Other Xerces-C Questions

Questions

• I can't use C++. Do you have a Java version?
• What are the differences between Xerces-C and IBM XML4C?
• Where can I find additional information on XML?
• How do I port Xerces-C to a new platform?
• Is there any kind of support available for Xerces-C/XML4C?
• I found a defect -- how do I report it?
• I have a patch to the Xerces-C source code. How do I submit it?

Answers

I can't use C++. Do you have a Java version?

Yes. The Xerces family of products also has a Java version. More information is available at: http://xml.apache.org/xerces-j/index.html

What are the differences between Xerces-C and IBM XML4C?

XML4C from IBM is based on the Xerces-C code. The only difference between Xerces-C and XML4C is that XML4C is bundled with IBM's ICU classes for Unicode support, which allows it to support a wider range of character set encodings.

Where can I find additional information on XML?

The Web. http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/xml.html is an excellent place to start, with links to overviews, FAQs, specifications, industry news, applications and other software, related standards, etc.

How do I port Xerces-C to a new platform?

(from Dean Roddey)

The primary work of a port involves:

1. Creating a new compiler header for the compiler.
2. Creating a new platform utilities file that implements the little bit of system access we need, and an associated header.
3. Updating XercesDefs.hpp and AutoSense.hpp to include your new headers when compiled under your OS and compiler.

Other concerns are:

• Does ICU compile on your platform? If not, then you'll need to create a transcoder implementation that uses your local transcoding services. The Iconv transcoder should work for you, though perhaps with some modifications.
• What message loader will you use? To get started, you can use the "in memory" one, which is very simple and easy. Then, once you get going, you may want to adapt the message catalog message loader, or write one of your own that uses local services.

Is there any kind of support available for Xerces-C/XML4C?

Xerces-C comes with no formal support.

Every volunteer project obtains its strength from the people involved in it. Mailing lists provide a simple and effective communication mechanism. You are welcome to join any of these mailing lists (or all of them if you wish). You can choose to lurk, or to actively participate. It's up to you. Before you join these lists, you should look over the resources in the Reference Library section

Instructions for subscribing are at http://xml.apache.org/mail.html. Archives of the lists are available from http://archive.covalent.net

IBM also maintains a newsgroup for discussion of XML4C. The news server is "news.alphaworks.ibm.com" and the group is "XML-for-C++".

I found a defect -- how do I report it?

Check the bug list at the Apache Xerces-C Web site. The problem may already be known, or even fixed.

Otherwise, send the bugs to either the xerces-c-dev mailing list (preferred) or the IBM Alphaworks news group, as described above. The more information that you provide, the better our chance of understanding what happened, or what the problem really is. Please include:

• The version of Xerces-C or XML4C
• What kind of machine
• Operating system and OS version number
• Whether you built the Xerces-C library yourself or used the binary distribution
• The XML document (or excerpt) that fails
• The C++ application code that failed
• What happened

I have a patch to the Xerces-C source code. How do I submit it?

Mail it to the xerces-c-dev mailing list at Apache. (You must be a subscriber to post to this list. But if you're considering changing the code you really want to be a subscriber, in any case.) There are no set rules about how or what must be included -- if you've fixed a problem or enhanced the code in some way, we really would like to get your changes, and will take them in any reasonable form.

Generally a diff of the changed files against the current sources from CVS is good, along with some kind of description of what the change is. (Working with the current sources is important!)

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