Using Swift4, iOS11.1, Xcode9.1,
Using the new Swift4 typealiase \"Codable\" works well for JSON-decoding (as explained here or here or in many other contributions).
Currently, Apple's Codable protocol does not have a way to decode XML.
While there are plenty of third party libraries to parse XML, the XMLParsing library contains a XMLDecoder and a XMLEncoder that uses Apple's own Codable protocol, and is based on Apple's JSONEncoder/JSONDecoder with changes to fit the XML standard.
Link: https://github.com/ShawnMoore/XMLParsing
W3School's XML To Parse:
<note>
<to>Tove</to>
<from>Jani</from>
<heading>Reminder</heading>
<body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
</note>
Swift Struct conforming to Codable:
struct Note: Codable {
var to: String
var from: String
var heading: String
var body: String
}
XMLDecoder:
let data = Data(forResource: "note", withExtension: "xml") else { return nil }
let decoder = XMLDecoder()
do {
let note = try decoder.decode(Note.self, from: data)
} catch {
print(error)
}
XMLEncoder:
let encoder = XMLEncoder()
do {
let data = try encoder.encode(self, withRootKey: "note")
print(String(data: data, encoding: .utf8))
} catch {
print(error)
}
There are a number of benefits for using Apple's Codable protocol over that of a third-party's protocol. Take for example if Apple decides to begin supporting XML, you would not have to refactor.
For a full list of examples of this library, see the Sample XML folder in the repository.
There are a few differences between Apple's Decoders and Encoders to fit the XML standard. These are as follows:
Differences between XMLDecoder and JSONDecoder
XMLDecoder.DateDecodingStrategy
has an extra case titled keyFormatted
. This case takes a closure that gives you a CodingKey, and it is up to you to provide the correct DateFormatter for the provided key. This is simply a convenience case on the DateDecodingStrategy of JSONDecoder.XMLDecoder.DataDecodingStrategy
has an extra case titled keyFormatted
. This case takes a closure that gives you a CodingKey, and it is up to you to provide the correct data or nil for the provided key. This is simply a convenience case on the DataDecodingStrategy of JSONDecoder.Differences between XMLEncoder and JSONEncoder
Contains an option called StringEncodingStrategy
, this enum has two options, deferredToString
and cdata
. The deferredToString option is default and will encode strings as simple strings. If cdata is selected, all strings will be encoded as CData.
The encode
function takes in two additional parameters than JSONEncoder does. The first additional parameter in the function is a RootKey string that will have the entire XML wrapped in an element named that key. This parameter is required. The second parameter is an XMLHeader, which is an optional parameter that can take the version, encoding strategy and standalone status, if you want to include this information in the encoded xml.