XML for Java Early Access Release

 

The XML4J Early Access release (XML4J-EA) is our way of delivering experimental parser functionality without disturbing the stable version of XML4J (2.0.x).

XML4J-EA will comprise a series of ongoing updates -- Watch alphaWorks for new updates. We expect that functionality from XML4J-EA will migrate into the stable version of XML4J, but the it's form in the stable version may (and in the cases of developing standards, definitely will) be different from it's form in XML4J-EA. This is your chance to let us know whether these experimental features are important to you, and whether the API's that we are providing are the right ones. Please direct your feedback to xml4j@us.ibm.com .

License Information

 

The XML4J Early Access release is a binary only release, and is only available under the terms of the standard alphaWorks 90 day license. The XML4J Early Access release is not covered by the XML4J Commercial license.

Applications of the XML4J Parser

 

The rich generating and validating capabilities allow the XML4J Parser to be used for:

  • Building XML-savvy Web servers
  • The next generation of vertical applications which will use XML as their data format.
  • On-the-fly validation for creating XML editors
  • Ensuring the integrity of e-business data expressed in XML
  • Building truly internationalized XML applications.

XML Schema Support

 

This release includes preliminary support for the W3C XML Schema Language. The Schema page contains a complete description of the schema capabilities of this release. We intend to track the W3C XML Schema Language in subsequent updates of XML4J-EA.

DOM Level 2 Support

 

This release include support for the DOM Level 2 Core and DOM Level 2 Traversal API's. We will be expanding our DOM Level 2 support to include all of DOM Level 2. At the moment, the DOM Level 2 Traversal API's live in the com.ibm.xml.dom.domx.traversal package

SAX 2 (alpha) Support

 

This release includes support for the SAX Version 2 API's which are being discussed on the XML-DEV.mailing list. These API's are still under development, so they are subject to change in the future.

New Configuration Mechanism

 

XML4J version 2.0.x uses a collection of methods to configure various settings in the parser. This release includes a new mechanism for setting parser switches. This mechanism uses the SAX2 Configurable interface. We have defined a series of properties and features for the options available in XML4J EA. The list of features can be found here.