AEXML

Simple and lightweight XML parser for iOS written in Swift

This is not robust full featured XML parser (at the moment), but rather really simple, smart 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
AEXMLParser	Simple wrapper around NSXMLParser

Features

• Read XML data
• Write XML string
• I believe that's all

Index

• Example
  • Read XML
  • Write XML
• API
  • AEXMLElement
  • AEXMLDocument
• Requirements
• Installation
• License

Example

Read XML

Let's say this is some XML data you picked up somewhere and made data: NSData of it.

<?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>
    </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:

// 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.rootElement.children {
        println(child.name)
    }
    
    // prints Tinna (first element)
    println(xmlDoc.rootElement["cats"]["cat"].value)
    
    // prints Kika (last element)
    println(xmlDoc.rootElement["dogs"]["dog"].last.value)
    
    // prints Betty (3rd element)
    println(xmlDoc.rootElement["dogs"].children[2].value)
    
    // prints Tinna, Rose, Caesar
    for cat in xmlDoc.rootElement["cats"]["cat"].all {
        println(cat.value)
    }
    
    // prints Villy, Spot
    for dog in xmlDoc.rootElement["dogs"]["dog"].all {
        if let color = dog.attributes["color"] as? NSString {
            if color == "white" {
                println(dog.value)
            }
        }
    }

    // prints Caesar
    if let cats = xmlDoc.rootElement["cats"]["cat"].allWithAttributes(["breed" : "Domestic", "color" : "yellow"]) {
        for cat in cats {
            println(cat.value)
        }
    }

    // prints 3
    println(xmlDoc.rootElement["cats"]["cat"].count)

    // prints 2
    println(xmlDoc.rootElement["dogs"]["dog"].countWithAttributes(["breed" : "Bull Terrier"]))

    // prints 1
    println(xmlDoc.rootElement["cats"]["cat"].countWithAttributes(["breed" : "Domestic", "color" : "darkgray"]))
    
    // prints Siberian
    println(xmlDoc.rootElement["cats"]["cat"].attributes["breed"]!)
    
    // prints <cat breed="Siberian" color="lightgray">Tinna</cat>
    println(xmlDoc.rootElement["cats"]["cat"].xmlStringCompact)
    
    // prints element <badexample> not found
    println(xmlDoc["badexample"]["notexisting"].value)
    
} else {
    println("description: \(error?.localizedDescription)\ninfo: \(error?.userInfo)")
}

Write XML

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("soap:Envelope", attributes: attributes)
let header = envelope.addChild("soap:Header")
let body = envelope.addChild("soap:Body")
header.addChild("m:Trans", value: "234", attributes: ["xmlns:m" : "http://www.w3schools.com/transaction/", "soap:mustUnderstand" : "1"])
let getStockPrice = body.addChild("m:GetStockPrice")
getStockPrice.addChild("m:StockName", value: "AAPL")
println(soapRequest.xmlString)

API

AEXMLElement

class AEXMLElement

Property	Description
let name: String	XML element name
var value: String	XML element value
var attributes: [NSObject : AnyObject]	readonly XML element attributes
var parent: AEXMLElement?	readonly parent XML element - every AEXMLElement has it's parent, instead of AEXMLDocument :(
var children: [AEXMLElement] = [AEXMLElement]()	readonly child XML elements

Initializer	Description
init(_ name: String, value: String = String(), attributes: [NSObject : AnyObject] = [NSObject : AnyObject]())	designated initializer has default values for value and attributes, but name is required

Read XML	Description
subscript(key: String) -> AEXMLElement	get the first element with some name like this: xmlDoc["someName"]
var last: AEXMLElement	last element with name as self.name
var all: [AEXMLElement]	all of the elements with name as self.name
var count: Int	count of elements with name as self.name
func allWithAttributes <K: NSObject, V: AnyObject where K: Equatable, V: Equatable> (attributes: [K : V]) -> [AEXMLElement]?	child elements which contain given attributes
func countWithAttributes<K: NSObject, V: AnyObject where K: Equatable, V: Equatable>(attributes: [K : V]) -> Int	count of child elements which contain given attributes

Write XML	Description
func addChild(child: AEXMLElement) -> AEXMLElement	add child to self.children (then return that child)
func addChild(name: String, value: String = String(), attributes: [NSObject : AnyObject] = [NSObject : AnyObject]()) -> AEXMLElement	add child to self.children (then return that child)
func addAttribute(name: NSObject, value: AnyObject)	add attribute to self.attributes
var xmlString: String	complete hierarchy of self and children in XML formatted String
var xmlStringCompact: String	same as xmlString but without \n and \t characters

AEXMLDocument

class AEXMLDocument: AEXMLElement

Property	Description
let version: Double	used only for the first line in xmlString
let encoding: String	used only for the first line in xmlString
let standalone: String	used only for the first line in xmlString
var rootElement: AEXMLElement	the first child element of XML document

Initializer	Description
init(version: Double = 1.0, encoding: String = "utf-8", standalone: String = "no")	designated initializer has default values for version, encoding and standalone properties
convenience init?(version: Double = 1.0, encoding: String = "utf-8", standalone: String = "no", xmlData: NSData, inout error: NSError?)	convenience initializer also automatically calls readXMLData with given NSData

Parse XML	Description
func readXMLData(data: NSData) -> NSError?	create instance of AEXMLParser and start parsing given XML data, return NSError if parsing is not successfull, otherwise nil

Requirements

• Xcode 6.1+
• iOS 7.0+
• AEXML doesn't require any additional libraries for it to work.

Installation

Just drag AEXML.swift into your project and start using it.

License

AEXML is released under the MIT license. See LICENSE for details.