[REBOL] parse-xml cannot be reversed
From: bhandley:zip:au at: 30-Jul-2000 1:56
I attempted to write a function that would take the structure that parse-xml
generates and export it back into a valid xml file.
But, I found that it cannot be reliably done.
Here's an example.
>> parse-xml {<a>teststring<b/><c/></a>}
== [document none [["a" none ["teststring" ["b" none none] ["c" none
none]]]]]
Just looking at the structure would lead you (or your program) to conclude
that "b" was an attribute of an element "teststring", until you realise that
attribute lists should not have an odd number of elements.
Maybe parse-xml should be creating a normal three element block for #PCDATA
but use none for the first two elements.
I haven't used this much so I would like to know if there are any comments
or objections to this conclusion.
Brett.