Adaptive parsing of sparse xml data

Abstract

Techniques for representing and generating XML data are provided. An associated system includes one or more processors and a mapping module configured to execute upon the one or more processors. The mapping module is configured to map each sparsely-encoded XML element of a sparse representation of a document into a complete, valid XML document. The system also includes a defaulting module configured to execute upon the one or more processors. The defaulting module is configured to generate at least one XML element that is missing in the sparse representation but required to generate the complete, valid XML document.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for representing and generating XML data, the method comprising:
 receiving a sparse representation document failing to satisfy a predefined schema, the sparse representation document comprising at least one sparsely-encoded XML element comprising valid XML code portions that are limited to defining attribute values without corresponding tags;   parsing the sparse representation document according to a predefined set of XML parsing rules, wherein the parsing generates a XML document having a valid XML structure according to the predefined schema; and   responsive to encountering the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element during the parsing, applying a mapping function to the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element, wherein the mapping function maps the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element to a nested location in the XML document, and wherein the mapping function utilizes a heuristic.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating at least one other XML element defining attribute values required for the XML document. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein generating the at least one other XML element comprises defaulting attribute values per attribute according to a data type specified by the predefined schema. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the nested location is a location within a subtree of the XML document that corresponds to a subtree of the sparse representation document in which at least one sparsely-encoded XML element is located. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the nested location is determined by user-specified rule. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising identifying an appropriate user-specified rule among a plurality of user-specified rules based upon a context of the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the heuristic handles at least one mapping by selecting a most recently encountered element. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mapping function uses a combination of elements to determine a unique nesting structure. 
     
     
         9 . A system for representing and generating XML data, the system comprising:
 at least one processor; and   a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions for causing the at least one processor to perform steps of:
 receiving a sparse representation document failing to satisfy a predefined schema, the sparse representation document comprising at least one sparsely-encoded XML element comprising valid XML code portions that are limited to defining attribute values without corresponding tags; 
 parsing the sparse representation document according to a predefined set of XML parsing rules, wherein the parsing generates a XML document having a valid XML structure according to the predefined schema; and 
 responsive to encountering the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element during the parsing, applying a mapping function to the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element, wherein the mapping function is configured to map the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element to a nested location in the XML document, and wherein the mapping function is further configured to utilize a heuristic to handle at least one mapping. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to perform a further step of generating at least one other XML element defining attribute values required for the XML document. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the nested location is a location within a subtree of the XML document that corresponds to a subtree of the sparse representation document in which the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element is located. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the nested location is determined by user-specified rule. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the heuristic handles the least one mapping by selecting a most recently encountered element. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the mapping function is further configured to use a combination of elements to determine a unique nesting structure. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-readable storage medium in which is embedded computer-readable code that when loaded on a computer causes the computer to perform steps of:
 receiving a sparse representation document failing to satisfy a predefined schema, the sparse representation document comprising at least one sparsely-encoded XML element comprising valid XML code portions that are limited to defining attribute values without corresponding tags;   parsing the sparse representation document according to a predefined set of XML parsing rules, wherein the parsing generates a XML document having a valid XML structure according to the predefined schema; and   responsive to encountering the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element during the parsing, applying a mapping function to the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element, wherein the mapping function is configured to map the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element to a nested location in the XML document, and wherein the mapping function is further configured to utilize a heuristic to handle at least one mapping.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the computer-readable code causes the computer to further perform a step of generating at least one other XML element defining attribute values required for the XML document. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the nested location is a location within a subtree of the XML document that corresponds to a subtree of the sparse representation document in which the at least one sparsely-encoded XML element is located. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the nested location is determined by user-specified rule. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the heuristic handles the at least one mapping by selecting a most recently encountered element. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the mapping function is further configured to use a combination of elements to determine a unique nesting structure.