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      1 :mod:`xml.sax` --- Support for SAX2 parsers
      2 ===========================================
      3 
      4 .. module:: xml.sax
      5    :synopsis: Package containing SAX2 base classes and convenience functions.
      6 
      7 .. moduleauthor:: Lars Marius Garshol <larsga (a] garshol.priv.no>
      8 .. sectionauthor:: Fred L. Drake, Jr. <fdrake (a] acm.org>
      9 .. sectionauthor:: Martin v. Lwis <martin (a] v.loewis.de>
     10 
     11 **Source code:** :source:`Lib/xml/sax/__init__.py`
     12 
     13 --------------
     14 
     15 The :mod:`xml.sax` package provides a number of modules which implement the
     16 Simple API for XML (SAX) interface for Python.  The package itself provides the
     17 SAX exceptions and the convenience functions which will be most used by users of
     18 the SAX API.
     19 
     20 
     21 .. warning::
     22 
     23    The :mod:`xml.sax` module is not secure against maliciously
     24    constructed data.  If you need to parse untrusted or unauthenticated data see
     25    :ref:`xml-vulnerabilities`.
     26 
     27 .. versionchanged:: 3.7.1
     28 
     29    The SAX parser no longer processes general external entities by default
     30    to increase security. Before, the parser created network connections
     31    to fetch remote files or loaded local files from the file
     32    system for DTD and entities. The feature can be enabled again with method
     33    :meth:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.XMLReader.setFeature` on the parser object
     34    and argument :data:`~xml.sax.handler.feature_external_ges`.
     35 
     36 The convenience functions are:
     37 
     38 
     39 .. function:: make_parser(parser_list=[])
     40 
     41    Create and return a SAX :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.XMLReader` object.  The
     42    first parser found will
     43    be used.  If *parser_list* is provided, it must be a list of strings which
     44    name modules that have a function named :func:`create_parser`.  Modules listed
     45    in *parser_list* will be used before modules in the default list of parsers.
     46 
     47 
     48 .. function:: parse(filename_or_stream, handler, error_handler=handler.ErrorHandler())
     49 
     50    Create a SAX parser and use it to parse a document.  The document, passed in as
     51    *filename_or_stream*, can be a filename or a file object.  The *handler*
     52    parameter needs to be a SAX :class:`~handler.ContentHandler` instance.  If
     53    *error_handler* is given, it must be a SAX :class:`~handler.ErrorHandler`
     54    instance; if
     55    omitted,  :exc:`SAXParseException` will be raised on all errors.  There is no
     56    return value; all work must be done by the *handler* passed in.
     57 
     58 
     59 .. function:: parseString(string, handler, error_handler=handler.ErrorHandler())
     60 
     61    Similar to :func:`parse`, but parses from a buffer *string* received as a
     62    parameter.  *string* must be a :class:`str` instance or a
     63    :term:`bytes-like object`.
     64 
     65    .. versionchanged:: 3.5
     66       Added support of :class:`str` instances.
     67 
     68 A typical SAX application uses three kinds of objects: readers, handlers and
     69 input sources.  "Reader" in this context is another term for parser, i.e. some
     70 piece of code that reads the bytes or characters from the input source, and
     71 produces a sequence of events. The events then get distributed to the handler
     72 objects, i.e. the reader invokes a method on the handler.  A SAX application
     73 must therefore obtain a reader object, create or open the input sources, create
     74 the handlers, and connect these objects all together.  As the final step of
     75 preparation, the reader is called to parse the input. During parsing, methods on
     76 the handler objects are called based on structural and syntactic events from the
     77 input data.
     78 
     79 For these objects, only the interfaces are relevant; they are normally not
     80 instantiated by the application itself.  Since Python does not have an explicit
     81 notion of interface, they are formally introduced as classes, but applications
     82 may use implementations which do not inherit from the provided classes.  The
     83 :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.InputSource`, :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.Locator`,
     84 :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.Attributes`, :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.AttributesNS`,
     85 and :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.XMLReader` interfaces are defined in the
     86 module :mod:`xml.sax.xmlreader`.  The handler interfaces are defined in
     87 :mod:`xml.sax.handler`.  For convenience,
     88 :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.InputSource` (which is often
     89 instantiated directly) and the handler classes are also available from
     90 :mod:`xml.sax`.  These interfaces are described below.
     91 
     92 In addition to these classes, :mod:`xml.sax` provides the following exception
     93 classes.
     94 
     95 
     96 .. exception:: SAXException(msg, exception=None)
     97 
     98    Encapsulate an XML error or warning.  This class can contain basic error or
     99    warning information from either the XML parser or the application: it can be
    100    subclassed to provide additional functionality or to add localization.  Note
    101    that although the handlers defined in the
    102    :class:`~xml.sax.handler.ErrorHandler` interface
    103    receive instances of this exception, it is not required to actually raise the
    104    exception --- it is also useful as a container for information.
    105 
    106    When instantiated, *msg* should be a human-readable description of the error.
    107    The optional *exception* parameter, if given, should be ``None`` or an exception
    108    that was caught by the parsing code and is being passed along as information.
    109 
    110    This is the base class for the other SAX exception classes.
    111 
    112 
    113 .. exception:: SAXParseException(msg, exception, locator)
    114 
    115    Subclass of :exc:`SAXException` raised on parse errors. Instances of this
    116    class are passed to the methods of the SAX
    117    :class:`~xml.sax.handler.ErrorHandler` interface to provide information
    118    about the parse error.  This class supports the SAX
    119    :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.Locator` interface as well as the
    120    :class:`SAXException` interface.
    121 
    122 
    123 .. exception:: SAXNotRecognizedException(msg, exception=None)
    124 
    125    Subclass of :exc:`SAXException` raised when a SAX
    126    :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.XMLReader` is
    127    confronted with an unrecognized feature or property.  SAX applications and
    128    extensions may use this class for similar purposes.
    129 
    130 
    131 .. exception:: SAXNotSupportedException(msg, exception=None)
    132 
    133    Subclass of :exc:`SAXException` raised when a SAX
    134    :class:`~xml.sax.xmlreader.XMLReader` is asked to
    135    enable a feature that is not supported, or to set a property to a value that the
    136    implementation does not support.  SAX applications and extensions may use this
    137    class for similar purposes.
    138 
    139 
    140 .. seealso::
    141 
    142    `SAX: The Simple API for XML <http://www.saxproject.org/>`_
    143       This site is the focal point for the definition of the SAX API.  It provides a
    144       Java implementation and online documentation.  Links to implementations and
    145       historical information are also available.
    146 
    147    Module :mod:`xml.sax.handler`
    148       Definitions of the interfaces for application-provided objects.
    149 
    150    Module :mod:`xml.sax.saxutils`
    151       Convenience functions for use in SAX applications.
    152 
    153    Module :mod:`xml.sax.xmlreader`
    154       Definitions of the interfaces for parser-provided objects.
    155 
    156 
    157 .. _sax-exception-objects:
    158 
    159 SAXException Objects
    160 --------------------
    161 
    162 The :class:`SAXException` exception class supports the following methods:
    163 
    164 
    165 .. method:: SAXException.getMessage()
    166 
    167    Return a human-readable message describing the error condition.
    168 
    169 
    170 .. method:: SAXException.getException()
    171 
    172    Return an encapsulated exception object, or ``None``.
    173 
    174