How to update large XML file

Question

Rather than rewriting the entire contents of an xml file when a single element is updated, is there a better alternative to updating the file?

Answer 1

I would recommend using VTD-XML http://vtd-xml.sourceforge.net/

From their FAQ ( http://vtd-xml.sourceforge.net/faq.html ):

Why should I use VTD-XML for large XML files?

For numerous reasons summarized below:

• Performance: The performance of VTD-XML is far better than SAX
• Ease to use: Random access combined with XPath makes application easy to write
• Better maintainability: App code is shorter and simpler to understand.
• Incremental update: Occasional, small changes become very efficient.
• Indexing: Pre-parsed form of XML will further boost processing performance.
• Other features: Cut, paste, split and assemble XML documents is only possible with VTD-XML.

In order to take advantage of VTD-XML, we recommended that developers split their ultra large XML documents into smaller, more manageable chucks (<2GB).