Simple XML Creator in Java

Question

 package xml.impl;
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.HashMap;
public class XMLCreator {
private String parent;
private String child;
private Integer ctr = 0;
private HashMap<Integer, String> xml;
private String root;
private HashMap<Integer, String> roots;
private StringBuilder sB;
private HashMap<Integer, String> getRoot() {
 this.roots.put(1, "<" + root + ">");
 this.roots.put(2, "</" + root + ">");
 return roots;
}
public void setRoot(String root) {
 this.root = root;
}
public XMLCreator() {
 if (this.xml == null) {
 this.xml = new HashMap<Integer, String>();
 }
 if (this.roots == null) {
 this.roots = new HashMap<Integer, String>();
 }
 if (this.sB == null) {
 this.sB = new StringBuilder();
 }
}
/*
 * private void startParentField(String parent) { this.parent = "<" + parent
 * + ">"; this.ctr++; addToXML(getParentField()); }
 * 
 * private void endParentField(String parent) { this.parent = "</" + parent
 * + ">"; this.ctr++; addToXML(getParentField()); }
 * 
 * public void setParent(String parent) { startParentField(parent);
 * endParentField(parent); }
 */
public void addChildField(String child) {
 this.child = "<" + child + ">" + "</" + child + ">";
 this.ctr++;
 addToXML(getChildField());
}
public void addChildField(String child, String value) {
 this.child = "<" + child + ">" + value + "</" + child + ">";
 this.ctr++;
 addToXML(getChildField());
}
private String getParentField() {
 return parent;
}
private String getChildField() {
 return child;
}
private void addToXML(String element) {
 xml.put(ctr, element);
}
public void buildXMLPreview() {
 // Set<Integer> keys = xml.keySet();
 getRoot();
 System.out.println(roots.get(1));
 sB.append(roots.get(1));
 for (int x = 1; x <= xml.size(); x++) {
 sB.append(xml.get(x));
 }
 sB.append(roots.get(2));
 System.out.println(sB.toString());
 sB.delete(0, sB.length());
}
public void buildXMLToFile() throws IOException {
 FileWriter writer = new FileWriter("try.xml");
 getRoot();
 writer.append(roots.get(1));
 for (int x = 1; x <= xml.size(); x++) {
 writer.append(xml.get(x));
 }
 writer.append(roots.get(2));
 writer.flush();
 writer.close();
}
}

Sample Implementation:

package xml.impl;
import java.io.IOException;
public class XMLCreatorTester {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
 XMLCreator xmlCreator = new XMLCreator();
 xmlCreator.setRoot("Art");
 xmlCreator.addChildField("name", "Mona Lisa");
 xmlCreator.addChildField("artist", "Leonardo Da Vinci");
 xmlCreator.addChildField("adsa");
 xmlCreator.buildXMLPreview();
 xmlCreator.buildXMLToFile();
}
}

Output:

<Art>
<name>Mona Lisa</name>
<artist>Leonardo Da Vinci</artist>
<adsa></adsa>
</Art>

As you can see as of now I can only create the root element and child elements(note that the parent element implementation is commented out).

Good enough? Suggestions? Violent reactions? Thanks. :)

• JavaDeveloper: how does your code work for nested to more than just a single level ?

Answer 1

What's this?

public XMLCreator() {
 if (this.xml == null) {
 this.xml = new HashMap<Integer, String>();
 }
 if (this.roots == null) {
 this.roots = new HashMap<Integer, String>();
 }
 if (this.sB == null) {
 this.sB = new StringBuilder();
 }
}

The null checks are always true, where should a value come from?

Why

this.child = "<" + child + ">" + "</" + child + ">";

and not

this.child = "<" + child + "/>";

?

• J Roq: As you can see in my sample implementation when XMLCreator is instanciated it checks if those values are null... But yeah I get your point I guess when I instanciate XMLCreator those values are null so no need to check. :) Anyway with the child yeah when I view the xml generated on IE it shows that if I use that statement it would give me only '</child>', what gives? If an xml element is empty the closing tag is the one only shown?
• Landei: According to the XML standard, <bla></bla> is equivalent to <bla/> (note that the "/" is at the end).