[Py-howto-checkins] CVS: pyhowto python-2.0.tex,1.35,1.36

[A.M. K. <aku...@us...>]

Update of /cvsroot/py-howto/pyhowto
In directory slayer.i.sourceforge.net:/tmp/cvs-serv6586

Modified Files:
	python-2.0.tex 
Log Message:
Add new section on the XML package.  (This was the only major new 2.0 feature 
   left that wasn't covered.  The article is therefore now essentially complete.)
A few minor changes


Index: python-2.0.tex
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/py-howto/pyhowto/python-2.0.tex,v
retrieving revision 1.35
retrieving revision 1.36
diff -C2 -r1.35 -r1.36
*** python-2.0.tex	2000/10/04 12:40:44	1.35
--- python-2.0.tex	2000/10/12 02:37:14	1.36
***************
*** 157,162 ****
  distribution; it's also available on the Web at
  \url{http://starship.python.net/crew/lemburg/unicode-proposal.txt}.
! This article will simply cover the most significant points from the
! full interface.
  
  In Python source code, Unicode strings are written as
--- 157,162 ----
  distribution; it's also available on the Web at
  \url{http://starship.python.net/crew/lemburg/unicode-proposal.txt}.
! This article will simply cover the most significant points about the Unicode 
! interfaces.
  
  In Python source code, Unicode strings are written as
***************
*** 616,625 ****
  
  The comparison \code{a==b} returns true, because the two recursive
! data structures are isomorphic. \footnote{See the thread ``trashcan
  and PR\#7'' in the April 2000 archives of the python-dev mailing list
  for the discussion leading up to this implementation, and some useful
  relevant links.
! %http://www.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2000-April/004834.html
! }
  
  Work has been done on porting Python to 64-bit Windows on the Itanium
--- 616,625 ----
  
  The comparison \code{a==b} returns true, because the two recursive
! data structures are isomorphic. See the thread ``trashcan
  and PR\#7'' in the April 2000 archives of the python-dev mailing list
  for the discussion leading up to this implementation, and some useful
  relevant links.
! % Starting URL:
! % http://www.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2000-April/004834.html
  
  Work has been done on porting Python to 64-bit Windows on the Itanium
***************
*** 951,955 ****
  setup (name = "PyXML", version = "0.5.4", 
         ext_modules =[ expat_extension ] )
- 	        
  \end{verbatim}
  
--- 951,954 ----
***************
*** 967,975 ****
  Modules}, that joins the basic set of Python documentation.
  
! % ======================================================================
! %\section{New XML Code}
  
! %XXX write this section...
  
  % ======================================================================
  \section{Module changes}
--- 966,1129 ----
  Modules}, that joins the basic set of Python documentation.
  
! ======================================================================
! \section{XML Modules}
! 
! Python 1.5.2 included a simple XML parser in the form of the
! \module{xmllib} module, contributed by Sjoerd Mullender.  Since
! 1.5.2's release, two different interfaces for processing XML have
! become common: SAX2 (version 2 of the Simple API for XML) provides an
! event-driven interface with some similarities to \module{xmllib}, and
! the DOM (Document Object Model) provides a tree-based interface,
! transforming an XML document into a tree of nodes that can be
! traversed and modified.  Python 2.0 includes a SAX2 interface and a
! stripped-down DOM interface as part of the \module{xml} package.
! Here we will give a brief overview of these new interfaces; consult
! the Python documentation or the source code for complete details.
! The Python XML SIG is also working on improved documentation.
! 
! \subsection{SAX2 Support}
! 
! SAX defines an event-driven interface for parsing XML.  To use SAX,
! you must write a SAX handler class.  Handler classes inherit from
! various classes provided by SAX, and override various methods that
! will then be called by the XML parser.  For example, the
! \method{startElement} and \method{endElement} methods are called for
! every starting and end tag encountered by the parser, the
! \method{characters()} method is called for every chunk of character
! data, and so forth.
! 
! The advantage of the event-driven approach is that that the whole
! document doesn't have to be resident in memory at any one time, which
! matters if you are processing really huge documents.  However, writing
! the SAX handler class can get very complicated if you're trying to
! modify the document structure in some elaborate way.
! 
! For example, this little example program defines a handler that prints
! a message for every starting and ending tag, and then parses the file
! \file{hamlet.xml} using it:
! 
! \begin{verbatim}
! from xml import sax
! 
! class SimpleHandler(sax.ContentHandler):
!     def startElement(self, name, attrs):
!         print 'Start of element:', name, attrs.keys()
! 
!     def endElement(self, name):
!         print 'End of element:', name
! 
! # Create a parser object
! parser = sax.make_parser()
! 
! # Tell it what handler to use
! handler = SimpleHandler()
! parser.setContentHandler( handler )
! 
! # Parse a file!
! parser.parse( 'hamlet.xml' )
! \end{verbatim}
! 
! For more information, consult the Python documentation, or the XML
! HOWTO at \url{http://www.python.org/doc/howto/xml/}.
! 
! \subsection{DOM Support}
! 
! The Document Object Model is a tree-based representation for an XML
! document.  A top-level \class{Document} instance is the root of the
! tree, and has a single child which is the top-level \class{Element}
! instance. This \class{Element} has children nodes representing
! character data and any sub-elements, which may have further children
! of their own, and so forth.  Using the DOM you can traverse the
! resulting tree any way you like, access element and attribute values,
! insert and delete nodes, and convert the tree back into XML.
! 
! The DOM is useful for modifying XML documents, because you can create
! a DOM tree, modify it by adding new nodes or rearranging subtrees, and
! then produce a new XML document as output.  You can also construct a
! DOM tree manually and convert it to XML, which can be a more flexible
! way of producing XML output than simply writing
! \code{<tag1>}...\code{</tag1>} to a file.
! 
! The DOM implementation included with Python lives in the
! \module{xml.dom.minidom} module.  It's a lightweight implementation of
! the Level 1 DOM with support for XML namespaces.  The 
! \function{parse()} and \function{parseString()} convenience
! functions are provided for generating a DOM tree:
! 
! \begin{verbatim}
! from xml.dom import minidom
! doc = minidom.parse('hamlet.xml')
! \end{verbatim}
  
! \code{doc} is a \class{Document} instance.  \class{Document}, like all
! the other DOM classes such as \class{Element} and \class{Text}, is a
! subclass of the \class{Node} base class.  All the nodes in a DOM tree
! therefore support certain common methods, such as \method{toxml()}
! which returns a string containing the XML representation of the node
! and its children.  Each class also has special methods of its own; for
! example, \class{Element} and \class{Document} instances have a method
! to find all child elements with a given tag name.  Continuing from the
! previous 2-line example:
  
+ \begin{verbatim}
+ perslist = doc.getElementsByTagName( 'PERSONA' )
+ print perslist[0].toxml()
+ print perslist[1].toxml()
+ \end{verbatim}
+ 
+ For the \textit{Hamlet} XML file, the above few lines output:
+ 
+ \begin{verbatim}
+ <PERSONA>CLAUDIUS, king of Denmark. </PERSONA>
+ <PERSONA>HAMLET, son to the late, and nephew to the present king.</PERSONA>
+ \end{verbatim}
+ 
+ The root element of the document is available as
+ \code{doc.documentElement}, and its children can be easily modified
+ by deleting, adding, or removing nodes:
+ 
+ \begin{verbatim}
+ root = doc.documentElement
+ 
+ # Remove the first child
+ root.removeChild( root.childNodes[0] )
+ 
+ # Move the new first child to the end
+ root.appendChild( root.childNodes[0] )
+ 
+ # Insert the new first child (originally,
+ # the third child) before the 20th child.
+ root.insertBefore( root.childNodes[0], root.childNodes[20] )
+ \end{verbatim}
+ 
+ Again, I will refer you to the Python documentation for a complete
+ listing of the different \class{Node} classes and their various methods.
+ 
+ \subsection{Relationship to PyXML}
+ 
+ The XML Special Interest Group has been working on XML-related Python
+ code for a while.  Its code distribution, called PyXML, is available
+ from the SIG's Web pages at \url{http://www.python.org/sigs/xml-sig/}.
+ The PyXML distribution also used the package name \samp{xml}.  If
+ you've written programs that used PyXML, you're probably wondering
+ about its compatibility with the 2.0 \module{xml} package.
+ 
+ The answer is that Python 2.0's \module{xml} package isn't compatible
+ with PyXML, but can be made compatible by installing a recent version
+ PyXML.  Many applications can get by with the XML support that is
+ included with Python 2.0, but more complicated applications will
+ require that the full PyXML package will be installed.  When
+ installed, PyXML versions 0.6.0 or greater will replace the
+ \module{xml} package shipped with Python, and will be a strict
+ superset of the standard package, adding a bunch of additional
+ features.  Some of the additional features in PyXML include:
+ 
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item 4DOM, a full DOM implementation
+ from FourThought LLC.
+ \item The xmlproc validating parser, written by Lars Marius Garshol.
+ \item The \module{sgmlop} parser accelerator module, written by Fredrik Lundh.
+ \end{itemize}
+ 
  % ======================================================================
  \section{Module changes}
***************
*** 982,985 ****
--- 1136,1141 ----
  and \module{nntplib}.  Consult the CVS logs for the exact
  patch-by-patch details.  
+ 
+ % XXX gettext support
  
  Brian Gallew contributed OpenSSL support for the \module{socket}