Simple and lightweight XML parser for iOS written in Swift
This is not robust full featured XML parser (at the moment), but rather simple,
and very easy to use utility for casual XML handling (it just works).
AEXML is a minion which consists of these classes:
Class | Description |
---|---|
AEXMLElement |
Base class |
AEXMLDocument |
Inherited from AEXMLElement with a few addons |
AEXMLParser |
Simple (private) wrapper around NSXMLParser |
- Read XML data
- Write XML string
- Covered with unit tests
- Covered with docs
Let's say this is some XML string you picked up somewhere and made a variable data: NSData
from that.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<animals>
<cats>
<cat breed="Siberian" color="lightgray">Tinna</cat>
<cat breed="Domestic" color="darkgray">Rose</cat>
<cat breed="Domestic" color="yellow">Caesar</cat>
<cat></cat>
</cats>
<dogs>
<dog breed="Bull Terrier" color="white">Villy</dog>
<dog breed="Bull Terrier" color="white">Spot</dog>
<dog breed="Golden Retriever" color="yellow">Betty</dog>
<dog breed="Miniature Schnauzer" color="black">Kika</dog>
</dogs>
</animals>
This is how you can use AEXML for working with this data:
(for even more examples, look at the unit tests code included in project)
// works only if data is successfully parsed
// otherwise prints information about error with parsing
var error: NSError?
if let xmlDoc = AEXMLDocument(xmlData: data, error: &error) {
// prints the same XML structure as original
println(xmlDoc.xmlString)
// prints cats, dogs
for child in xmlDoc.root.children {
println(child.name)
}
// prints Optional("Tinna") (first element)
println(xmlDoc.root["cats"]["cat"].value)
// prints Tinna (first element)
println(xmlDoc.root["cats"]["cat"].stringValue)
// prints Optional("Kika") (last element)
println(xmlDoc.root["dogs"]["dog"].last?.value)
// prints Betty (3rd element)
println(xmlDoc.root["dogs"].children[2].stringValue)
// prints Tinna, Rose, Caesar
if let cats = xmlDoc.root["cats"]["cat"].all {
for cat in cats {
if let name = cat.value {
println(name)
}
}
}
// prints Villy, Spot
for dog in xmlDoc.root["dogs"]["dog"].all! {
if let color = dog.attributes["color"] as? String {
if color == "white" {
println(dog.stringValue)
}
}
}
// prints Caesar
if let cats = xmlDoc.root["cats"]["cat"].allWithAttributes(["breed" : "Domestic", "color" : "yellow"]) {
for cat in cats {
println(cat.stringValue)
}
}
// prints 4
println(xmlDoc.root["cats"]["cat"].count)
// prints 2
println(xmlDoc.root["dogs"]["dog"].countWithAttributes(["breed" : "Bull Terrier"]))
// prints 1
println(xmlDoc.root["cats"]["cat"].countWithAttributes(["breed" : "Domestic", "color" : "darkgray"]))
// prints Siberian
println(xmlDoc.root["cats"]["cat"].attributes["breed"]!)
// prints <cat breed="Siberian" color="lightgray">Tinna</cat>
println(xmlDoc.root["cats"]["cat"].xmlStringCompact)
// prints element <badexample> not found
println(xmlDoc["badexample"]["notexisting"].stringValue)
} else {
println("description: \(error?.localizedDescription)\ninfo: \(error?.userInfo)")
}
Let's say this is some SOAP XML request you need to generate.
Well, you could just build ordinary string for that?
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<soap:Header>
<m:Trans xmlns:m="http://www.w3schools.com/transaction/" soap:mustUnderstand="1">234</m:Trans>
</soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<m:GetStockPrice>
<m:StockName>AAPL</m:StockName>
</m:GetStockPrice>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
Yes, but, you can also do it in a more structured and elegant way with AEXML:
// prints the same XML structure as original
let soapRequest = AEXMLDocument()
let attributes = ["xmlns:xsi" : "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance", "xmlns:xsd" : "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"]
let envelope = soapRequest.addChild(name: "soap:Envelope", attributes: attributes)
let header = envelope.addChild(name: "soap:Header")
let body = envelope.addChild(name: "soap:Body")
header.addChild(name: "m:Trans", value: "234", attributes: ["xmlns:m" : "http://www.w3schools.com/transaction/", "soap:mustUnderstand" : "1"])
let getStockPrice = body.addChild(name: "m:GetStockPrice")
getStockPrice.addChild(name: "m:StockName", value: "AAPL")
println(soapRequest.xmlString)
- Xcode 6.4+
- iOS 8.0+
- AEXML doesn't require any additional libraries for it to work.
-
Using CocoaPods:
use_frameworks! pod 'AEXML'
-
Manually:
Just drag AEXML.swift into your project and start using it.
AEXML is released under the MIT license. See LICENSE for details.