---
name: "XML::SAX2Perl"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "libxml-perl"
version: "0.08-9"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/XML::SAX2Perl"
---

# XML::SAX2Perl(3pm)

## NAME

XML::SAX2Perl -- translate Java/CORBA style SAX methods to Perl methods

## SYNOPSIS

```
 use XML::SAX2Perl;
 $sax2perl = XML::SAX2Perl(Handler => $my_handler);
 $sax->setDocumentHandler($sax2perl);
```

## DESCRIPTION

`"XML::SAX2Perl"` is a SAX filter that translates Java/CORBA style SAX methods to Perl style method calls.  This man page summarizes the specific options, handlers, and properties supported by `"XML::SAX2Perl"`; please refer to the Perl SAX standard `"XML::SAX"` for general usage information.

## METHODS

- new

  Creates a new parser object.  Default options for parsing, described below, are passed as key-value pairs or as a single hash.  Options may be changed directly in the parser object unless stated otherwise. Options passed to \``parse()`' override the default options in the parser object for the duration of the parse.

- parse

  Parses a document.  Options, described below, are passed as key-value pairs or as a single hash.  Options passed to \``parse()`' override default options in the parser object.

- location

  Returns the location as a hash:

  ```
    ColumnNumber    The column number of the parse.
    LineNumber      The line number of the parse.
    PublicId        A string containing the public identifier, or undef
                    if none is available.
    SystemId        A string containing the system identifier, or undef
                    if none is available.
  ```

- SAX DocumentHandler Methods

  The following methods are DocumentHandler methods that the SAX 1.0 parser will call and `"XML::SAX2Perl"` will translate to Perl SAX methods calls.  See SAX 1.0 for details.

  ```
   setDocumentLocator(locator)
   startDocument()
   endDocument()
   startElement(name, atts)
   endElement(name)
   characters(ch, start, length)
   ignorableWhitespace(ch, start, length)
   processingInstruction(target, data)
  ```

## OPTIONS

The following options are supported by `"XML::SAX2Perl"`:

```
 Handler          default handler to receive events
 DocumentHandler  handler to receive document events
 DTDHandler       handler to receive DTD events
 ErrorHandler     handler to receive error events
 EntityResolver   handler to resolve entities
 Locale           locale to provide localisation for errors
 Source           hash containing the input source for parsing
```

If no handlers are provided then all events will be silently ignored, except for \``fatal_error()`' which will cause a \``die()`' to be called after calling \``end_document()`'.

If a single string argument is passed to the \``parse()`' method, it is treated as if a \``"Source"`' option was given with a \``"String"`' parameter.

The \``"Source"`' hash may contain the following parameters:

```
 ByteStream       The raw byte stream (file handle) containing the
                  document.
 String           A string containing the document.
 SystemId         The system identifier (URI) of the document.
 PublicId         The public identifier.
 Encoding         A string describing the character encoding.
```

If more than one of \``"ByteStream"`', \``"String"`', or \``"SystemId"`', then preference is given first to \``"ByteStream"`', then \``"String"`', then \``"SystemId"`'.

## HANDLERS

The following handlers and properties are supported by `"XML::SAX2Perl"`:

### DocumentHandler methods

- start\_document

  Receive notification of the beginning of a document.

  ```
   Locator          An object that can return the location of any SAX
                    document event.
  ```

- end\_document

  Receive notification of the end of a document.

  No properties defined.

- start\_element

  Receive notification of the beginning of an element.

  ```
   Name             The element type name.
   Attributes       Attributes attached to the element, if any.
  ```

  ALPHA WARNING: The \``"Attributes"`' value is not translated from the SAX 1.0 value, so it will contain an AttributeList object.

- end\_element

  Receive notification of the end of an element.

  ```
   Name             The element type name.
  ```

- characters

  Receive notification of character data.

  ```
   Data             The characters from the XML document.
  ```

- ignorable\_whitespace

  Receive notification of ignorable whitespace in element content.

  ```
   Data             The characters from the XML document.
  ```

- processing\_instruction

  Receive notification of a processing instruction.

  ```
   Target           The processing instruction target.
   Data             The processing instruction data, if any.
  ```

## AUTHOR

Ken MacLeod \<ken@bitsko.slc.ut.us\>

## SEE ALSO

[**perl**(1)](/perl/1.md), **XML::Perl2SAX**(3).

```
 Extensible Markup Language (XML) <http://www.w3c.org/XML/>
 Simple API for XML (SAX) <http://www.megginson.com/SAX/>
```