -\begin{datadesc}{XHTML_NAMESPACE} - The URI of the XHTML namespace as defined by - \citetitle[http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/]{XHTML 1.0: The Extensible - HyperText Markup Language} (section~3.1.1). - \versionadded{2.2} -\end{datadesc} - - -% Should the Node documentation go here? - -In addition, \module{xml.dom} contains a base \class{Node} class and -the DOM exception classes. The \class{Node} class provided by this -module does not implement any of the methods or attributes defined by -the DOM specification; concrete DOM implementations must provide -those. The \class{Node} class provided as part of this module does -provide the constants used for the \member{nodeType} attribute on -concrete \class{Node} objects; they are located within the class -rather than at the module level to conform with the DOM -specifications. - - -\subsection{Objects in the DOM \label{dom-objects}} - -The definitive documentation for the DOM is the DOM specification from -the W3C. - -Note that DOM attributes may also be manipulated as nodes instead of -as simple strings. It is fairly rare that you must do this, however, -so this usage is not yet documented. - - -\begin{tableiii}{l|l|l}{class}{Interface}{Section}{Purpose} - \lineiii{DOMImplementation}{\ref{dom-implementation-objects}} - {Interface to the underlying implementation.} - \lineiii{Node}{\ref{dom-node-objects}} - {Base interface for most objects in a document.} - \lineiii{NodeList}{\ref{dom-nodelist-objects}} - {Interface for a sequence of nodes.} - \lineiii{DocumentType}{\ref{dom-documenttype-objects}} - {Information about the declarations needed to process a document.} - \lineiii{Document}{\ref{dom-document-objects}} - {Object which represents an entire document.} - \lineiii{Element}{\ref{dom-element-objects}} - {Element nodes in the document hierarchy.} - \lineiii{Attr}{\ref{dom-attr-objects}} - {Attribute value nodes on element nodes.} - \lineiii{Comment}{\ref{dom-comment-objects}} - {Representation of comments in the source document.} - \lineiii{Text}{\ref{dom-text-objects}} - {Nodes containing textual content from the document.} - \lineiii{ProcessingInstruction}{\ref{dom-pi-objects}} - {Processing instruction representation.} -\end{tableiii} - -An additional section describes the exceptions defined for working -with the DOM in Python. - - -\subsubsection{DOMImplementation Objects - \label{dom-implementation-objects}} - -The \class{DOMImplementation} interface provides a way for -applications to determine the availability of particular features in -the DOM they are using. DOM Level~2 added the ability to create new -\class{Document} and \class{DocumentType} objects using the -\class{DOMImplementation} as well. - -\begin{methoddesc}[DOMImplementation]{hasFeature}{feature, version} -Return true if the feature identified by the pair of strings -\var{feature} and \var{version} is implemented. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[DOMImplementation]{createDocument}{namespaceUri, qualifiedName, doctype} -Return a new \class{Document} object (the root of the DOM), with a -child \class{Element} object having the given \var{namespaceUri} and -\var{qualifiedName}. The \var{doctype} must be a \class{DocumentType} -object created by \method{createDocumentType()}, or \code{None}. -In the Python DOM API, the first two arguments can also be \code{None} -in order to indicate that no \class{Element} child is to be created. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[DOMImplementation]{createDocumentType}{qualifiedName, publicId, systemId} -Return a new \class{DocumentType} object that encapsulates the given -\var{qualifiedName}, \var{publicId}, and \var{systemId} strings, -representing the information contained in an XML document type -declaration. -\end{methoddesc} - - -\subsubsection{Node Objects \label{dom-node-objects}} - -All of the components of an XML document are subclasses of -\class{Node}. - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{nodeType} -An integer representing the node type. Symbolic constants for the -types are on the \class{Node} object: -\constant{ELEMENT_NODE}, \constant{ATTRIBUTE_NODE}, -\constant{TEXT_NODE}, \constant{CDATA_SECTION_NODE}, -\constant{ENTITY_NODE}, \constant{PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION_NODE}, -\constant{COMMENT_NODE}, \constant{DOCUMENT_NODE}, -\constant{DOCUMENT_TYPE_NODE}, \constant{NOTATION_NODE}. -This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{parentNode} -The parent of the current node, or \code{None} for the document node. -The value is always a \class{Node} object or \code{None}. For -\class{Element} nodes, this will be the parent element, except for the -root element, in which case it will be the \class{Document} object. -For \class{Attr} nodes, this is always \code{None}. -This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{attributes} -A \class{NamedNodeMap} of attribute objects. Only elements have -actual values for this; others provide \code{None} for this attribute. -This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{previousSibling} -The node that immediately precedes this one with the same parent. For -instance the element with an end-tag that comes just before the -\var{self} element's start-tag. Of course, XML documents are made -up of more than just elements so the previous sibling could be text, a -comment, or something else. If this node is the first child of the -parent, this attribute will be \code{None}. -This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{nextSibling} -The node that immediately follows this one with the same parent. See -also \member{previousSibling}. If this is the last child of the -parent, this attribute will be \code{None}. -This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{childNodes} -A list of nodes contained within this node. -This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{firstChild} -The first child of the node, if there are any, or \code{None}. -This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{lastChild} -The last child of the node, if there are any, or \code{None}. -This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{localName} -The part of the \member{tagName} following the colon if there is one, -else the entire \member{tagName}. The value is a string. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{prefix} -The part of the \member{tagName} preceding the colon if there is one, -else the empty string. The value is a string, or \code{None} -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{namespaceURI} -The namespace associated with the element name. This will be a -string or \code{None}. This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{nodeName} -This has a different meaning for each node type; see the DOM -specification for details. You can always get the information you -would get here from another property such as the \member{tagName} -property for elements or the \member{name} property for attributes. -For all node types, the value of this attribute will be either a -string or \code{None}. This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Node]{nodeValue} -This has a different meaning for each node type; see the DOM -specification for details. The situation is similar to that with -\member{nodeName}. The value is a string or \code{None}. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Node]{hasAttributes}{} -Returns true if the node has any attributes. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Node]{hasChildNodes}{} -Returns true if the node has any child nodes. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Node]{isSameNode}{other} -Returns true if \var{other} refers to the same node as this node. -This is especially useful for DOM implementations which use any sort -of proxy architecture (because more than one object can refer to the -same node). - -\begin{notice} - This is based on a proposed DOM Level~3 API which is still in the - ``working draft'' stage, but this particular interface appears - uncontroversial. Changes from the W3C will not necessarily affect - this method in the Python DOM interface (though any new W3C API for - this would also be supported). -\end{notice} -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Node]{appendChild}{newChild} -Add a new child node to this node at the end of the list of children, -returning \var{newChild}. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Node]{insertBefore}{newChild, refChild} -Insert a new child node before an existing child. It must be the case -that \var{refChild} is a child of this node; if not, -\exception{ValueError} is raised. \var{newChild} is returned. If -\var{refChild} is \code{None}, it inserts \var{newChild} at the end of -the children's list. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Node]{removeChild}{oldChild} -Remove a child node. \var{oldChild} must be a child of this node; if -not, \exception{ValueError} is raised. \var{oldChild} is returned on -success. If \var{oldChild} will not be used further, its -\method{unlink()} method should be called. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Node]{replaceChild}{newChild, oldChild} -Replace an existing node with a new node. It must be the case that -\var{oldChild} is a child of this node; if not, -\exception{ValueError} is raised. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Node]{normalize}{} -Join adjacent text nodes so that all stretches of text are stored as -single \class{Text} instances. This simplifies processing text from a -DOM tree for many applications. -\versionadded{2.1} -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Node]{cloneNode}{deep} -Clone this node. Setting \var{deep} means to clone all child nodes as -well. This returns the clone. -\end{methoddesc} - - -\subsubsection{NodeList Objects \label{dom-nodelist-objects}} - -A \class{NodeList} represents a sequence of nodes. These objects are -used in two ways in the DOM Core recommendation: the -\class{Element} objects provides one as its list of child nodes, and -the \method{getElementsByTagName()} and -\method{getElementsByTagNameNS()} methods of \class{Node} return -objects with this interface to represent query results. - -The DOM Level~2 recommendation defines one method and one attribute -for these objects: - -\begin{methoddesc}[NodeList]{item}{i} - Return the \var{i}'th item from the sequence, if there is one, or - \code{None}. The index \var{i} is not allowed to be less then zero - or greater than or equal to the length of the sequence. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[NodeList]{length} - The number of nodes in the sequence. -\end{memberdesc} - -In addition, the Python DOM interface requires that some additional -support is provided to allow \class{NodeList} objects to be used as -Python sequences. All \class{NodeList} implementations must include -support for \method{__len__()} and \method{__getitem__()}; this allows -iteration over the \class{NodeList} in \keyword{for} statements and -proper support for the \function{len()} built-in function. - -If a DOM implementation supports modification of the document, the -\class{NodeList} implementation must also support the -\method{__setitem__()} and \method{__delitem__()} methods. - - -\subsubsection{DocumentType Objects \label{dom-documenttype-objects}} - -Information about the notations and entities declared by a document -(including the external subset if the parser uses it and can provide -the information) is available from a \class{DocumentType} object. The -\class{DocumentType} for a document is available from the -\class{Document} object's \member{doctype} attribute; if there is no -\code{DOCTYPE} declaration for the document, the document's -\member{doctype} attribute will be set to \code{None} instead of an -instance of this interface. - -\class{DocumentType} is a specialization of \class{Node}, and adds the -following attributes: - -\begin{memberdesc}[DocumentType]{publicId} - The public identifier for the external subset of the document type - definition. This will be a string or \code{None}. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[DocumentType]{systemId} - The system identifier for the external subset of the document type - definition. This will be a URI as a string, or \code{None}. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[DocumentType]{internalSubset} - A string giving the complete internal subset from the document. - This does not include the brackets which enclose the subset. If the - document has no internal subset, this should be \code{None}. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[DocumentType]{name} - The name of the root element as given in the \code{DOCTYPE} - declaration, if present. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[DocumentType]{entities} - This is a \class{NamedNodeMap} giving the definitions of external - entities. For entity names defined more than once, only the first - definition is provided (others are ignored as required by the XML - recommendation). This may be \code{None} if the information is not - provided by the parser, or if no entities are defined. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[DocumentType]{notations} - This is a \class{NamedNodeMap} giving the definitions of notations. - For notation names defined more than once, only the first definition - is provided (others are ignored as required by the XML - recommendation). This may be \code{None} if the information is not - provided by the parser, or if no notations are defined. -\end{memberdesc} - - -\subsubsection{Document Objects \label{dom-document-objects}} - -A \class{Document} represents an entire XML document, including its -constituent elements, attributes, processing instructions, comments -etc. Remeber that it inherits properties from \class{Node}. - -\begin{memberdesc}[Document]{documentElement} -The one and only root element of the document. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Document]{createElement}{tagName} -Create and return a new element node. The element is not inserted -into the document when it is created. You need to explicitly insert -it with one of the other methods such as \method{insertBefore()} or -\method{appendChild()}. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Document]{createElementNS}{namespaceURI, tagName} -Create and return a new element with a namespace. The -\var{tagName} may have a prefix. The element is not inserted into the -document when it is created. You need to explicitly insert it with -one of the other methods such as \method{insertBefore()} or -\method{appendChild()}. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Document]{createTextNode}{data} -Create and return a text node containing the data passed as a -parameter. As with the other creation methods, this one does not -insert the node into the tree. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Document]{createComment}{data} -Create and return a comment node containing the data passed as a -parameter. As with the other creation methods, this one does not -insert the node into the tree. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Document]{createProcessingInstruction}{target, data} -Create and return a processing instruction node containing the -\var{target} and \var{data} passed as parameters. As with the other -creation methods, this one does not insert the node into the tree. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Document]{createAttribute}{name} -Create and return an attribute node. This method does not associate -the attribute node with any particular element. You must use -\method{setAttributeNode()} on the appropriate \class{Element} object -to use the newly created attribute instance. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Document]{createAttributeNS}{namespaceURI, qualifiedName} -Create and return an attribute node with a namespace. The -\var{tagName} may have a prefix. This method does not associate the -attribute node with any particular element. You must use -\method{setAttributeNode()} on the appropriate \class{Element} object -to use the newly created attribute instance. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Document]{getElementsByTagName}{tagName} -Search for all descendants (direct children, children's children, -etc.) with a particular element type name. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Document]{getElementsByTagNameNS}{namespaceURI, localName} -Search for all descendants (direct children, children's children, -etc.) with a particular namespace URI and localname. The localname is -the part of the namespace after the prefix. -\end{methoddesc} - - -\subsubsection{Element Objects \label{dom-element-objects}} - -\class{Element} is a subclass of \class{Node}, so inherits all the -attributes of that class. - -\begin{memberdesc}[Element]{tagName} -The element type name. In a namespace-using document it may have -colons in it. The value is a string. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{getElementsByTagName}{tagName} -Same as equivalent method in the \class{Document} class. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{getElementsByTagNameNS}{tagName} -Same as equivalent method in the \class{Document} class. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{hasAttribute}{name} -Returns true if the element has an attribute named by \var{name}. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{hasAttributeNS}{namespaceURI, localName} -Returns true if the element has an attribute named by -\var{namespaceURI} and \var{localName}. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{getAttribute}{name} -Return the value of the attribute named by \var{name} as a -string. If no such attribute exists, an empty string is returned, -as if the attribute had no value. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{getAttributeNode}{attrname} -Return the \class{Attr} node for the attribute named by -\var{attrname}. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{getAttributeNS}{namespaceURI, localName} -Return the value of the attribute named by \var{namespaceURI} and -\var{localName} as a string. If no such attribute exists, an empty -string is returned, as if the attribute had no value. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{getAttributeNodeNS}{namespaceURI, localName} -Return an attribute value as a node, given a \var{namespaceURI} and -\var{localName}. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{removeAttribute}{name} -Remove an attribute by name. No exception is raised if there is no -matching attribute. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{removeAttributeNode}{oldAttr} -Remove and return \var{oldAttr} from the attribute list, if present. -If \var{oldAttr} is not present, \exception{NotFoundErr} is raised. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{removeAttributeNS}{namespaceURI, localName} -Remove an attribute by name. Note that it uses a localName, not a -qname. No exception is raised if there is no matching attribute. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{setAttribute}{name, value} -Set an attribute value from a string. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{setAttributeNode}{newAttr} -Add a new attribute node to the element, replacing an existing -attribute if necessary if the \member{name} attribute matches. If a -replacement occurs, the old attribute node will be returned. If -\var{newAttr} is already in use, \exception{InuseAttributeErr} will be -raised. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{setAttributeNodeNS}{newAttr} -Add a new attribute node to the element, replacing an existing -attribute if necessary if the \member{namespaceURI} and -\member{localName} attributes match. If a replacement occurs, the old -attribute node will be returned. If \var{newAttr} is already in use, -\exception{InuseAttributeErr} will be raised. -\end{methoddesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[Element]{setAttributeNS}{namespaceURI, qname, value} -Set an attribute value from a string, given a \var{namespaceURI} and a -\var{qname}. Note that a qname is the whole attribute name. This is -different than above. -\end{methoddesc} - - -\subsubsection{Attr Objects \label{dom-attr-objects}} - -\class{Attr} inherits from \class{Node}, so inherits all its -attributes. - -\begin{memberdesc}[Attr]{name} -The attribute name. In a namespace-using document it may have colons -in it. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Attr]{localName} -The part of the name following the colon if there is one, else the -entire name. This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[Attr]{prefix} -The part of the name preceding the colon if there is one, else the -empty string. -\end{memberdesc} - - -\subsubsection{NamedNodeMap Objects \label{dom-attributelist-objects}} - -\class{NamedNodeMap} does \emph{not} inherit from \class{Node}. - -\begin{memberdesc}[NamedNodeMap]{length} -The length of the attribute list. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{methoddesc}[NamedNodeMap]{item}{index} -Return an attribute with a particular index. The order you get the -attributes in is arbitrary but will be consistent for the life of a -DOM. Each item is an attribute node. Get its value with the -\member{value} attribute. -\end{methoddesc} - -There are also experimental methods that give this class more mapping -behavior. You can use them or you can use the standardized -\method{getAttribute*()} family of methods on the \class{Element} -objects. - - -\subsubsection{Comment Objects \label{dom-comment-objects}} - -\class{Comment} represents a comment in the XML document. It is a -subclass of \class{Node}, but cannot have child nodes. - -\begin{memberdesc}[Comment]{data} -The content of the comment as a string. The attribute contains all -characters between the leading \code{<!-}\code{-} and trailing -\code{-}\code{->}, but does not include them. -\end{memberdesc} - - -\subsubsection{Text and CDATASection Objects \label{dom-text-objects}} - -The \class{Text} interface represents text in the XML document. If -the parser and DOM implementation support the DOM's XML extension, -portions of the text enclosed in CDATA marked sections are stored in -\class{CDATASection} objects. These two interfaces are identical, but -provide different values for the \member{nodeType} attribute. - -These interfaces extend the \class{Node} interface. They cannot have -child nodes. - -\begin{memberdesc}[Text]{data} -The content of the text node as a string. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{notice} - The use of a \class{CDATASection} node does not indicate that the - node represents a complete CDATA marked section, only that the - content of the node was part of a CDATA section. A single CDATA - section may be represented by more than one node in the document - tree. There is no way to determine whether two adjacent - \class{CDATASection} nodes represent different CDATA marked - sections. -\end{notice} - - -\subsubsection{ProcessingInstruction Objects \label{dom-pi-objects}} - -Represents a processing instruction in the XML document; this inherits -from the \class{Node} interface and cannot have child nodes. - -\begin{memberdesc}[ProcessingInstruction]{target} -The content of the processing instruction up to the first whitespace -character. This is a read-only attribute. -\end{memberdesc} - -\begin{memberdesc}[ProcessingInstruction]{data} -The content of the processing instruction following the first -whitespace character. -\end{memberdesc} - - -\subsubsection{Exceptions \label{dom-exceptions}} - -\versionadded{2.1} - -The DOM Level~2 recommendation defines a single exception, -\exception{DOMException}, and a number of constants that allow -applications to determine what sort of error occurred. -\exception{DOMException} instances carry a \member{code} attribute -that provides the appropriate value for the specific exception. - -The Python DOM interface provides the constants, but also expands the -set of exceptions so that a specific exception exists for each of the -exception codes defined by the DOM. The implementations must raise -the appropriate specific exception, each of which carries the -appropriate value for the \member{code} attribute. - -\begin{excdesc}{DOMException} - Base exception class used for all specific DOM exceptions. This - exception class cannot be directly instantiated. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{DomstringSizeErr} - Raised when a specified range of text does not fit into a string. - This is not known to be used in the Python DOM implementations, but - may be received from DOM implementations not written in Python. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{HierarchyRequestErr} - Raised when an attempt is made to insert a node where the node type - is not allowed. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{IndexSizeErr} - Raised when an index or size parameter to a method is negative or - exceeds the allowed values. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{InuseAttributeErr} - Raised when an attempt is made to insert an \class{Attr} node that - is already present elsewhere in the document. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{InvalidAccessErr} - Raised if a parameter or an operation is not supported on the - underlying object. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{InvalidCharacterErr} - This exception is raised when a string parameter contains a - character that is not permitted in the context it's being used in by - the XML 1.0 recommendation. For example, attempting to create an - \class{Element} node with a space in the element type name will - cause this error to be raised. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{InvalidModificationErr} - Raised when an attempt is made to modify the type of a node. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{InvalidStateErr} - Raised when an attempt is made to use an object that is not defined or is no - longer usable. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{NamespaceErr} - If an attempt is made to change any object in a way that is not - permitted with regard to the - \citetitle[http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml-names/]{Namespaces in XML} - recommendation, this exception is raised. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{NotFoundErr} - Exception when a node does not exist in the referenced context. For - example, \method{NamedNodeMap.removeNamedItem()} will raise this if - the node passed in does not exist in the map. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{NotSupportedErr} - Raised when the implementation does not support the requested type - of object or operation. -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{NoDataAllowedErr} - This is raised if data is specified for a node which does not - support data. - % XXX a better explanation is needed! -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{NoModificationAllowedErr} - Raised on attempts to modify an object where modifications are not - allowed (such as for read-only nodes). -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{SyntaxErr} - Raised when an invalid or illegal string is specified. - % XXX how is this different from InvalidCharacterErr ??? -\end{excdesc} - -\begin{excdesc}{WrongDocumentErr} - Raised when a node is inserted in a different document than it - currently belongs to, and the implementation does not support - migrating the node from one document to the other. -\end{excdesc} - -The exception codes defined in the DOM recommendation map to the -exceptions described above according to this table: - -\begin{tableii}{l|l}{constant}{Constant}{Exception} - \lineii{DOMSTRING_SIZE_ERR}{\exception{DomstringSizeErr}} - \lineii{HIERARCHY_REQUEST_ERR}{\exception{HierarchyRequestErr}} - \lineii{INDEX_SIZE_ERR}{\exception{IndexSizeErr}} - \lineii{INUSE_ATTRIBUTE_ERR}{\exception{InuseAttributeErr}} - \lineii{INVALID_ACCESS_ERR}{\exception{InvalidAccessErr}} - \lineii{INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR}{\exception{InvalidCharacterErr}} - \lineii{INVALID_MODIFICATION_ERR}{\exception{InvalidModificationErr}} - \lineii{INVALID_STATE_ERR}{\exception{InvalidStateErr}} - \lineii{NAMESPACE_ERR}{\exception{NamespaceErr}} - \lineii{NOT_FOUND_ERR}{\exception{NotFoundErr}} - \lineii{NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR}{\exception{NotSupportedErr}} - \lineii{NO_DATA_ALLOWED_ERR}{\exception{NoDataAllowedErr}} - \lineii{NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR}{\exception{NoModificationAllowedErr}} - \lineii{SYNTAX_ERR}{\exception{SyntaxErr}} - \lineii{WRONG_DOCUMENT_ERR}{\exception{WrongDocumentErr}} -\end{tableii} - - -\subsection{Conformance \label{dom-conformance}} - -This section describes the conformance requirements and relationships -between the Python DOM API, the W3C DOM recommendations, and the OMG -IDL mapping for Python. - - -\subsubsection{Type Mapping \label{dom-type-mapping}} - -The primitive IDL types used in the DOM specification are mapped to -Python types according to the following table. - -\begin{tableii}{l|l}{code}{IDL Type}{Python Type} - \lineii{boolean}{\code{IntegerType} (with a value of \code{0} or \code{1})} - \lineii{int}{\code{IntegerType}} - \lineii{long int}{\code{IntegerType}} - \lineii{unsigned int}{\code{IntegerType}} -\end{tableii} - -Additionally, the \class{DOMString} defined in the recommendation is -mapped to a Python string or Unicode string. Applications should -be able to handle Unicode whenever a string is returned from the DOM. - -The IDL \keyword{null} value is mapped to \code{None}, which may be -accepted or provided by the implementation whenever \keyword{null} is -allowed by the API. - - -\subsubsection{Accessor Methods \label{dom-accessor-methods}} - -The mapping from OMG IDL to Python defines accessor functions for IDL -\keyword{attribute} declarations in much the way the Java mapping -does. Mapping the IDL declarations - -\begin{verbatim} -readonly attribute string someValue; - attribute string anotherValue; -\end{verbatim} - -yields three accessor functions: a ``get'' method for -\member{someValue} (\method{_get_someValue()}), and ``get'' and -``set'' methods for -\member{anotherValue} (\method{_get_anotherValue()} and -\method{_set_anotherValue()}). The mapping, in particular, does not -require that the IDL attributes are accessible as normal Python -attributes: \code{\var{object}.someValue} is \emph{not} required to -work, and may raise an \exception{AttributeError}. - -The Python DOM API, however, \emph{does} require that normal attribute -access work. This means that the typical surrogates generated by -Python IDL compilers are not likely to work, and wrapper objects may -be needed on the client if the DOM objects are accessed via CORBA. -While this does require some additional consideration for CORBA DOM -clients, the implementers with experience using DOM over CORBA from -Python do not consider this a problem. Attributes that are declared -\keyword{readonly} may not restrict write access in all DOM -implementations. - -In the Python DOM API, accessor functions are not required. If provided, -they should take the form defined by the Python IDL mapping, but -these methods are considered unnecessary since the attributes are -accessible directly from Python. ``Set'' accessors should never be -provided for \keyword{readonly} attributes. - -The IDL definitions do not fully embody the requirements of the W3C DOM -API, such as the notion of certain objects, such as the return value of -\method{getElementsByTagName()}, being ``live''. The Python DOM API -does not require implementations to enforce such requirements. |