xmllint - command line XML tool at Linux.org

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XMLLINT(1) xmllint Manual XMLLINT(1)

NAME
xmllint - command line XML tool

SYNOPSIS
xmllint [--version | --debug | --shell | --xpath "XPath_expression" | --debugent | --copy | --recover |
--noent | --noout | --nonet | --path "PATH(S)" | --load-trace | --htmlout | --nowrap | --valid |
--postvalid | --dtdvalid URL | --dtdvalidfpi FPI | --timing | --output FILE | --repeat | --insert |
--compress | --html | --xmlout | --push | --memory | --maxmem NBBYTES | --nowarning | --noblanks |
--nocdata | --format | --encode ENCODING | --dropdtd | --nsclean | --testIO | --catalogs |
--nocatalogs | --auto | --xinclude | --noxincludenode | --loaddtd | --dtdattr | --stream | --walker |
--pattern PATTERNVALUE | --chkregister | --relaxng SCHEMA | --schema SCHEMA | --c14n] {XML-FILE(S)...
| -}

xmllint --help

DESCRIPTION
The xmllint program parses one or more XML files, specified on the command line as XML-FILE (or the standard
input if the filename provided is - ). It prints various types of output, depending upon the options selected.
It is useful for detecting errors both in XML code and in the XML parser itself.

xmllint is included in libxml(3).

OPTIONS
xmllint accepts the following options (in alphabetical order):

--auto
Generate a small document for testing purposes.

--catalogs
Use the SGML catalog(s) from SGML_CATALOG_FILES. Otherwise XML catalogs starting from /etc/xml/catalog are
used by default.

--chkregister
Turn on node registration. Useful for developers testing libxml(3) node tracking code.

--compress
Turn on gzip(1) compression of output.

--copy
Test the internal copy implementation.

--c14n
Use the W3C XML Canonicalisation (C14N) to serialize the result of parsing to stdout. It keeps comments in
the result.

--dtdvalid URL
Use the DTD specified by an URL for validation.

--dtdvalidfpi FPI
Use the DTD specified by a Formal Public Identifier FPI for validation, note that this will require a
catalog exporting that Formal Public Identifier to work.

--debug
Parse a file and output an annotated tree of the in-memory version of the document.

--debugent

Reformat and reindent the output. The XMLLINT_INDENT environment variable controls the indentation. The
default value is two spaces " ").

--help
Print out a short usage summary for xmllint.

--html
Use the HTML parser.

--htmlout
Output results as an HTML file. This causes xmllint to output the necessary HTML tags surrounding the
result tree output so the results can be displayed/viewed in a browser.

--insert
Test for valid insertions.

--loaddtd
Fetch an external DTD.

--load-trace
Display all the documents loaded during the processing to stderr.

--maxmem NNBYTES
Test the parser memory support. NNBYTES is the maximum number of bytes the library is allowed to
allocate. This can also be used to make sure batch processing of XML files will not exhaust the virtual
memory of the server running them.

--memory
Parse from memory.

--noblanks
Drop ignorable blank spaces.

--nocatalogs
Do not use any catalogs.

--nocdata
Substitute CDATA section by equivalent text nodes.

--noent
Substitute entity values for entity references. By default, xmllint leaves entity references in place.

--nonet
Do not use the Internet to fetch DTDs or entities.

--noout
Suppress output. By default, xmllint outputs the result tree.

--nowarning
Do not emit warnings from the parser and/or validator.

--nowrap
Do not output HTML doc wrapper.

Enclose space-separated lists by quotation marks.

--pattern PATTERNVALUE
Used to exercise the pattern recognition engine, which can be used with the reader interface to the
parser. It allows to select some nodes in the document based on an XPath (subset) expression. Used for
debugging.

--postvalid
Validate after parsing has completed.

--push
Use the push mode of the parser.

--recover
Output any parsable portions of an invalid document.

--relaxng SCHEMA
Use RelaxNG file named SCHEMA for validation.

--repeat
Repeat 100 times, for timing or profiling.

--schema SCHEMA
Use a W3C XML Schema file named SCHEMA for validation.

--shell
Run a navigating shell. Details on available commands in shell mode are below (see the section called
“SHELL COMMANDS”).

--xpath "XPath_expression"
Run an XPath expression given as argument and print the result. In case of a nodeset result, each node in
the node set is serialized in full in the output. In case of an empty node set the "XPath set is empty"
result will be shown and an error exit code will be returned.

--stream
Use streaming API - useful when used in combination with --relaxng or --valid options for validation of
files that are too large to be held in memory.

--testIO
Test user input/output support.

--timing
Output information about the time it takes xmllint to perform the various steps.

--valid
Determine if the document is a valid instance of the included Document Type Definition (DTD). A DTD to be
validated against also can be specified at the command line using the --dtdvalid option. By default,
xmllint also checks to determine if the document is well-formed.

--version
Display the version of libxml(3) used.

--walker
Test the walker module, which is a reader interface but for a document tree, instead of using the reader

include (in alphabetical order):

base
Display XML base of the node.

bye
Leave the shell.

cat NODE
Display the given node or the current one.

cd PATH
Change the current node to the given path (if unique) or root if no argument is given.

dir PATH
Dumps information about the node (namespace, attributes, content).

du PATH
Show the structure of the subtree under the given path or the current node.

exit
Leave the shell.

help
Show this help.

free
Display memory usage.

load FILENAME
Load a new document with the given filename.

ls PATH
List contents of the given path or the current directory.

pwd
Display the path to the current node.

quit
Leave the shell.

save FILENAME
Save the current document to the given filename or to the original name.

validate
Check the document for errors.

write FILENAME
Write the current node to the given filename.

ENVIRONMENT
SGML_CATALOG_FILES
SGML catalog behavior can be changed by redirecting queries to the user's own set of catalogs. This can be
done by setting the SGML_CATALOG_FILES environment variable to a list of catalogs. An empty one should
Setting the environment variable XMLLINT_INDENT controls the indentation. The default value is two spaces
" ".

DIAGNOSTICS
xmllint return codes provide information that can be used when calling it from scripts.

0
No error

1
Unclassified

2
Error in DTD

3
Validation error

4
Validation error

5
Error in schema compilation

6
Error writing output

7
Error in pattern (generated when --pattern option is used)

8
Error in Reader registration (generated when --chkregister option is used)

9
Out of memory error