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https://github.com/pdvrieze/xmlutil

XML Serialization library for Kotlin
https://github.com/pdvrieze/xmlutil

android javascript-support jvm kotlin-library multi-platform multi-target serialization xml

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XML Serialization library for Kotlin

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# XmlUtil
[![Build Status](https://dev.azure.com/pdvrieze/xmlutil/_apis/build/status/pdvrieze.xmlutil?branchName=master)](https://dev.azure.com/pdvrieze/xmlutil/_build/latest?definitionId=1&branchName=master)
[![GitHub license](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache%202-blue.svg?style=flat)](COPYING)
- Core: [![Download](https://img.shields.io/maven-central/v/io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil/core)](https://search.maven.org/artifact/io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil/core)
- Serialization: [![Download](https://img.shields.io/maven-central/v/io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil/serialization)](https://search.maven.org/artifact/io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil/serialization)
- SerialUtil: [![Download](https://img.shields.io/maven-central/v/io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil/serialutil)](https://search.maven.org/artifact/io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil/serialutil)

XmlUtil is a set of packages that supports multiplatform XML in Kotlin.

### Introduction
* Gradle wrapper validation: ![Validate Gradle Wrapper](https://github.com/pdvrieze/xmlutil/workflows/Validate%20Gradle%20Wrapper/badge.svg)

This project is a cross-platform XML serialization (wrapping) library compatible with kotlinx.serialization.
It supports all platforms although native is at beta quality.

Based upon the core xml library, the serialization module supports automatic object
serialization based upon Kotlin's standard serialization library and plugin.

**Help wanted**: Any help with extending this project is welcome. Help is especially needed for the following aspects:

* Documentation updates
* Testing, in particular more extensive tests. Some tests already exist for both JVM and Android
* Native xml library support: Native is only supported through the cross-platform implementation
that is somewhat limited in advanced features such as DTD and validation support.
Ideally integration with a well-developed native library as an option would be beneficial.

#### Notes
Please note that the JVM target will **not** work on Android due to different
serialization libraries. It is possible to consume the multiplatform targets on
single-target Kotlin although there may be issues with older Gradle versions not
finding the correct version. As a workaround for single-platform Android projects,
try adding the following code to your Gradle build file:

```kotlin
kotlin {
target {
attributes {
if (KotlinPlatformType.attribute !in this) {
attribute(KotlinPlatformType.attribute, KotlinPlatformType.androidJvm)
}
}
}
}

KotlinPlatformType.setupAttributesMatchingStrategy(dependencies.attributesSchema)
```
This code tells Gradle that are targeting Android when it resolves multi-platform libraries.
In other cases you can use the different platform types.

### Versioning scheme
This library is based upon the unstable [kotlinx.serialization](https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlinx.serialization) library.
While every effort is made to limit incompatible changes, this cannot be guaranteed even in "minor" versions when
the changes are due to bugs. These changes *should* mostly be limited to the serialization part of the library.

## How to use
The library is designed as a multiplatform Kotlin module, but platform-specific versions can also be used were appropriate.
### Add repository
The project's Maven access is hosted on OSS Sonatype (and available from Maven Central).

Releases can be added from **maven central**

They are also available directly from Sonatype by adding the following to your
Gradle build file:
```groovy
repositories {
maven {
url "https://s01.oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/releases/"
}
}
```

Snapshots are available from:
```groovy
repositories {
maven {
url "https://s01.oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots/"
}
}
```

### Core
It should be noted that the JVM and Android packages are no longer part
of the multiplatform publication (they are combined into a `jvmCommon`)
package. The `JVM` and `Android` packages provide the native
implementations and depend on (publishing) the `jvmCommon` package.
#### multiplatform (will default to multiplatform implementation for JVM/Android)
```
implementation("io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil:core:0.90.3")
```
#### **Optional** JVM – uses the stax API _not available_ on Android
```
implementation("io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil:core-jdk:0.90.3")
```
#### **Optional** Android – Uses the android streaming library
```
implementation("io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil:core-android:0.90.3")
```
#### JS – Wraps DOM
```
implementation("io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil:core-js:0.90.3")
```

#### Native
Has platform independent implementations of xml parsing/serialization
(based upon the Android implementation) and DOM (a simple implementation
that mirrors the Java API)

### Serialization
#### multiplatform
```
implementation("io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil:serialization:0.90.3")
```
#### JVM
```
implementation("io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil:serialization-jvm:0.90.3")
```
#### Android
```
implementation("io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil:serialization-android:0.90.3")
```
#### js
```
implementation("io.github.pdvrieze.xmlutil:serialization-js:0.90.3")
```

### -Ktor- (Deprecated)

**Deprecated**

This library is no longer supported. Instead use official Ktor xml serialization
support. It is mostly equal to this version.

## Serialization help
### Hello world
To serialize a very simple type you have the following:
```kotlin
@Serializable
data class HelloWorld(val user: String)

println(XML.encodeToString(HelloWorld("You!")))
```

To deserialize you would do:
```kotlin
@Serializable
data class HelloWorld(val user: String)

XML.decodeFromString(HelloWorld.serializer(), "")
```

Please look at the examples and the documentation for further features
that can influence: the tag names/namespaces used, the actual structure
used (how lists and polymorphic types are handled), etc.

### Examples
You should be able to find examples in the [Examples module](examples/README.md)
### Format
The entrypoint to the library is the `XML` format. There is a default, but often a child is better.
Custom formats are created through:
```kotlin
val format = XML(mySerialModule) {
// configuration options
autoPolymorphism = true
}
```
The following options are available when using the XML format builder:

| Option | Description |
|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `repairNamespaces` | Should namespaces automatically be repaired. This option will be passed on to the `XmlWriter` |
| `xmlDeclMode` | The mode to use for emitting XML declarations (). Replaces omitXmlDecl for more finegrained control |
| `indentString` | The indentation to use. Must be a combination of XML whitespace or comments (this is checked). This is passed to the `XmlWriter` |
| -`autoPolymorphic`- | *Deprecated* Shorcut to `policy.autoPolymorphic` | |
| `isInlineCollapsed` | If `true`(default) the content of an inline type is used directly, with the name of the inline type. |
| `xmlVersion` | Which xml version will be written/declared (default XML 1.1) |
| `isCollectingNSAttributes` | (Attempt to) collect all needed namespace declarations and emit them on the root tag, this does have a performance overhead |
| `defaultToGenericParser` | Use the generic parser, rather than the platform specific one. |
| `policy` | This is a class that can be used to define a custom policy that informs how the kotlin structure is translated to XML. It drives most complex configuration |
| `defaultPolicy {}` | Builder that allows configuring the default policy. This policy is stable, it doesn't change across versions. |
| `recommended_0_86_3 {}` | Builder that sets the policy to the recommended defaults per version 0.86.3, this is stable and includes: autopolymorphic, inlineCollapsed, indent=4, p.pedantic, p.typeDiscriminatorName=xsi:type, encodeDefault=ANNOTATED, throwOnRepeatedElement, isStrictAttributeNames |
| `recommended_0_90_2 {}` | Builder that sets the policy to the recommended defaults per version 0.90.2, this is stable and extends from 0.86.3. It uses xml 1.1, strict booleans, and minimal xml declaration |
| `fast_0_90_2 {}` | Builder that sets the policy to the recommended for fast parsing. This reduces error checks, but otherwise has the same semantics as 0.90.2. |
| `recommended {}` | Builder that sets the policy to the *currently* recommended defaults (the 0.90.2 configuration) |
| -`indent`- | *Deprecated for reading*: The indentation level (in spaces) to use. This is backed by `indentString`. Reading is "invalid" for `indentString` values that are not purely string sequences. Writing it will set indentation as the specified amount of spaces. |
| -`omitXmlDecl`- | *Deprecated* (use `xmlDeclMode`). Should the generated XML contain an XML declaration or not. This is passed to the `XmlWriter` |
| -`unknownChildHandler`- | *Deprecated into policy* A function that is called when an unknown child is found. By default an exception is thrown but the function can silently ignore it as well. |

The properties that have been moved into the policy can still be set in the builder,
but are no longer able to be read through the config object.

The following options are available as part of the default policy builder. Note that the policy
is designed to allow configuration through code, but the default policy has significant
configuration options available.

| Option | Description |
|--------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `pedantic` | Fail on output type specifications that are incompatible with the data, rather than silently correcting this |
| `autoPolymorphic` | When not specifying a custom policy this determines whether polymorphism is handled without wrappers. This replaces `XmlPolyChildren`, but changes serialization where that annotation is not applied. This option will become the default in the future although XmlPolyChildren will retain precedence (when present) |
| `encodeDefault` | Determine whether in which cases default values should be encoded. |
| `unknownChildHandler` | A function that is called when an unknown child is found. By default an exception is thrown but the function can silently ignore it as well. |
| `typeDiscriminatorName` | This property determines the type discriminator attribute used. It is always recognised, but not serialized in transparent polymorphic (autoPolymorphic) mode. If this is null, a wrapper tag with type attribute is used instead of a discriminator. |
| `throwOnRepeatedElement` | Rather than silently allowing a repeated element (not part of a list), throw an exception if the element occurs multiple times. |
| `verifyElementOrder` | While element order (when specified using `@XmlBefore` and `@XmlAfter`) is always used for serialization, this flag allows checking this order on inputs. |
| `isStrictAttributeNames` | Enables stricter, standard compliant attribute name mapping in respect to default/null namespaces. Mainly relevant to decoding. |

### Algorithms
XML and Kotlin data types are not perfectly alligned. As such there are some
algorithms that aim to automatically make a "best attempt" at structuring the XML
document. Most of this is implemented in the *default* `XmlSerializationPolicy`
implementation, but this can be customized/replaced with a policy that results
in a different structure. The policy includes the mapping from types/attributes
to tag and attribute names.

#### Storage type
In the default policy, the way a field is stored is automatically determined to be one of: Element, Attribute, Text or
Mixed. Mixed is a special type that allows for mixing of text and element content and requires some special treatment.:
- If a field is annotated with `@XmlElement` or `XmlValue` this will take precedence. The XmlValue tag will
allow the field to hold element text content (direct only).
- If the serializer is a primitive this will normally be serialized as attribute
- If the serializer is a list, if there is an `@XmlChildrenName` annotation, this
will trigger named list mode where a wrapper tag (element) is used. Otherwise
the list elements, even primitives, will be written directly as tags (even
primitives) without any wrapper list tags.
- If a list has the `@XmlValue` tag, this will allow the list to hold mixed content.
To actually support text content it needs to be a list of `Any`. This should
also be polymorphic (but the annotation is required).
- Lists of `Element`s (using `ElementSerializer`) and `CompactFragment`s support
arbitrary content and provide it as lists of fragments or nodes.
- If a primitive is written as tag, the type name is used as tag name,
and value as its element content.
- A primitive written as TEXT will be text content only, but note that there are
only few cases where this is valid.
- Polymorphic properties are treated specially in that the system does not
use/require wrappers. Instead it will use the tag name to determine the type.
The name used is either specified by an `@XmlPolyChildren` annotation or through the
type's `serialDescriptor`. This also works inside lists, including
transparent (invisible) lists. If multiple polymorphic properties have the
same subtags, this is an error that may lead to undefined behaviour (you can
use the `@XmlPolyChildren` to have different names).

A custom policy is able to determine on individual basis whether transparent
polymorphism should be used, but the default policy provides an overall toggle
(which also respects the autopolymorphic property of the configuration builder).
The default will always trigger transparent mode if `XmlPolyChildren` is present.

- If the serializer is polymorphic, tag mode will be enforced. If `@XmlPolyChildren`
is specified or `autoPolymorphic` is set it triggers transparent polymorphism
mode where the child name is used to look up the property it belongs to. (note
that this is incorrect with multiple properties that could contain the same
polymorphic value - unless @XmlPolyChildren overrides it).
- Otherwise it will be written as a tag.

#### Tag/attribute name
The way the name is determined is configured/implemented through the configured policy. The documentation below
is for the default policy. This is designed to allow customization by users.

Based upon the storage type, the effective name for an attribute is determined as follows:
- `@XmlSerialName` at property declaration site
- `@XmlSerialName` at type declaration site
- `@SerialName` at property declaration site
- property name at property declaration site (note that the `@SerialName` annotation is invisible to the encoder)

The effective name for a regular tag is determined as follows for normal serializers:
- `@XmlSerialName` at property declaration site
- `@XmlSerialName` at type declaration site
- `@SerialName` at type declaration site
- type name at type declaration site.
The default type declaration type name is the Kotlin/Java type name (and long). The system will try to shorten this by
eliding the package name. This is configurable in the policy.

The effective name for a polymorphic child is determined as follows:
- If the child is transparent, the annotations/serial name of the effective type is used (unless overridden by `@XmlPolyChildren`)
- If the child is not transparent, the container is treated as a regular tag. It will have a `type` attribute to contain
the serial name of the type (shortened to share the package name with the container). The value will use the default
name `value`.

The implementation if serialization in the Kotlin compiler does not allow distinguishing between the automatic name and
a `@SerialName` annotation. The default implementation supposes that if there is a '`.`' character in the name, this is
a java type name and it strips the package out. (This also when it could be an attribute).

If you need to support names with dots in your format, either use the `@XmlSerialName` annotation, or use a
different policy.

### Annotations

| Annotation | Property | Description |
|-----------------------|------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `@XmlSerialName` | | Specify more detailed name information than can be provided by `kotlinx.serialization.SerialName`. In particular, it is not reliably possible to distinguish between `@SerialName` and the type name. We also need to specify namespace and prefix information. |
| | `value: String` | The local part of the name |
| | `namespace: String` | The namespace to use |
| | `val prefix: String` | The prefix to use |
| `@XmlPolyChildren` | | Mostly legacy annotation that allows specifying valid child tags for polymorphic resolution. |
| | `value: Array` | Each string specifies a child according to the following format: `childSerialName[=[prefix:]localName]`. The `childSerialName` is the name value of the descriptor. By default that would be the class name, but `@SerialName` will change that. If the name is prefixed with a `.` the package name of the container will be prefixed. Prefix is the namespace prefix to use (the namespace will be looked up based upon this). Localname allows to specify the local name of the tag. |
| `@XmlChildrenName` | | Used in lists. This causes the children to be serialized as separate tags in an outer tag. The outer tag name is determined regularly. |
| `@XmlElement` | | Force a property to be either serialized as tag or attribute. |
| | `value: Boolean` | `true` to indicate serialization as tag, `false` to indicate serialization as attribute. Note that not all values can be serialized as attribute |
| `@XmlValue` | | Force a property to be element content. Note that only one field can be element content and tags would not be expected. When applied on `CompactFragment` this is treated specially. |
| `@XmlDefault` | | Older versions of the framework do not support default values. This annotation allows a default value to be specified. The default value will not be written out if matched. |
| | `value: String` | The default value used if no value is specified. The value is parsed as if there was textual substitution of this value into the serialized XML. |
| `@XmlBefore` | | Annotation to support serialization order. |
| | `value: Array` | All the children that should be serialized after this one (uses the `@SerialName` value or field name) |
| `@XmlAfter` | | Annotation to support serialization order. |
| | `value: Array` | All the children that should be serialized before this one (uses the `@SerialName` value or field name) |
| `@XmlCData` | | Force serialization as CData. |
| `@XmlMixed` | | When specified on a polymorphic list it will store mixed content (like html) where text is done as Strings. |
| `@XmlOtherAttributes` | | Can be specified on a `Map` to store unsupported attributes. |

### Special types
These types have contextual support by default (without needed user intervention),
but the serializer can also be specified explicitly by the user. They get special
treatment to support their features.

#### `QName`
By default (configurable by the policy) QName is handled by special logic that
stores QNames in a prefix:localName manner ensuring the prefix is valid in the
tag. Many XML standards use this approach for string attributes.

#### `CompactFragment`
The `CompactFragment` class is a special class (with supporting serializer) that will be able to capture the tag soup
content of an element. Instead of using regular serialization its custom serializer will (in the case of xml serialization)
directly read all the child content of the tag and store it as string content. It will also make a best effort attempt
at retaining all namespace declarations necessary to understand this tag soup.

Alternatively the serialutil subproject contains the `nl.adaptivity.serialutil.MixedContent` type that allows for
typesafe serialization/deserialization of mixed content with the proviso that the serialModule must use Any as the
baseclass for the content.

### Modules

#### core
Container for the core library (versions)

#### core.common
All code shared between JavaScript and Java (either jvm or android)

#### core.common-nonshared
All code that is common, but not shared between Jvm and Android platforms

#### core.android
Code specific to the Android platform (Pulls in core.java as API dependency). This is a regular jar rather than an AAR
as the only specific thing to Android is the XML library

#### core.java
Implementation of the shared code for Java based platforms (both Android and JVM)

#### core.js
JavaScript based implementation

#### core.jvm
Code unique to the JVM platform (Pulls in core.java as API dependency)

#### Serialization
The kotlinx.serialization plugin to allow serialization to XML

#### Serialization.java
The java version of the serialization plugin. Please note that it does not pull in the platform specific library. The
core library is dependent on the actual platform used (JVM or Android). This library only pulls in the shared Java code.

#### Serialization.jvm
The JVM version merely uses the jvm platform xml library but the serialization is
#### Serialization.android

#### Serialization.js
The JavaScript version of the serialization plugin.

#### Serialization.test-android
An android test project to test serialization on Android.