Home > Store > Open Source > Python

Add To My Wish List

Share|

XML Processing with Python

By Sean McGrath
Published Jun 13, 2000 by Prentice Hall.
- Copyright 2000
- Dimensions: 7 X 9-1/4
- Pages: 556
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-13-021119-2
- ISBN-13: 978-0-13-021119-4

Description

Reviews

Sample Content

PTR Overview

SEAN McGRATH is a leading XML/SGML expert and active member of the XML developer's community. He served as an invited expert for the W3C special interest group that standardized XML. He is Chief Technology Officer of Propylon (www.propylon.com), developers of mobile portal software. His books include XML by Example: Building eCommerce Applications and ParseMe.1st: SGML for Software Developers (Prentice Hall PTR).

About the Series Editor

CHARLES F. GOLDFARB is the father of markup languages, a term that he coined in 1970. He is the inventor of SGML, the International Standard on which both XML and HTML are based. You can find him on the Web at www.xmltimes.com

Basic Approach

PTR Bullets

Master the world's most productive XML development techniques -- using Python, the world's most productive language!

The first book with detailed coverage of the new open source Pyxie XML processing library for Python!
Step-by-step coverage of Python support for the DOM and SAX APIs.
CD-ROM: All you need to develop XML applications with Python -- including distributions for Windows and Linux, source code, and more.

Annotation

A thorough introduction to XML application development with the world's most productive programming language.

Product Author Bios

SEAN McGRATH is a leading XML/SGML expert and active member of the XML developer's community. He served as an invited expert for the W3C special interest group that standardized XML. He is Chief Technology Officer of Propylon (www.propylon.com), developers of mobile portal software. His books include XML by Example: Building eCommerce Applications and ParseMe.1st: SGML for Software Developers (Prentice Hall PTR).

About the Series Editor

Breakthrough techniques for building XML applications — fast!
Includes a detailed Python tutorial
Learn about DOM and SAX application development with Python
Exclusive coverage of the new Pyxie XML processing library
CD-ROM includes Python and Pyxie distributions for Windows NT and Linux—plus powerful utilities and lots of working code

"XML processing is the newest required skill for webmasters and application developers. The Python language and Sean McGrath's book make it fun to learn and easy to do."
— Charles F. Goldfarb

When it comes to XML processing, Python is in a league of its own.

If you're doing XML development without Python, you're wasting time! Python offers outstanding productivity — especially in the areas that matter most to XML developers, such as XML parsing, DOM/SAX implementations, string processing, and Internet APIs.

And now there's Pyxie — the new open source library that makes Python XML processing even easier and more powerful. In XML Processing with Python, top XML developer Sean McGrath delivers the hands-on explanations and examples you need to get results with Python and Pyxie fast — even if you've never used them before!

Install Python and the Pyxie XML package
Learn the fundamentals of Python: control structures, classes, nested lists, dictionaries, and regular rexpresions
Process XML with regular expression-driven, event-driven, and tree-driven techniques
Understand Python's support for DOM and SAX APIs
Explore the power of Python/XML through worked examples of GUI development, database integration, and an XML query-by-example implementation.

Elegant, easy, powerful and fun, Python helps you build world-class XML applications in less time than you ever imagined. If you know XML, one book has all the techniques, code, and tools you'll need to process it: XML Processing with Python.

CD-ROM INCLUDED

The accompanying CD-ROM contains everything you need to develop XML applications with Python — including

complete Python distributions for Windows and Linux
the Pyxie open-source libraries
powerful utility programs
an extensive library of sample source code tested on both Windows NT and Linux

Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

General Observations, October 18, 2000

Ken Ramsey - See all my reviews

This review is from: XML Processing with Python (with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

The book spends a lot of time on Python advocacy and tutorial,which is a good thing, but not why I bought it. Turns out the targetaudience of this book is: programmers comfortable with mark-uplanguages in a general sense who haven't programmed in Python before,but are curious. If you already are a python user looking to find outwhat all these acronymns like XML, DTD, XML SCHEMA, XSL, etc. are,you'll find yourself skipping much of the book and coming awaydisappointed. It spends far more time teaching Python than discussingXML's makeup. If you are a power python user looking for XMLprocessing under the hood, it definitely isn't for you.

This bookintroduces pyxie, an XML processing library, along with the basics ofSAX (Simple Api for XML) and DOM (Document Object Model) XMLprocessing techniques in a fairly concise fashion. Armed with aminimal degree of comfort with mark-up languages like HTML or XML, aprogrammer ready to start processing some actual XML files for thefirst time will... Read more

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

The author struggled to fill this book, September 25, 2000

A. Lientz "lientz" (Culver City, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: XML Processing with Python (with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

The first 250 pages of this book are an introduction to Python and XML. 20 of those are screen shots of the Microsoft installer of Python. Every example begins with type <filename> to fill more space. I think he got the choice of typeface from Curious George Rides a Bike (it allows for 25 lines per page). This should have been a 100 page book with no CD since the code on the CD is all outdated.

There are probably 10 or 15 useful pages in this book for someone who knows anything about Python and XML. I was looking for examples about applying style sheets, parsing examples with database connectivity... anything. All the examples he uses can easily be found on the web in a more concise and clear format.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

Disappointing, November 9, 2000

Greg Broiles (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: XML Processing with Python (with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

Very little coverage of processing XML documents using Python - plenty of discussion of Python generally, how to use C language utilities to parse XML, how to use awk to modify the output of the C language tools, etc. The book uses a large typeface and includes examples for both Linux and Windows NT screen input/output (which turn out to be nearly identical), so there's not nearly as much content as you might imagine from the page count. I'm relatively new to XML and Python and I spotted two errors in the examples within the first 100 pages. There are two appendices which sound like they're supposed to explain Python to Java and Perl programmers but turn out to be feature comparisons. That's great fodder for flamewars about language superiority, but not a big help for people with experience in other languages seeking a Python jump-start. People who shell out $() for a book on XML and Python don't need a sales pitch about why XML and Python are good choices.

I think this book could... Read more

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment

Share your thoughts with other customers:

› See all 11 customer reviews...

Online Sample Chapter

xMail: E-mail as XML

1. Introduction.

Purpose of This Book. The Pyxie Open Source Project. Prerequisites. How to Read This Book. A Note about Platforms. Structure of Code Samples. And Finally.

2. Installing Python.

Getting a Python Distribution. Installing the Software. Testing the Python Installation. Using a Python Program File. In Conclusion.

3. Installing the XML Package.

Testing the XML Package Installation. Testing the pyExpat Module. Testing SAX Support.

4. Tools of the Trade.

The xmln and xmlv Parsing Utilities. Simple XML-Processing Tasks with xmln and xmlv. The GetURL Utility-A Web Resource Retriever in Python. The PYX2XML Utility: Converting PYX to XML. The C3 Utility: An XML Document Editor/Viewer in Python. In Conclusion.

5. Just Enough Python.

Introduction. Basic Control Structures. Functions. Modules. Data Structures. Object Orientation. Design Principles. In Conclusion.

6. Some Important Details.

Dealing with Long Lines. Using the dir Function. Working with Docstrings. Importing Modules. Executing Python Programs. Using the Special Object None. Memory Management. Copying Objects. Determining Object Identity. Handling Errors. The Dynamic Nature of Python. Named Parameters. The Pass Statement. Packages.

7. Processing XML with Regular Expressions.

Command-Line Arguments. A Module Test Harness for xgrep. What If There Are No Command-Line Parameters? Adding Support for Wildcards. Parsing Command-Line Options. A Pattern-Matching Dry Run. Introducing Regular Expressions. Using Escape Sequences in Regular Expressions. Compiling Regular Expressions. Adding Regular Expressions to xgrep. xgrep in Action. Parsing XML with Regular Expressions. Cautionary Tales. Avoiding False Positive Matches. Shallow Parsing XML with Python Regular Expressions. Current Implementation of xgrep.

8. Event-driven XML Processing.

Making xgrep XML-Aware. Invoking xmln from xgrep. Adding PYX Support for xgrep. Adding XML Search Features to xgrep. Using Long Option Names in getopt. Using "Bit Twiddling" to Handle the Many Options Available. The Match Printing Function. Some Examples. Generalizing the Idea of Event-Based XML Processing. A Standardized Event-Driven Processing Model. Advantages and Disadvantages of Event-Driven Processing. In Conclusion.

9. Tree-driven XML Processing.

Modelling a Node. Navigating a Tree. Building xTree Structures. Building an xTree By Using PYX. A Test Harness for Pyxie. Handling Line Ends. A Syntax for Tree Processing with xgrep. Adding Support for Attributes. Some Utility Bits and Pieces. Implementing XMLGrepTree. A Standardized Tree-Driven XML Processing Model. Advantages and Disadvantages of Tree-Driven XML Processing. Some Examples. Bringing It All Together.

10. Just Enough SAX.

History. The Concept of an "Interface". Overview of the SAX Specification. The HandlerBase Class. The DocumentHandler Interface. The AttributeList Interface. The ErrorHandler Interface. A SAX Inspection Application. SAX as a Source of PYX. Switching SAX Parsers.

11. Just Enough DOM.

History. DOM Support in Python. The DOM Architecture. Accessing an XML File with pyDOM. Navigating a DOM Tree. Walking a DOM Tree. Accessing Attributes. Manipulating Trees. Accessing an HTML File with pyDOM. Printing the Text of an HTML Document. Changing Data Content in a DOM Tree. Creating a Tree Programmatically. Converting HTML to PYX by Using DOM. Using PYX as a DOM Data Source.

12. Pyxie: An Open Source XML- Processing Library for Python.

What Is Pyxie? Design Goals. PYX Notation Processing. Event-driven Processing. Tree-driven Processing. Tree Navigation. Tree Cut-and-Paste. Node Lists. Tree Walking. Hybrid Event- or Tree-driven Processing. The Invoice Printing Problem Solved Three Ways. The Complete Source Code for the Pyxie Library.

13. xFS: Filesystem Information in XML.

A Simple XML DTD for Filesystem Information. Some Python Features Used in the xFS Application. Viewing xFS Data with the C3 XML Editor/Viewer. Performing Filesystem Queries with xgrep. Source Code for xFS.

14. xMail: E-mail as XML.

The rfc822 Module. A Simple DTD for E-mail. An Example of an E-mail Message in XML. Processing a Eudora Mailbox. Processing a Linux Mailbox. Processing an E-mail Message by Using the rfc822 Module. Sending E-mail by Using xMail. Source Code for the SendxMail Application. Source Code for the xMail Application.

15. xMySQL: Relational Database Harvesting with Python SAX.

Installing MySQL. Testing the MySQL Installation. Installing the Python Interface to MySQL. Testing the Python Interface to MySQL. Mapping Relational Data to XML. The Python SAX Driver Interface. Implementing a SAX Driver for MySQL. A Template for SAX Drivers. The MySQL SAX Driver. Some Examples.

16. xTract: A Query-By-Example XML Retrieval System.

Expressing XML Queries. The xTract.py Utility in Action. xTract Version 1 Source Code. Handling Large XML Files with xTract. Source Code for the xTract1 Utility.

17. The C3 XML Editor/Viewer.

Developing wxPython Applications. A "Hello World" wxPython Application. Converting an xTree to a wxTree, and Vice Versa. Dynamic Module Loading. The Complete Source Code for C3.

Appendix A: An Overview of Python for Java Programmers.

Comparing the Python and Java Programming Languages.

Appendix B: An Overview of Python for Perl Programmers.

Index.

Preface

Introduction

XML is everywhere on the Web these days. Structured data of all shapes and sizes such as financial transactions, news feeds, health care records, even HTML is metamorphosing into XML. There is just no getting away from it!

I'm glad actually. The fact that XML is everywhere is a fundamentally good thing in my opinion.

Why? Well, thanks to XML, the Web is in transition from an enormous repository of display-oriented, unstructured, low-level data (HTML) into a repository of structured, heterogenous, content-oriented information (XML). This new, improved World Wide Web, housed on a bedrock of XML, presents programmers with awesome opportunities for innovative software development.

This suits me just fine because software development is what I like to do--even more than writing books about software development.

The fact that the "L" in XML stands for "Language" has been the source of some confusion. It is important to remember that XML is a data representation technology. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a programming language. Its strength lies in its ability to simply and cleanly represent complex hierarchical data structures. As you know, XML is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation for structured data representation. There is no such thing as a W3C-recommended XML programming language. Choice of a programming tool is entirely within the hands of the individual developer. In making a selection, an embarrassment of riches presents itself to us. We have the Java programming language, Perl, Tcl, C++, C, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Delphi, and of course Python. Each language has its benefits and its drawbacks as an XML-processing tool.

How to choose?

Well, choosing a programming language is an inexact science at best and is influenced by many factors that are technical, commercial, emotional, futuristic and political in nature. Even serendipity has a role to play.

For my part, standing here (actually sitting here) at the start of the 21st century, I can safely say, without fear of contradiction, that no programming language I know comes close to Python for XML processing.

"Strong words," you may say, but then again, I am only speaking about the languages I know, not the ones I don't.

Enough said! We are not here to engage in programming language wars—that is what Usenet is for. Suffice it to say that Python is a solidly engineered, general-purpose programming language with a natural affinity for text processing in general and XML processing in particular. Mix XML and Python together and you have an explosive cocktail of information representation and information processing power.

In my opinion . . .

1.1 - Purpose of This Book

This book has essentially one purpose: To give you all the information, explanations, working examples, and software packages (on the accompanying CD-ROM) you need to start writing XML-processing applications in Python fast.

This book will not slow you down with intricate technical details of either Python or XML. That is not to say that these things are not important! They are very important, but they are not discussed in this book. The reason for this omission is that I believe a pragmatic treatment of a subject such as Python/XML is the best way to become productive quickly. I believe that comprehensive coverage of the details too early on in the exploration of a topic like this just gets in the way. So, in this book, comprehensive coverage takes second place to working examples of real-world Python/XML programming. I will provide plenty of pointers to more detailed information for those of you who wish to dig deeper.

1.2 - The Pyxie Open Source Project

This book heralds the beginning of the Pyxie project—an Open Source software development initiative aimed at fully developing Python's potential as an XML-processing platform.

By the time you read this, the Pyxie project will have been launched at http://www.pyxie.org. It contains all the source code from this book along with more demo programs and applications for Windows and Linux.

There is a mailing list for Pyxie. To subscribe, send e-mail to pyxie-request@starship.python.net with the word subscribe in the body of the e-mail.

Get involved!

1.3 - Prerequisites

This book assumes that you have a high-level understanding of the ideas and syntax of XML. In particular, it would be helpful if you know the following:

What an element is
What start-tags and end-tags look like
What the term "well formed XML" means
What a DTD (Document Type Definition) is for

If you feel the need to brush up your XML, you might like to read my book XML by Example: Building eCommerce Applications available in this series.

This book assumes that you have some previous programming experience in a high-level language. Some exposure to object-oriented programming is desirable but not critical. If you have any exposure at all to the Java programming language, Perl, awk, Tcl, C++, C, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Delphi, or shell scripting languages, you are in good shape to attack this book.

If your programming background is minimal, fear not! Python is a ridiculously easy programming language to learn. Indeed, it makes an excellent first programming language for those approaching the discipline afresh.

If you are a seasoned programmer in one or more languages, I believe you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy, natural, and (okay, I'll say it) beautiful Python is.

1.4 - How to Read This Book

This book is intended to be read from start to finish. One of the techniques I have used to avoid long tracts of narrative about Python language features or support libraries is that I explain them as they pop up in the course of writing real programs.

As a consequence, skipping material might lead to gaps in the presentation of Python features. Even if you are very familiar with the subject matter in a section of the book, please give it a high-level scan to ensure that you pick up on any Python nuggets buried inside.

If your background is Java, you might like to read Appendix A before continuing. It introduces Python from a Java programming language perspective. Similarly, you might like to read Appendix B at this point if your background is in the Perl programming language.

1.5 - A Note about Platforms

My day-to-day programming environment is a mixture of Windows NT 4.0 and Red Hat Linux 6.0. These are the two platforms that the software presented in this book has been developed and tested on.

Although the book focuses on Windows NT and Linux, the Python programs in the book and in the CD-ROM's root directory should run just fine on any Win32 or Unix platform. There will obviously be the usual assortment of differences to do with default installation directories, differing shells, and so on. I have not attempted to cover all the eventualities in this book. To do so would make it twice as long and ten times more tedious to read.

1.7 - And Finally ...

I am a programmer who learns best by example. If this is a reasonable description of how you learn best, you are in the right place.

If you have read this far, you will have surmised that this book is going to take a no-nonsense, snappy, and purposeful approach to XML processing with Python.

Ready? Let's go to work ...

Downloadable Sample Chapter

Click here for a sample chapter for this book: 0130211192.pdf

Book

This product currently is not for sale.

By completing any purchase on InformIT, you become eligible for an unlimited access one-month subscription to Safari Books Online.

Get access to thousands of books and training videos about technology, professional development and digital media from more than 40 leading publishers, including Addison-Wesley, Prentice Hall, Cisco Press, IBM Press, O'Reilly Media, Wrox, Apress, and many more. If you continue your subscription after your 30-day trial, you can receive 30% off a monthly subscription to the Safari Library for up to 12 months. That's a total savings of $199.