Apache XMLBeans

XMLBeans is a tool that allows access to the full power of XML in a Java friendly way. The idea is to take advantage of the richness and features of XML and XML Schema and have these features mapped as naturally as possible to the equivalent Java language and typing constructs. XMLBeans uses XML Schema to compile Java interfaces and classes that can then be used to access and modify XML instance data. Using XMLBeans is similar to using any other Java interface/class: with methods like getFoo or setFoo, just as when working with Java. While a major use of XMLBeans is to access XML instance data with strongly typed Java classes there are also APIs that allow access to the full XML infoset (XMLBeans keeps XML Infoset fidelity) as well as to allow reflection into the XML schema itself through an XML Schema Object model.

An example of a simple XML Schema Definition to describe a country is given below.

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <xs:schema targetNamespace="http://www.openuri.org/domain/country/v1"
            xmlns:tns="http://www.openuri.org/domain/country/v1"
            xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
            elementFormDefault="qualified"
            attributeFormDefault="unqualified"
            version="1.0">
   <xs:element name="Country" type="tns:Country"/>
   <xs:complexType name="Country">
     <xs:sequence>
       <xs:element name="Name" type="xs:string"/>
       <xs:element name="Population" type="xs:int"/>
       <xs:element name="Iso" type="tns:Iso"/>
     </xs:sequence>
   </xs:complexType>
   <xs:complexType name="Iso">
     <xs:annotation><xs:documentation>ISO 3166</xs:documentation></xs:annotation>
     <xs:sequence>
       <xs:element name="Alpha2" type="tns:IsoAlpha2"/>
       <xs:element name="Alpha3" type="tns:IsoAlpha3"/>
       <xs:element name="CountryCode" type="tns:IsoCountryCode"/>
     </xs:sequence>
   </xs:complexType>
   <xs:simpleType name="IsoCountryCode">
     <xs:restriction base="xs:int">
       <xs:totalDigits value="3"/>
     </xs:restriction>
   </xs:simpleType>
   <xs:simpleType name="IsoAlpha2">
     <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
       <xs:pattern value="[A-Z]{2}"/>
       <xs:whiteSpace value="collapse"/>
     </xs:restriction>
   </xs:simpleType>
   <xs:simpleType name="IsoAlpha3">
     <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
       <xs:pattern value="[A-Z]{3}"/>
       <xs:whiteSpace value="collapse"/>
     </xs:restriction>
   </xs:simpleType>
 </xs:schema>

When the schema is compiled into XMLBean classes (e.g., using Ant), it is very easy to create and manipulate XML data that conforms to the schema definition. The following Java code is a simple example that illustrates how an XML document can be created and validated.

 import org.openuri.domain.country.v1.Country;
 import org.openuri.domain.country.v1.Iso;
 public class CountrySample {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
     Country country = Country.Factory.newInstance();
     country.setName("Denmark");
     country.setPopulation(5450661);  // from Wikipedia :-)
     // print out country XMLBean as XML
     System.out.println(country.xmlText());
     // check if document is valid - will print "Document is invalid"
     // because required Iso child element in not in the object
     System.out.println ("Document is " + (country.validate() ? "valid" : "invalid"));
     // add child with complex type Iso to make the document valid
     Iso iso = country.addNewIso();
     iso.setAlpha2("DK");
     iso.setAlpha3("DNK");
     iso.setCountryCode(208);
     // print out country XMLBean as XML
     System.out.println(country.xmlText());
     // check if document is valid - will print "Document is valid"
     System.out.println ("Document is " + (country.validate() ? "valid" : "invalid"));
   }
 }

David Bau was the chief designer for the XMLBeans 1.0 project while he was working for BEA. XMLBeans started on the grounds of XMLMaps, an XML binding tool included in previous BEA WebLogic products. XMLBeans was originally developed as part of the proprietary BEA WebLogic Workshop Framework, but it was obvious from interviews conducted when it was first announced on January 27, 2003, that BEA wanted it to become an open standard. At that time it was not decided which organization BEA wanted to involve in the standardization effort. Later that year it was donated to the Apache Software Foundation. The original team included Cezar Cristian Andrei and Eric Vasilik, later the team added Cliff Schmidt and Radu Preotiuc-Pietro, Jacob Danner, Kevin Krouse and Wing Yew Poon. XMLBeans is now being developed by Apache POI.

• January 27, 2003: BEA announces XMLBeans as a technology preview.
• September 24, 2003: BEA donates XMLBeans to the Apache Software Foundation where it joins the Apache Incubator Project.
• April 23, 2004: XMLBeans Version 1.0.2 is released. This is the first release from the incubator project.
• June 25, 2004: XMLBeans graduated out of the Apache Incubator Project to become top level project.
• June 30, 2005: XMLBeans Version 2.0 is released.
• November 16, 2005: XMLBeans Version 2.1 is released.
• June 23, 2006: XMLBeans Version 2.2 is released.
• June 1, 2007: XMLBeans Version 2.3 is released.
• July 8, 2008: XMLBeans Version 2.4 is released.
• December 14, 2009: XMLBeans Version 2.5 is released.
• August 14, 2012: XMLBeans Version 2.6 is released.
• May 23, 2014: XMLBeans was officially retired and active development was ceased temporarily.
• June 29, 2018: XMLBeans was "unretired" and Apache POI took over active development.[1]

• XML data binding
• Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB)
• xmlbeansxx — XML Data Binding code generator for C++

• Official website
• XMLBeans resources
• The Apache XML project
• XMLBean Ant task
• XML Binding Resources - xbeans of popular schemas Archived 2009-04-11 at the Wayback Machine