“html agility pack” like solutions for C/Objective-c/iPhone - iphone

I need a powerful HTML parser and manipulator for Objective-C/C, like HTML Agility Pack.
Can anyone tell me some optimal solution? One solution is libxml2, but it seams is not the best.
Thanks in advance!

On MacOS X, NSXMLDocument is a good solution (but you want iPhone).
Two packages that you should look at are: TouchXML and KissXML.
See also iPhone Development - XMLParser vs. libxml2 vs. TouchXML.

Related

How to use NSXMLParser?

I have some XML which I need parsed in my Objective-C code. The XML is fairly simple. I have already searched Stackoverflow as well as Google but I did not find what I am looking for. Examples if how to use NSXMLParser would be useful, and if anyone has any suggestions on how to do this another way please let me know.
Did you look at the Apple sample applications? From the NSXMLParser class reference, I found no fewer than five sample projects that did parsing.
GKTank
KMLViewer
LazyTableImages
SeismicXML (probably your best bet, and most directly related)
XMLPerformance
I recommend going through this tutorial by Ray Wenderlich:
http://www.raywenderlich.com/725/how-to-read-and-write-xml-documents-with-gdataxml
It uses GDataXML, which from my experience is a light-weight easy to use XML parser. It goes through all the basic steps to read and write to an XML document in a specific directory, including making or ammending to the file if it doesnt exist or exists respectively.

Simple XML parsing

Is there a simple way of parsing XML within iPhone app's?
I have been using NSXMLParser and I have heard of libxml2 - I am correct in stating that these are my only two options.
I just don't want to go down a long road when there is something simply that I can use.
There is also TouchXML which is nice and straight forward.
This blogpost gives a great overview of the most common XML parser available for iPhone (build - in and 3rd - party)

XML with Cocoa Touch

I am a new learner at the area of Objective-C. I would like to retrieve data from XML page on the iPhone. Is it possible? It would be more helpful to me if I get an appropriate suggestion or code.
The SDK comes with the NSXMLParser class. Some people prefer to use the libxml2 library as it can be faster and more memory efficient than NSXMLDocument but you may want to wrap it with an Objective C layer as it is a C API. See this example.
There was a good episode of cocoaFusion: the other day that covered the ins and outs of XML parsing. Head on over to cocoafusion.net and look for Episode 2: An intro to using web APIs and XML.
The show notes section for that episode has some sample code downloads and links to other sites that contain more information (including some of the links mentioned in the other answers here).
Cheers!
A good article that lays out how you can use NSXMLParser to rip through xml.
Parsing XML in Cocoa
There is also some other libraries: TouchXML, KissXML.
Check out the SiesmicXML tute on Apple's iPhone developer site. It uses the XMLParser in a dedicated thread to parse XML in a backgroud process.
JK

What is a good vector library for Cocoa or Cocoa-touch?

I'm looking for a good vector library for displaying animated graphics on the iPhone. Something that could possibly display SVG. Anyone have any ideas or insights?
Quartz, i.e. the vector graphics library that's already built into the phone. Depending on the requirements, you could write a parser for the parts of the SVG spec you actually plan on using. For example perhaps your application only requires the Tiny SVG spec.
Sorry that this answer doesn't point to a framework that already exists, but depending on how badly you really need it, it might make sense to roll your own or a start an open source project (especially since this is the kind of project people would probably be quite happy to contribute to).
GCDrawKit is an outstanding vector illustration framework, but it does not have native support for SVG yet and is built around AppKit, so it's not iPhone compatible. It also is not geared towards animation.
WebKit provides native support for SVG on the Mac, and even lets you manipulate the DOM to modify or save SVG, but I don't believe you're given enough access to it on the iPhone to do the same there.
Your best bet is to write a parser for SVG XML (it isn't too difficult a format), use Quartz for drawing, and back it up with Core Animation for the animated elements.
WebKit
libsvg
Cairo
github.com/SVGKit/SVGKit - almost-but-not-quite standards compliant SVG lib on iOS. (FYI i'm one of the maintainers).
UIWebView works great for SVG.
Just drop it in you app in IB, load a file into it and you are set.
You can then call JavaScript from ObjC, very useful for manipulation.
I just answered another cocoa-touch SVG question: Drawing vector graphics on iphone
but my general suggestion was to look at GitHub for answers (Objective-c & SVG Search)
https://github.com/search?type=Everything&language=objective-c&q=SVG

Stand-alone charts in GWT

I've been trying to get pretty charts to work in GWT on our internal network.
Playing around with GWT-Ext's charts is nice, but it requires flash and is really messy to control (it seems buggy, in general).
I'd like to hear about something that works with the least amount of dependencies and it also must work without a connection to the web (so, Google' charts API isn't a solution).
Edit: Indeed, I would rather a library that is all client-side.
I'm building a GWT chart library based on Flot: http://gflot.googlecode.com
I hope you find it useful. Contact me if you have any questions.
Googling for "GWT +sparklines" has gotten me to gchart, which seems like what I need.
From what I understand - it's all client side and requires nothing more than their JAR file.
Google's charts actually come in two flavours, and one of them does not require interaction with Google's servers - so should satisfy your needs.
Google Image Charts is the API you are thinking of, which is an API on Google's servers that returns images.
Google Interactive Charts is a client side javascript API that renders entirely within the browser: Google Interactive Charts
Google provides a GWT wrapper for the interactive charts: GWT Visualization API
It's not all rainbows and unicorns and you can find chart libs out there that make nicer charts, but it's pretty solid, works on all major browsers and we've been using it successfully for quite a while.
http://code.google.com/p/ext-ux-ofcgxt/ is a nice option if you're using ext-gwt
Do you want something that has a server side component or entirely client driven? The best ones I have seen are all flash, alas. I have done little tricks with JS and GWT before, but there is only sophisticated I will get before I go hunting for a library to do it for me.
There is also "sparklines" - they are available in lots of flavours (very simple charts though).
gchart looks seriously awesome. Go with it !
If you're looking for client-side check out flotr which is based on prototype javascript library or flot which is based on jQuery. Both work well, though flot seems like its got a bigger backing.
If you are willing to go with flash, XML/SWF is a wonderful tool
+1 flot, requires jQuery though, so might not play well with GWT, I haven't used that.
Another flash option, with a pre-built GWT integration - Open Flash Chart / ofcgwt.
I think that gwt-chart is a better framework for you.
well.. i've used yahoo ui chart library (which GWT-Ext uses internally). Pretty neat solution, in the beta stage though.
Let us know the conclusion you arrive at..
There is one open source api for charts in GWT hosted on http://code.google.com/p/gwt-rcharts/ . The API works on SVG/VML specification. You may find it quite easy to implement and use. You may find the demo at http://gwt-rcharts.appspot.com/