xml-dev - Re: Preserving white space and entity references in DataChannel XJP

[Vance Christiaanse <vance@textwise.com>]

Step 1:
> > Erik James Freed wrote:
> >
> > I am experiencing some strange behavior with the datachannel XML
> > parser package (the most recent one).
> > In my reading of the DOM spec, this is not appropriate behavior, but
> > perhaps I am missing something.
> >
> > The behavior is that when I do a 'setPreserveWhiteSpace(true)' before
> > parsing a document, and the document
> > contains strings with entity references such as:
> >
> >     <element1> &lt; fubar &gt; </element1>
> >
> > when I then do a getText() on element1, what is returned is a
> > java.lang.String that contains a null (char 0) for each entity
> > reference.
> >
> > These nulls of course confound the rest of the code I am writing. In
> > side the DOM tree the entity reference objects are happily holding the
> > appropriate text representation  i.e. '<' and  '>'.
> >
> > Turning off white space preservation makes the getText() place
> > appropriate decoded entity references in the resulting string.
> >
> > Bug or feature?

Step 2:
I wrote:
> I don't see a setPreserveWhiteSpace(...) method or preserveWhiteSpace
> class or instance variable in the DOM spec and I don't see getText() or
> a text variable either. The answer to "bug or feature" would be up to
> the
> 
> > datachannel XML parser package

Step 3:
Eric wrote
> Vance,
> 
> Yes indeed this is not a pure DOM/XML issue, however the DC extension does
> purport to
> adhere to standard XML concepts.
> 
> The following is from the datachannel documentation on the
> PreserveWhiteSpace parameter:
> 
>         "As per the XML Language Specification, this specifies the white space
> handling for the        application; that is, the default white space handling to
> apply when      xml:space="default". If preserveWhiteSpace is true, all white
> space will be preserved         regardless of the setting of any xml:space
> attributes in the document. The white space     will be preserved by additional
> text nodes being present in the tree. If        preserveWhiteSpace is false, then
> the values of the xml:space attribute specified in      the document will
> determine whether white space is preserved or not. "
> 
> So with that clarification is this a bug or a feature?

Step 4:
I don't know, unfortunately. I've been studying the DOM and I just
wanted to clarify its boundaries. Hopefully someone familiar with the
DataChannel XML parser package will answer!

Vance

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