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XML.com: XSH, An XML Editing Shell Articles | Weblogs | Newsletter | Safari Bookshelf Listen Print Subscribe to XML XSH, An XML Editing Shell by Kip Hampton July 10, 2002 Introduction A few months ago we briefly examined some of the command line utilities available to users of Perl and XML. This month we will continue in that vein by looking at the 300-pound gorilla of Perl/XML command line tools, Petr Pajas' intriguing XML::XSH. XML::XSH and the xsh executable provide a rich shell environment which makes performing common XML-related tasks as terse and straightforward as using a UNIX shells like bash or csh. Yes, that's right -- an XML editing shell. As we will see, it's not as crazy as it seems. xsh Basics Before we look at xsh's advanced tricks, let's get familiar with the environment it provides. We'll begin by starting the xsh shell: [user@host user] xsh -i ----------------------------------------------------- xsh - XML Editing Shell version 0.9 (Revision: 1.6) ----------------------------------------------------- ... xsh scratch:/> The xsh shell starts in interactive mode, creating a new default scratch pad document, called new_document.xml with the ID scratch. The shell prompt takes the form of the current document's ID (scratch, in this case), followed by a colon, and then the current working context within that document expressed as an XPath location (/, in this case). In other words, we can tell from the prompt that we are at the root (/) level of the current XML document, whose ID is scratch. We can open an existing XML document from the file system in order to figure out how to navigate within and between documents: xsh scratch:/> open cams=files/camelids.xml parsing files/camelids.xml done. xsh cams:/> The open command opens the document camelids.xml from the directory files in the same directory in which we started the xsh shell, assigns it the ID of cams, and changes the working context to the root (/) of that document. To list the elements contained in the current context we use the ls command. xsh cams:/> ls ... Found 1 node(s). xsh cams:/> Also in Perl and XML OSCON 2002 Perl and XML Review PDF Presentations Using AxPoint Multi-Interface Web Services Made Easy Perl and XML on the Command Line Introducing XML::SAX::Machines, Part Two Since the current context is the abstract root of the document, we see the XML declaration and the sole top-level element. If our document contained processing instructions or a Document Type Definition between the XML declaration and the top-level element, they would appear here, too. Right through here is where is where things get interesting. Just like its UNIX shell cousins, many of xsh's commands accept paths as arguments, specifying the context in which that command is evaluated. The difference is that in xsh those paths are XPath expressions which provide access to the contents of the open XML documents, rather than file system paths that provide an interface to the files and directories of the mounted volumes. So, for example, if we wanted list all of the elements in our camelids document, we need only supply the appropriate XPath expression to the ls command: xsh cams:/> ls //habitat This yields: Bactrian camels' habitat consists mainly of Asia's deserts. The temperature ranges from -29 degrees Celsius in the winter to 38 degrees Celsius in the summer. Dromedary camels prefer desert conditions characterized by a long dry season and a short rainy season. Introduction of the dromedary into other climates has proven unsuccessful as the camel is sensitive to the cold and humidity (Nowak 1991). Llamas are found in deserts, mountainous areas, and grasslands. Guanacos inhabit grasslands and shrublands from sea level to 4,000m. Occasionally they winter in forests. Vicunas are found in semiarid rolling grasslands and plains at altitudes of 3,500-5,750 meters. These lands are covered with short and tough vegetation. Due to their daily water demands, vicunas live in areas where water is readily accessible. Climate in the habitat is usually dry and cold. Nowak (1991), Grizmek (1990). Found 5 node(s). xsh cams:/> Or, if we want our query to be more specific, we can use predicate expressions in our XPath statement. For example, xsh cams:/> ls //habitat[ancestor::species/@name='Lama guanicoe'] to select just the Guanaco's habitat element. Similarly, we can change the command evaluation context within the current document by giving an XPath expression to the cd command: xsh cams:/> cd //species[@name='Camelus dromedarius']/natural-history xsh cams:/camelids/species[2]/natural-history> Which causes the context location in our shell prompt to change to reflect the new context to which we have navigated. Thus, commands not explicitly passed an absolute location path will be evaluated in the context of the element contained in the document's second element (the one whose name attribute is equal to "Camelus dromedarius"). Thus, if we give the ls commadn with no path specified, we'll see the contents of the new context: xsh cams:/camelids/species[2]/natural-history> ls

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... ... ... Found 1 node(s). xsh cams:/camelids/species[2]/natural-history> In addition, xsh provides a way to execute commands on any currently open document without changing the element context by prepending that document's ID and a colon to the XPath expression: xsh cams:/camelids/species[2]/natural-history> cd / xsh cams:/> open xmlnews=http://www.xml.com/xml/news.rss parsing http://www.xml.com/xml/news.rss done. xsh xmlnews:/> xsh xmlnews:/> ls cams:/camelids/species[3]/common-name Llama Found 1 node(s). xsh xmlnews:/> Notice that the context changed to the root of the newly opened RSS document once it is parsed into memory, but we still have easy access to the data contained in the camelids document by adding that document's ID (cams) and a colon to the front of the path. Also note that the location of the file passed to the open command is not limited to files on the local machine; it can also be an HTTP or FTP URL, so long as a well-formed XML document is returned. To see a list of all the currently open documents and their associated IDs, use the files command: xsh xmlnews:/> files cams = files/camelids.xml xmlnews = http://www.xml.com/xml/news.rss xsh xmlnews:/> Closing an open document is as easy as passing its ID to the close command. xsh xmlnews:/> close xmlnews closing file http://www.xml.com/xml/news.rss xsh :> If we wanted to save a local copy of the xmlnews document before closing, we would use the saveas command:. xsh xmlnews:/> saveas xmlnews files/xmldotcom_news.rss xmlnews=new_document1.xml --> files/xmldotcom_news.rss (utf-8) saved xmlnews=files/xmldotcom_news.rss as files/xmldotcom_news.rss in utf-8 encoding xsh :> We've now reviewed xsh basics: we can start the shell, open, close, and navigate through contents of XML documents. If this is all there was to xsh, it would still be a winner as an XPath testbed and teaching tool (making it quite useful to users of XSLT and XPathScript, as well as XML::LibXML and the other Perl modules which offer an XPath interface). But xsh bills itself as an XML editing shell, and as we will see, it's that and a fair bit more. Pages: 1, 2 Next Page Tagged Articles Post to del.icio.us This article has been tagged: xml Articles that share the tag xml:Very Dynamic Web Interfaces (595 tags)Introducing del.icio.us (181 tags)How to Create a REST Protocol (161 tags)Secure RSS Syndication (112 tags)XML on the Web Has Failed (109 tags)View Allxpath Articles that share the tag xpath:Parsing an XML Document with XPath (74 tags)Top Ten Tips to Using XPath and XPointer (8 tags)The XPath 2.0 Data Model (7 tags)What Is XSLT (7 tags)The Path of Control (5 tags)View Allperl Articles that share the tag perl:Programming is Hard, Let's Go Scripting... (177 tags)Using Ajax from Perl (101 tags)Ten Essential Development Practices (97 tags)Everyday Perl 6 (92 tags)Catalyst (91 tags)View Allshell Articles that share the tag shell:Top Ten Mac OS X Tips for Unix Geeks (24 tags)bash on Mac OS X (7 tags)Network Your Shell Scripts with Netpipes (6 tags)Enhanced Interactive Python with IPython (5 tags)Top Ten Data Crunching Tips and Tricks (5 tags)View All Sponsored Resources Inside Lightroom Contact Us | Our Mission | Privacy Policy | Advertise With Us | | Submissions Guidelines Copyright © 2008 O'Reilly Media, Inc. | (707) 827-7000 / (800) 998-9938 ðàçäåëû ïðåðûâàíèå áåðåìåííîñòü âåëþêñ ðåçêà ïîëó÷åíèå âûïèñêà åãðï îò÷åòíîñòü ïáîþë ïëàíèðîâàíèå äåíü âèííûé õîëîäèëüíèê ñàíôàÿíñ àñáåñò ðàñïûëåíèå àðîìàòèçàòîð ïåæî 307 òðàâåðòèí ìåäèêàìåòîçíîå áåçîïåðàöèîííîå ïðåðûâàíèå áåðåìåííîñòü øòóêàòóðêà ôàñàäíûé î÷êè çàùèòíûé âòóëêà ïåðåõîäíûé datamax ñòåëàæè êàðáèä êàëüöèé ïðîåêò ýëåêòðîïðîâîäêà âðåìÿ àðõàíãåëüñê ãèëüçà öèëèíäð îãíåçàùèòíûé ïîêðûòèå ïåðåðàáîòêà ðåçèíà ñèñòåìà äûìîóäàëåíèÿ îäåâàíèå áàõèëà øåëêîãðàôèÿ êðàñíûé ïëîùàäü ñîáîð êèòàéñêèé ìàõðîâûé áàðáåêþ ìåëîâàííûé áóìàãà çäàíèå ëìê âûçîâ âîäèòåëü áèëåò õîêêåé ñíîñ ëþáîé êîíñòðóêöèÿ ñòîìàòîëîãè÷åñêèé óñëóãà èçìåðèòåëüíûé êîìïëåêñ ê2-79 èíäèâèäóàëüíûé áàíêîâñêèé ÿ÷åéêà ïèîíîâàÿ áåñåäêà ðîññèéñêèé ôëàã ïðåäîõðàíèòåëü ïêý àíòåííà àêóñòîìàãíèòíûå âñòðàèâàåìûé âûòÿæêà ëó÷øèé êîâðû ìîíåòíèöà ýôèðíûé àíòåííà kaasi nokia 6021 êóïèòü ñêðàá-ïèëèíã ïðîâåäåíèå ëîòåðåÿ ýôèðíûé àíòåííà kaasi äîñòàâêà ñóøà êóïèòü ýëåêòðîîòêðûâàëêó gislaved îòçûâ ïèîíîâàÿ áåñåäêà õîëîäèëüíûé àãðåãàò li-da ïëàíèðîâàíèå äåíü äîñòàâêà êàíöåëÿðèÿ íåéìèíã ïðîõîäèòü îñìîòð ãèíåêîëîã õîëîäèëüíûé àãðåãàò êðåàòèí ðåäèçàéí êîñòðîìà ñåíñîðíûé äèñïëåé êóïèòü âèäåîêàðòó áèëåò õîêêåé êóïèòü ýëåêòðîîòêðûâàëêó shell