XmlBase is a base class for building XML builders. See Builder::XmlMarkup and Builder::XmlEvents for examples.

Methods
Public Class methods
new(indent=0, initial=0, encoding='utf-8')

Create an XML markup builder.

out:Object receiving the markup. out must respond to <<.
indent:Number of spaces used for indentation (0 implies no indentation and no line breaks).
initial:Level of initial indentation.
encoding:When encoding and $KCODE are set to ‘utf-8’ characters aren‘t converted to character entities in the output stream.

[ show source ]

    # File lib/builder/xmlbase.rb, line 24
24:     def initialize(indent=0, initial=0, encoding='utf-8')
25:       @indent = indent
26:       @level  = initial
27:       @encoding = encoding.downcase
28:     end
Public Instance methods
<<(text)

Append text to the output target without escaping any markup. May be used within the markup brackets as: 

  builder.p { |x| x << "<br/>HI" }   #=>  <p><br/>HI</p>

This is useful when using non-builder enabled software that generates strings. Just insert the string directly into the builder without changing the inserted markup.

It is also useful for stacking builder objects. Builders only use << to append to the target, so by supporting this method/operation builders can use other builders as their targets.

[ show source ]

     # File lib/builder/xmlbase.rb, line 100
100:     def <<(text)
101:       _text(text)
102:     end
method_missing(sym, *args, &block)

Create XML markup based on the name of the method. This method is never invoked directly, but is called for each markup method in the markup block.

[ show source ]

    # File lib/builder/xmlbase.rb, line 40
40:     def method_missing(sym, *args, &block)
41:       text = nil
42:       attrs = nil
43:       sym = "#{sym}:#{args.shift}" if args.first.kind_of?(Symbol)
44:       args.each do |arg|
45:         case arg
46:         when Hash
47:           attrs ||= {}
48:           attrs.merge!(arg)
49:         else
50:           text ||= ''
51:           text << arg.to_s
52:         end
53:       end
54:       if block
55:         unless text.nil?
56:           raise ArgumentError, "XmlMarkup cannot mix a text argument with a block"
57:         end
58:         _indent
59:         _start_tag(sym, attrs)
60:         _newline
61:         _nested_structures(block)
62:         _indent
63:         _end_tag(sym)
64:         _newline
65:       elsif text.nil?
66:         _indent
67:         _start_tag(sym, attrs, true)
68:         _newline
69:       else
70:         _indent
71:         _start_tag(sym, attrs)
72:         text! text
73:         _end_tag(sym)
74:         _newline
75:       end
76:       @target
77:     end
nil?()

For some reason, nil? is sent to the XmlMarkup object. If nil? is not defined and method_missing is invoked, some strange kind of recursion happens. Since nil? won‘t ever be an XML tag, it is pretty safe to define it here. (Note: this is an example of cargo cult programming, cf. fishbowl.pastiche.org/2004/10/13/cargo_cult_programming).

[ show source ]

     # File lib/builder/xmlbase.rb, line 110
110:     def nil?
111:       false
112:     end
tag!(sym, *args, &block)

Create a tag named sym. Other than the first argument which is the tag name, the arguments are the same as the tags implemented via method_missing.

[ show source ]

    # File lib/builder/xmlbase.rb, line 33
33:     def tag!(sym, *args, &block)
34:       method_missing(sym.to_sym, *args, &block)
35:     end
text!(text)

Append text to the output target. Escape any markup. May be used within the markup brackets as: 

  builder.p { |b| b.br; b.text! "HI" }   #=>  <p><br/>HI</p>

[ show source ]

    # File lib/builder/xmlbase.rb, line 83
83:     def text!(text)
84:       _text(_escape(text))
85:     end