XOM API for Processing XML with Java

[Jean Pierre Malrieu <jp.malrieu AT free.fr>]

Hi,

Again, keep in mind I am a xml beginner.

I have to parse and retrieve the information from xml documents which  
are an awful mixture of "real" xml and text.
Until now I was using xmlBeans to do it. But as the schema of the xml  
documents redefines the whole XHTML, and introduces many intermediate  
types, xmlBeams produces 9 MB of jars! There are several versions of  
the schema, so the xmlBeans approach has to be abandonned (although  
it worked): I can't add this amount of jars to my app every-time a  
new schema comes out.

I need to walk the xml with some sort of cursor (like the xmlCursor  
in xmlBeans). I don't think there is another way of doing given the  
amount of text or xhtml spread all around, and at any level... But I  
may be wrong.

To give you an idea of what I was doing with xmlbeans:

Basically, I am building the xhtmlStr string, except when dealing  
with really structured data, that I map to my own data structures  
(not shown here).

	private void processToken(XmlCursor curs, AssessmentItemType aType)  
throws QTIException {	
                switch (curs.currentTokenType().intValue()) {   
                        case TokenType.INT_START:
                                String elementName = 
curs.getName().getLocalPart();

                                // deal with really structured xml first
        
                                if ( isStructuredData(elementName) )
                                        ProcessStructuredData(elementName) );

				// if the content is a mixture of text and xhtml keep a stack of  
xhtml tags

                                else {                                  
                                        xhtmlStr = xhtmlStr.concat("<" + elementName + 
">");                                  
                                        poppedNames.addObject(elementName);   
                                                                  
                                }
                                break;

                                // append text to a string

                        case TokenType.INT_TEXT:                              
  
                                xhtmlStr = 
xhtmlStr.concat(curs.getTextValue());
                                break;

                                // closes the xhtml tag and remove the tag 
from the stack

                        case TokenType.INT_END:
                                String lsStr = 
(String)poppedNames.lastObject();
                                if ( !(  "null".equals(lsStr) || 
"itemBody".equals(lsStr) ) )
                                        xhtmlStr = xhtmlStr.concat( "</" + 
poppedNames.lastObject() + ">");
                            poppedNames.removeLastObject();
                            break;

        
                        // deal with attributes

                        case TokenType.INT_ATTR:
                                if ( curs.getName() != null ) {
                                        xhtmlStr = 
xhtmlStr.substring(0,xhtmlStr.length() -1);

                                        // Modify some attributes before 
copying them

                                        if 
(curs.getName().getLocalPart().equals("src") )
						xhtmlStr = xhtmlStr.concat(" src" + "=\"/QTI/" +  
curs.getTextValue() + "\">");

                                        // or just copy them as they are      
                                  

                                        else
						xhtmlStr = xhtmlStr.concat(" " + curs.getName().getLocalPart()  
+ "=\"" + curs.getTextValue() + "\">");
                                }
                                break;
                }               
        }


What tool would you recommend to do this kind of xml walking? Is  
there something equivalent in XOM? In another API? Is there a much  
better way of doing what I want? I just figured this method out of my  
inexistent knowledge of xml... What would you recommend?

Thanks.

JPM