* This module, both source code and documentation, is in the * Public Domain, and comes with NO WARRANTY. ** *
This is the main interface that most SAX applications * implement: if the application needs to be informed of basic parsing * events, it implements this interface and registers an instance with * the SAX parser using the {@link org.xml.sax.XMLReader#setContentHandler * setContentHandler} method. The parser uses the instance to report * basic document-related events like the start and end of elements * and character data.
* *The order of events in this interface is very important, and * mirrors the order of information in the document itself. For * example, all of an element's content (character data, processing * instructions, and/or subelements) will appear, in order, between * the startElement event and the corresponding endElement event.
* *This interface is similar to the now-deprecated SAX 1.0 * DocumentHandler interface, but it adds support for Namespaces * and for reporting skipped entities (in non-validating XML * processors).
* *Implementors should note that there is also a Java class * {@link java.net.ContentHandler ContentHandler} in the java.net * package; that means that it's probably a bad idea to do
* ** import java.net.*; * import org.xml.sax.*; ** *
In fact, "import ...*" is usually a sign of sloppy programming * anyway, so the user should consider this a feature rather than a * bug.
* * @since SAX 2.0 * @author David Megginson, * sax@megginson.com * @version 2.0 * @see org.xml.sax.XMLReader * @see org.xml.sax.DTDHandler * @see org.xml.sax.ErrorHandler */ public interface ContentHandler { /** * Receive an object for locating the origin of SAX document events. * *SAX parsers are strongly encouraged (though not absolutely * required) to supply a locator: if it does so, it must supply * the locator to the application by invoking this method before * invoking any of the other methods in the ContentHandler * interface.
* *The locator allows the application to determine the end * position of any document-related event, even if the parser is * not reporting an error. Typically, the application will * use this information for reporting its own errors (such as * character content that does not match an application's * business rules). The information returned by the locator * is probably not sufficient for use with a search engine.
* *Note that the locator will return correct information only * during the invocation of the events in this interface. The * application should not attempt to use it at any other time.
* * @param locator An object that can return the location of * any SAX document event. * @see org.xml.sax.Locator */ public void setDocumentLocator (Locator locator); /** * Receive notification of the beginning of a document. * *The SAX parser will invoke this method only once, before any * other methods in this interface or in {@link org.xml.sax.DTDHandler * DTDHandler} (except for {@link #setDocumentLocator * setDocumentLocator}).
* * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException Any SAX exception, possibly * wrapping another exception. * @see #endDocument */ public void startDocument () throws SAXException; /** * Receive notification of the end of a document. * *The SAX parser will invoke this method only once, and it will * be the last method invoked during the parse. The parser shall * not invoke this method until it has either abandoned parsing * (because of an unrecoverable error) or reached the end of * input.
* * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException Any SAX exception, possibly * wrapping another exception. * @see #startDocument */ public void endDocument() throws SAXException; /** * Begin the scope of a prefix-URI Namespace mapping. * *The information from this event is not necessary for
* normal Namespace processing: the SAX XML reader will
* automatically replace prefixes for element and attribute
* names when the http://xml.org/sax/features/namespaces
* feature is true (the default).
There are cases, however, when applications need to * use prefixes in character data or in attribute values, * where they cannot safely be expanded automatically; the * start/endPrefixMapping event supplies the information * to the application to expand prefixes in those contexts * itself, if necessary.
* *Note that start/endPrefixMapping events are not * guaranteed to be properly nested relative to each-other: * all startPrefixMapping events will occur before the * corresponding {@link #startElement startElement} event, * and all {@link #endPrefixMapping endPrefixMapping} * events will occur after the corresponding {@link #endElement * endElement} event, but their order is not otherwise * guaranteed.
* *There should never be start/endPrefixMapping events for the * "xml" prefix, since it is predeclared and immutable.
* * @param prefix The Namespace prefix being declared. * @param uri The Namespace URI the prefix is mapped to. * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException The client may throw * an exception during processing. * @see #endPrefixMapping * @see #startElement */ public void startPrefixMapping (String prefix, String uri) throws SAXException; /** * End the scope of a prefix-URI mapping. * *See {@link #startPrefixMapping startPrefixMapping} for * details. This event will always occur after the corresponding * {@link #endElement endElement} event, but the order of * {@link #endPrefixMapping endPrefixMapping} events is not otherwise * guaranteed.
* * @param prefix The prefix that was being mapping. * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException The client may throw * an exception during processing. * @see #startPrefixMapping * @see #endElement */ public void endPrefixMapping (String prefix) throws SAXException; /** * Receive notification of the beginning of an element. * *The Parser will invoke this method at the beginning of every * element in the XML document; there will be a corresponding * {@link #endElement endElement} event for every startElement event * (even when the element is empty). All of the element's content will be * reported, in order, before the corresponding endElement * event.
* *This event allows up to three name components for each * element:
* *Any or all of these may be provided, depending on the * values of the http://xml.org/sax/features/namespaces * and the http://xml.org/sax/features/namespace-prefixes * properties:
* *Note that the attribute list provided will contain only
* attributes with explicit values (specified or defaulted):
* #IMPLIED attributes will be omitted. The attribute list
* will contain attributes used for Namespace declarations
* (xmlns* attributes) only if the
* http://xml.org/sax/features/namespace-prefixes
* property is true (it is false by default, and support for a
* true value is optional).
The SAX parser will invoke this method at the end of every * element in the XML document; there will be a corresponding * {@link #startElement startElement} event for every endElement * event (even when the element is empty).
* *For information on the names, see startElement.
* * @param uri The Namespace URI, or the empty string if the * element has no Namespace URI or if Namespace * processing is not being performed. * @param localName The local name (without prefix), or the * empty string if Namespace processing is not being * performed. * @param qName The qualified XML 1.0 name (with prefix), or the * empty string if qualified names are not available. * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException Any SAX exception, possibly * wrapping another exception. */ public void endElement (String namespaceURI, String localName, String qName) throws SAXException; /** * Receive notification of character data. * *The Parser will call this method to report each chunk of * character data. SAX parsers may return all contiguous character * data in a single chunk, or they may split it into several * chunks; however, all of the characters in any single event * must come from the same external entity so that the Locator * provides useful information.
* *The application must not attempt to read from the array * outside of the specified range.
* *Note that some parsers will report whitespace in element * content using the {@link #ignorableWhitespace ignorableWhitespace} * method rather than this one (validating parsers must * do so).
* * @param ch The characters from the XML document. * @param start The start position in the array. * @param length The number of characters to read from the array. * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException Any SAX exception, possibly * wrapping another exception. * @see #ignorableWhitespace * @see org.xml.sax.Locator */ public void characters (char ch[], int start, int length) throws SAXException; /** * Receive notification of ignorable whitespace in element content. * *Validating Parsers must use this method to report each chunk * of whitespace in element content (see the W3C XML 1.0 recommendation, * section 2.10): non-validating parsers may also use this method * if they are capable of parsing and using content models.
* *SAX parsers may return all contiguous whitespace in a single * chunk, or they may split it into several chunks; however, all of * the characters in any single event must come from the same * external entity, so that the Locator provides useful * information.
* *The application must not attempt to read from the array * outside of the specified range.
* * @param ch The characters from the XML document. * @param start The start position in the array. * @param length The number of characters to read from the array. * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException Any SAX exception, possibly * wrapping another exception. * @see #characters */ public void ignorableWhitespace (char ch[], int start, int length) throws SAXException; /** * Receive notification of a processing instruction. * *The Parser will invoke this method once for each processing * instruction found: note that processing instructions may occur * before or after the main document element.
* *A SAX parser must never report an XML declaration (XML 1.0, * section 2.8) or a text declaration (XML 1.0, section 4.3.1) * using this method.
* * @param target The processing instruction target. * @param data The processing instruction data, or null if * none was supplied. The data does not include any * whitespace separating it from the target. * @exception org.xml.sax.SAXException Any SAX exception, possibly * wrapping another exception. */ public void processingInstruction (String target, String data) throws SAXException; /** * Receive notification of a skipped entity. * *The Parser will invoke this method once for each entity
* skipped. Non-validating processors may skip entities if they
* have not seen the declarations (because, for example, the
* entity was declared in an external DTD subset). All processors
* may skip external entities, depending on the values of the
* http://xml.org/sax/features/external-general-entities
* and the
* http://xml.org/sax/features/external-parameter-entities
* properties.