class Nokogiri::XML::SAX::Document

The SAX::Document class is used for registering types of events you are interested in handling. All of the methods on this class are available as possible events while parsing an XML document. To register for any particular event, subclass this class and implement the methods you are interested in knowing about.

To only be notified about start and end element events, write a class like this:

class MyHandler < Nokogiri::XML::SAX::Document
  def start_element name, attrs = []
    puts "#{name} started!"
  end

  def end_element name
    puts "#{name} ended"
  end
end

You can use this event handler for any SAX-style parser included with Nokogiri.

Entity Handling¶ ↑

⚠ Entity handling is complicated in a SAX parser! Please read this section carefully if you’re not getting the behavior you expect.

Entities will be reported to the user via callbacks to #characters, to #reference, or possibly to both. The behavior is determined by a combination of entity type and the value of ParserContext#replace_entities. (Recall that the default value of ParserContext#replace_entities is false.)

⚠ It is UNSAFE to set ParserContext#replace_entities to true when parsing untrusted documents.

💡 For more information on entity types, see Wikipedia’s page on DTDs.

Entity type	`#characters`	`#reference`
Char ref (e.g., ``)	always	never
Predefined (e.g., `&`)	always	never
Undeclared †	never	`#replace_entities == false`
Internal	always	`#replace_entities == false`
External †	`#replace_entities == true`	`#replace_entities == false`

† In the case where the replacement text for the entity is unknown (e.g., an undeclared entity or an external entity that could not be resolved because of network issues), then the replacement text will not be reported. If ParserContext#replace_entities is true, this means the #characters callback will not be invoked. If ParserContext#replace_entities is false, then the #reference callback will be invoked, but with nil for the content argument.

Public Instance Methods

cdata_block(string) click to toggle source

Called when cdata blocks are found

Parameters

string contains the cdata content

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 245
def cdata_block(string)
end

characters(string) click to toggle source

Called when character data is parsed, and for parsed entities when ParserContext#replace_entities is true.

Parameters

string contains the character data or entity replacement text

⚠ Please see Entity Handling at Document for important information about how entities are handled.

⚠ This method might be called multiple times for a contiguous string of characters.

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 201
def characters(string)
end

comment(string) click to toggle source

Called when comments are encountered

Parameters

string contains the comment data

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 224
def comment(string)
end

end_document() click to toggle source

Called when document ends parsing.

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 83
def end_document
end

end_element(name) click to toggle source

Called at the end of an element.

Parameters

name (String) the name of the element being closed

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 122
def end_element(name)
end

end_element_namespace(name, prefix = nil, uri = nil) click to toggle source

Called at the end of an element.

Parameters

name (String) is the name of the element
prefix (String, nil) is the namespace prefix for the element
uri (String, nil) is the associated URI for the element’s namespace

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 185
def end_element_namespace(name, prefix = nil, uri = nil)
  # Deal with SAX v1 interface
  end_element([prefix, name].compact.join(":"))
end

error(string) click to toggle source

Called on document errors

Parameters

string contains the error

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 238
def error(string)
end

processing_instruction(name, content) click to toggle source

Called when processing instructions are found

Parameters

name is the target of the instruction
content is the value of the instruction

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 253
def processing_instruction(name, content)
end

reference(name, content) click to toggle source

Called when a parsed entity is referenced and not replaced.

Parameters

name (String) is the name of the entity
content (String, nil) is the replacement text for the entity, if known

⚠ Please see Entity Handling at Document for important information about how entities are handled.

⚠ An internal entity may result in a call to both #characters and #reference.

Since v1.17.0

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 217
def reference(name, content)
end

start_document() click to toggle source

Called when document starts parsing.

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 78
def start_document
end

start_element(name, attrs = []) click to toggle source

Called at the beginning of an element.

Parameters

name (String) the name of the element
attrs (Array<Array<String>>) an assoc list of namespace declarations and attributes, e.g.:
```
[ ["xmlns:foo", "http://sample.net"], ["size", "large"] ]
```

💡If you’re dealing with XML and need to handle namespaces, use the #start_element_namespace method instead.

Note that the element namespace and any attribute namespaces are not provided, and so any namespaced elements or attributes will be returned as strings including the prefix:

parser.parse(<<~XML)
  <root xmlns:foo='http://foo.example.com/' xmlns='http://example.com/'>
    <foo:bar foo:quux="xxx">hello world</foo:bar>
  </root>
XML

assert_pattern do
  parser.document.start_elements => [
    ["root", [["xmlns:foo", "http://foo.example.com/"], ["xmlns", "http://example.com/"]]],
    ["foo:bar", [["foo:quux", "xxx"]]],
  ]
end

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 113
def start_element(name, attrs = [])
end

start_element_namespace(name, attrs = [], prefix = nil, uri = nil, ns = []) click to toggle source

Called at the beginning of an element.

Parameters

name (String) is the name of the element
attrs (Array<Attribute>) is an array of structs with the following properties:
- localname (String) the local name of the attribute
- value (String) the value of the attribute
- prefix (String, nil) the namespace prefix of the attribute
- uri (String, nil) the namespace URI of the attribute
prefix (String, nil) is the namespace prefix for the element
uri (String, nil) is the associated URI for the element’s namespace
ns (Array<Array<String, String>>) is an assoc list of namespace declarations on the element

💡If you’re dealing with HTML or don’t care about namespaces, try #start_element instead.

Example

it “start_elements_namespace is called with namespaced attributes” do

parser.parse(<<~XML)
  <root xmlns:foo='http://foo.example.com/'>
    <foo:a foo:bar='hello' />
  </root>
XML

assert_pattern do
  parser.document.start_elements_namespace => [
    [
      "root",
      [],
      nil, nil,
      [["foo", "http://foo.example.com/"]], # namespace declarations
    ], [
      "a",
      [Nokogiri::XML::SAX::Parser::Attribute(localname: "bar", prefix: "foo", uri: "http://foo.example.com/", value: "hello")], # prefixed attribute
      "foo", "http://foo.example.com/", # prefix and uri for the "a" element
      [],
    ]
  ]
end

end

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 166
def start_element_namespace(name, attrs = [], prefix = nil, uri = nil, ns = []) # rubocop:disable Metrics/ParameterLists
  # Deal with SAX v1 interface
  name = [prefix, name].compact.join(":")
  attributes = ns.map do |ns_prefix, ns_uri|
    [["xmlns", ns_prefix].compact.join(":"), ns_uri]
  end + attrs.map do |attr|
    [[attr.prefix, attr.localname].compact.join(":"), attr.value]
  end
  start_element(name, attributes)
end

warning(string) click to toggle source

Called on document warnings

Parameters

string contains the warning

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 231
def warning(string)
end

xmldecl(version, encoding, standalone) click to toggle source

Called when an XML declaration is parsed.

Parameters

version (String) the version attribute
encoding (String, nil) the encoding of the document if present, else nil
standalone (“yes”, “no”, nil) the standalone attribute if present, else nil

# File lib/nokogiri/xml/sax/document.rb, line 73
def xmldecl(version, encoding, standalone)
end