XOM API for Processing XML with Java

[Elliotte Rusty Harold <elharo AT metalab.unc.edu>]

> How come there isn't a Builder.build(Nodes nodes) function in the Builder
> class that can be used to create a document?

The purpose of the Builder class is to build from a raw stream that 
forms the actual XML document. This can be presented in a variety of 
ways: InputStream, File, Reader, String, etc. However, these are all 
different ways of looking at the actual characters that make up the 
real XML. A Nodes object is very different.

There might be a reason to provide a class that converts a Nodes 
object into a document. It's the sort of thing I might consider for a 
planned util package in 1.1 if there's demand. However, I don't think 
Builder is the right place to put it.

You also need to keep in mind that what you ask is trickier in 
general than it probably is in your specific case. In the general 
case, a Nodes object may contain multiple elements and other nodes, 
including Attribute and Text objects. Some of these nodes may already 
have parents, and indeed may reside in different documents. So it's 
not obvious to me that this problem can be solved in the general 
case. You probably need more detailed information about the nature of 
the content of the Nodes object.
--

  Elliotte Rusty Harold
  elharo AT metalab.unc.edu
  Effective XML (Addison-Wesley, 2003)
  http://www.cafeconleche.org/books/effectivexml
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0321150406/ref%3Dnosim/cafeaulaitA