Free Form XML Java Parser

A very simple XML parser loosely binding text into the given Java class structure.

Written by zencd. Java7+.

Key features

• Parsing done by a Java model, no annoytations needed
• XML may come in different (free) forms but it gonna be parsed anyway

A sample model

public static class CarXml {
    public String color;
    public List<Wheel> wheel;
    public static class Wheel {
        public String name;
    }
}

Free form XML

Attributes

Setting a Java property could be done via an XML attribute, but also via a dedicated tag:

<root color='red'/>

<root>
    <color>red</color>
</root>

Collections

The full form:

<root>
    <wheels>
        <wheel name='one'/>
        <wheel name='two'/>
    </wheels>
</root>

Without the parent <wheels> it works too:

<root>
  <wheel name='one'/>
  <wheel name='two'/>
</root>

A special tag <item> automatically recognized as a <wheel> being inside a collection:

<root>
    <wheels>
        <item name='one'/>
    </wheels>
</root>

You may also mix all the approaches.

Parser usage

CarXml root = FreeFormXmlParser.parse(CarXml.class, xmlContent);

Also refer to tests like FreeFormXmlParserTest.

Setting Java properties in your way

See PropertyBinder and its derivation DefaultPropertyBinder.

TODO

• Bind properties like some-prop to Java, and tag names also
• Be able to bind 'NaMe' to 'NamE' (any forms)