NAME
   XML::Merge - flexibly merge XML documents

VERSION
   This documentation refers to version 1.2.565EgGd of XML::Merge, which
   was released on Sun Jun 5 14:42:16:39 2005.

SYNOPSIS
     use XML::Merge;

     # create new    XML::Merge object from         MainFile.xml
     my $merge_obj = XML::Merge->new('filename' => 'MainFile.xml');

     # Merge File2Add.xml              into         MainFile.xml
        $merge_obj->merge(           'filename' => 'File2Add.xml');

     # Tidy up the indenting that resulted from the merge
        $merge_obj->tidy();

     # Write out changes back            to         MainFile.xml
        $merge_obj->write();

DESCRIPTION
   This module inherits from XML::Tidy which in turn inherits from
   XML::XPath. This ensures that Merge objects' indenting can be tidied up
   after any merge operation since such modification usually spells the
   ruination of indentation. Polymorphism allows Merge objects to be
   utilized as normal XML::XPath objects as well.

   The merging behavior is setup to combine separate XML documents
   according to certain rules && configurable options. If both documents
   have root nodes which are elements of the same name, the documents are
   merged directly. Otherwise, one is merged as a child of the other. An
   optional XPath location can be specified as the place to perform the
   merge. If no location is specified, the merge is attempted at the first
   matching element or is appended as the new last child of the other root
   if no match is found.

2DO
   - mk namespaces && attz stay in order after merge()
   - mk txt apnd merg optn
   - handle comment joins && stamping && options
   - support modification-time _cres
   - add _ignr ignore list of merg xplc's to not merge (pre-prune())
   - support _idea options where several attz together are single id
   - What else does Merge need?

USAGE
 new()
   This is the standard Merge object constructor. It can take the same
   parameters as an XML::XPath object constructor to initialize the primary
   XML document object (the object which subsequent XML documents will be
   merged into). These parameters can be any one of:

     'filename' => 'SomeFile.xml'
     'xml'      => $variable_which_holds_a_bunch_of_XML_data
     'ioref'    => $file_InputOutput_reference
     'context'  => $existing_node_at_specified_context_to_become_new_obj

   Merge's new() can also accept merge-option parameters to override the
   default merge behavior. These include:

     'conflict_resolution_method' => 'main', # main  file wins
     'conflict_resolution_method' => 'merg', # merge file wins
                      # 'last-in_wins' is an alias for 'merg'
     'conflict_resolution_method' => 'warn', # croak conflicts
     'conflict_resolution_method' => 'test', # just test, 0 if conflict
     # this option is not implemented yet, please say if you need it
     'comment_join_method' => 'none',

 merge()
   The merge() member function can accept the same XML::XPath constructor
   options as new() but this time they are for the temporary file which
   will be merged into the main object. Merge-options from new() can also
   be specified && they will only impact one particular invokation of
   merge(). The specified document will be merged into the primary XML
   document object according to the following default merge rules:

     0. If both documents share the same root element name, they are
          merged directly.
     1. If they don't share root elements but the temporary merge file's
          root element is found anywhere within the main file, the merge
          occurs at the match.
     2. If no root element match is found, the merge document becomes the
          new last child of the main file's root element.
     3. Whenever a deeper level is found with an element of the same name
          in both documents && either it does not contain any
          distinguishing attributes or it has attributes which are
          recognized as 'identifier' (id) attributes (by default, for any
          element, these are attributes named: 'id', 'name', && 'handle'),
          a corresponding element is searched for to match && merge with.
     4. Any remaining (non-id) nodes are merged in document order.
     5. When a conflict arises as non-id attributes or other nodes merge,
          the specified conflict_resolution_method merge-option is
          applied (which by default has the main file data persist at the
          expense of the merging file data).

   Some of the above rules can be overridden first by the object's
   merge-options && second by the particular method call's merge-options.
   Thus, if the default merge-option for conflict resolution is to have the
   main object win && you use the following constructor:

     my $merge_obj = XML::Merge->new(
       'filename'                   => 'MainFile.xml',
       'conflict_resolution_method' => 'last-in_wins');

   ... then any $merge_obj->merge() call would override the default merge
   behavior by letting the document being merged have priority over the
   main object's document. However, you could supply additional
   merge-options in the parameter list of your specific merge() call like:

     $merge_obj->merge(
       'filename'                   => 'File2Add.xml',
       'conflict_resolution_method' => 'warn');

   ... then the latest option would override the already overridden.

   The 'test' conflict_resolution_method merge-option does not modify the
   object at all. It solely returns true if no conflict is encountered. It
   should be used like:

     foreach(@files) {
       if($merge_obj->merge('cres' => 'test', $_)) {
         $merge_obj->merge($_); # only do it if there are no conflicts
       } else {
         croak("Yipes! Conflict with file:$_!\n");
       }
     }

   merge() can also accept another XML::Merge object as a parameter for
   what to be merged with the main object instead of a filename. An example
   of this is:

     $merge_obj->merge($another_merge_obj);

   Along with the merge options that can be specified in the object
   constructor, merge() also accepts the following options to specify where
   to perform the merge relative to:

     'merge_destination_path' => $main_obj_xpath_location,
     'merge_source_path'      => $merging_obj_xpath_location,

 unmerge()
   The unmerge() member function is a shorthand for calling both write() &&
   prune() on a certain XPath location which should be written out to a
   disk file before being removed from the Merge object. Please see
   XML::Tidy for documentation of the inherited write() && prune() member
   functions.

   This unmerge() process could be the opposite of merge() if no original
   elements or attributes overlapped && combined but if combining did
   happen, this would remove original sections of your primary XML
   document's data from your Merge object so please use this carefully. It
   is meant to help separate a giant object (probably the result of myriad
   merge() calls) back into separate useful well-formed XML documents on
   disk.

   unmerge() takes a filename && an xpath_location parameter.

Accessors
 get_object_to_merge()
   Returns the object which was last merged into the main object.

 set_object_to_merge()
   Assigns the object which was last merged into the main object.

 get_conflict_resolution_method()
   Returns the underlying merge-option conflict_resolution_method.

 set_conflict_resolution_method()
   A new value can be provided as a parameter to be assigned as the
   XML::Merge object's merge-option.

 get_comment_join_method()
   Returns the underlying merge-option comment_join_method.

 set_comment_join_method()
   A new value can be provided as a parameter to be assigned as the
   XML::Merge object's merge-option.

 get_id_xpath_list()
   Returns the underlying id_xpath_list. This is normally just a list of
   attributes (eg. '@id', '@name', '@handle') which are unique identifiers
   for any XML element. When these attribute names are encountered during a
   merge(), another element with the same name && attribute value are
   matched for further merging && conflict resolution.

 set_id_xpath_list()
   A new list can assigned to the XML::Merge object's id_xpath_list.

   Please note that this list normally contains XPath attributes so they
   must be preceded by an at-symbol (@) like: '@example_id_attribute'.

CHANGES
   Revision history for Perl extension XML::Merge:

   - 1.2.565EgGd Sun Jun 5 14:42:16:39 2005
       * added use XML::Tidy to make sure exports are available

       * removed 02prune.t && moved 03keep.t to 02keep.t ... passing tests
       is good

   - 1.2.4CCJWiB Sun Dec 12 19:32:44:11 2004
       * guessing how to fix Darwin test failure @ t/02prune.t first
       prune() call

   - 1.0.4CAL5IS Fri Dec 10 21:05:18:28 2004
       * fixed buggy _recmerge

   - 1.0.4CAEU0I Fri Dec 10 14:30:00:18 2004
       * made accessors for _id_xpath_list

       * made _id_xpath_list take XPath locations instead of elem names
       (old _idea)

       * made test _cres (at Marc's request)

       * made warn _cres croak

       * made Merge inherit from Tidy (which inherits from XPath)

       * separated reload(), strip(), tidy(), prune(), && write() into own
       XML::Tidy module

   - 1.0.4C2Nf0R Thu Dec 2 23:41:00:27 2004
       * updated license && prep'd for release

   - 1.0.4C2BcI2 Thu Dec 2 11:38:18:02 2004
       * updated reload(), strip(), && tidy() to verify _xpob exists

   - 1.0.4C1JHOl Wed Dec 1 19:17:24:47 2004
       * commented out override stuff since it's probably bad form && dumps
       crap warnings all over tests && causes them to fail... so I guess
       just uncomment that stuff if you care to preserve PI's && escapes

   - 1.0.4C1J7gt Wed Dec 1 19:07:42:55 2004
       * made merge() accept merge_source_xpath && merge_destination_xpath
       params

       * made merge() accept other Merge objects

       * made reload() not clobber basic escapes (by overriding Text
       toString())

       * made tidy() not kill processing-instructions (by overriding
       node_test())

       * made tidy() not kill comments

   - 1.0.4BOHGjm Wed Nov 24 17:16:45:48 2004
       * fixed merge() same elems with diff ids bug

   - 1.0.4BNBCZL Tue Nov 23 11:12:35:21 2004
       * rewrote both merge() && _recmerge() _cres stuff since it was buggy
       before... so hopefully consistently good now

   - 1.0.4BMJCPm Mon Nov 22 19:12:25:48 2004
       * fixed merge() for empty elem matching && _cres on text kids

   - 1.0.4BMGTLF Mon Nov 22 16:29:21:15 2004
       * separated reload() from strip() so that prune() can call it too

   - 1.0.4BM0B3x Mon Nov 22 00:11:03:59 2004
       * fixed tidy() empty elem bug && implemented prune() && unmerge()

   - 1.0.4BJAZpM Fri Nov 19 10:35:51:22 2004
       * fixing e() ABSTRACT gen bug

   - 1.0.4BJAMR6 Fri Nov 19 10:22:27:06 2004
       * fleshed out pod && members

   - 1.0.4AIDqmR Mon Oct 18 13:52:48:27 2004
       * original version

INSTALL
   From your command shell, please run:

       `perl -MCPAN -e "install XML::Merge"`

   or uncompress the package && run the standard:

       `perl Makefile.PL; make; make test; make install`

FILES
   XML::Merge requires:

   Carp to allow errors to croak() from calling sub

   XML::Tidy to use objects derived from XPath to update XML

LICENSE
   Most source code should be Free! Code I have lawful authority over is &&
   shall be! Copyright: (c) 2004, Pip Stuart. Copyleft : This software is
   licensed under the GNU General Public License (version 2), && as such
   comes with NO WARRANTY. Please consult the Free Software Foundation
   (http://FSF.Org) for important information about your freedom.

AUTHOR
   Pip Stuart <[email protected]>

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