README.md

SAXy OX - Objective-C XML and JSON Binding Library

SAXy OX is a full-featured XML and JSON marshalling framework for Objective-C. It's purpose is to allow domain objects to be serialized to XML or JSON with a minimal amount of coding.

Features include:

• efficient reading/unmarshalling and writing/marshalling of XML or JSON from domain objects
• full XML namespace support
• built-in type conversion and formatting
• highly configurable API
• modern Objective-C: ARC and blocks
• self-reflective automatic mapping
• optimized for iOS with no no third-party dependencies

There are several well-documented examples in the SAXyTests folder, including:

• OXTutorialTests - a step-by-step introduction to SAXy's features - START HERE!
• OXTwitterTests - a classic twitter read and write example
• OXiTunesTests - an advanced mixed namespace iTunes RSS mapping example
• OXmlNonKVCTests - simple KVC and complex non-KVC-compliant mapping examples
• OXJSONTests - a detailed JSON read and write example

Usage tips

• run the examples (Product->Test in Xcode), set break points to inspect state
• watch the mapper in action by setting: reader.context.logReaderStack = YES;
• create your own mapping by starting with a working example and making small modifications
• the JSON or XML folder can be removed if not being used

As an example, given the class:

@interface CartoonCharacter : NSObject
  @property(nonatomic)NSString *firstName;
  @property(nonatomic)NSString *lastName;
@end

A SAXy mapper and reader can be defined in just a few lines of code:

NSString *xml = @"<tune><first>Daffy</first><last>Duck</last></tune>";

OXmlReader *reader = [OXmlReader readerWithMapper:          //declares a reader with embedded mapper
                      [[OXmlMapper mapper] elements:@[
                       [OXmlElementMapper rootXPath:@"/tune" type:[CartoonCharacter class]]
                       ,
                       [[[OXmlElementMapper elementClass:[CartoonCharacter class]]
                         xpath:@"first" property:@"firstName"]
                        xpath:@"last" property:@"lastName"]
                       ]]
                      ];

CartoonCharacter *tune = [reader readXmlText:xml];          //reads xml

STAssertEqualObjects(@"Daffy", tune.firstName, @"mapped 'first' element to 'firstName' property");
STAssertEqualObjects(@"Duck",  tune.lastName,  @"mapped 'last'  element to 'lastName'  property");