TXmlWriter

Source: source/classes/TXmlWriter.prg

TXmlWriter is a minimal streaming XML writer that writes directly to disk. It supports the standard OpenTag / Element / CloseTag pattern and produces well-formed XML with automatic indentation and character escaping. Every method returns Self, enabling a fluent (chainable) API. The writer uses Harbour's low-level file I/O (FCreate / FWrite) so it stays memory-efficient even for large documents.

Key DATA Members

DATA	Type	Description
`cFile`	Character	Output file path
`hFile`	Numeric	File handle from FCreate ( -1 if creation failed )
`nIndent`	Numeric	Current indentation level (0-based)
`aStack`	Array	Tag name stack for nesting; ensures CloseTag knows which tag to close
`lOpen`	Logical	File is open and writable

Methods

Method	Description
`New( cFile )`	Create a writer and open the output file. Returns Self
`Start( cVersion, cEncoding )`	Write the XML declaration `<?xml ... ?>`. Defaults: "1.0", "UTF-8". Returns Self
`OpenTag( cTag, hAttribs )`	Open a named tag with optional hash of attributes. Increases indent. Returns Self
`CloseTag( cTag )`	Close the most recent (or named) tag. Decreases indent. Returns Self
`Element( cTag, cValue, hAttribs )`	Write a self-closing tag or a full element with escaped text content. Returns Self
`Comment( cText )`	Write an XML comment `<!-- ... -->`. Returns Self
`CData( cText )`	Write a CDATA section `<![CDATA[...]]>`. Returns Self
`End()`	Close any remaining open tags to ensure well-formed output. Returns Self
`Destroy()`	Close the file handle if still open

Example: Generate XML

#include "FiveWin.ch"

function Main()

   local oXml := TXmlWriter():New( "catalog.xml" )

   oXml:Start()
   oXml:OpenTag( "catalog", { "version" -> "1.0" } )
   oXml:OpenTag( "book",    { "id" -> "101" } )
   oXml:Element( "title",   "FiveWin Programming" )
   oXml:Element( "author",  "Antonio Linares" )
   oXml:Element( "price",   "49.95", { "currency" -> "USD" } )
   oXml:CloseTag( "book" )
   oXml:CloseTag( "catalog" )
   oXml:End()
   oXml:Destroy()

return nil

Notes

All public methods (except New and Destroy) return Self, which allows method chaining: oXml:Start():OpenTag(...):Element(...):CloseTag():End().
Attribute hashes use the key -> value syntax (Harbour hashes). Values are automatically escaped for XML.
The Escape() method handles five predefined XML entities: &, <, >, ", and '.
End() automatically closes any tags remaining on the stack, ensuring well-formed output even if the caller omitted explicit close calls.
The writer uses two-space indentation per nesting level, controlled by cIndStr.

TXmlWriter

Key DATA Members

Methods

Example: Generate XML

Notes

See Also