xmllint — command line XML tool
xmllint [ --version | --debug | --quiet | --shell | --xpath " | XPath_expression"--debugent | --copy | --recover | --nodict | --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 | --pedantic ] { XML-FILE(S)... | - }
xmllint --help
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).
xmllint accepts the following options (in alphabetical order):
--autoGenerate a small document for testing purposes.
--catalogs
Use the SGML catalog(s) from SGML_CATALOG_FILES.
Otherwise XML catalogs starting
from /etc/xml/catalog or, more specifically,
${sysconfdir}/xml/catalog are used by default.
--chkregisterTurn on node registration. Useful for developers testing libxml(3) node tracking code.
--compressTurn on gzip(1) compression of output.
--copyTest 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.
--debugParse a file and output an annotated tree of the in-memory version of the document.
--debugentDebug the entities defined in the document.
--dropdtdRemove DTD from output.
--dtdattrFetch external DTD and populate the tree with inherited attributes.
--encode ENCODINGOutput in the given encoding. Note that this works for full document not fragments or result from XPath queries.
--format
Reformat and reindent the output. The XMLLINT_INDENT
environment variable controls the indentation. The default value is two
spaces " ").
--helpPrint out a short usage summary for xmllint.
--htmlUse the HTML parser.
--htmloutOutput 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.
--insertTest for valid insertions.
--loaddtdFetch 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.
--memoryParse from memory.
--noblanksDrop ignorable blank spaces.
--nocatalogsDo not use any catalogs.
--nocdataSubstitute CDATA section by equivalent text nodes.
--nodictDon't use dictionaries (parser option XML_PARSE_NODICT). Only for debugging.
--noentSubstitute entity values for entity references. By default, xmllint leaves entity references in place.
--nonetDo not use the Internet to fetch DTDs or entities.
--nooutSuppress output. By default, xmllint outputs the result tree.
--nowarningDo not emit warnings from the parser and/or validator.
--nowrapDo not output HTML doc wrapper.
--noxincludenodeDo XInclude processing but do not generate XInclude start and end nodes.
--nscleanRemove redundant namespace declarations.
--output FILE
Define a file path where xmllint will save the result of parsing.
Usually the programs build a tree and save it
on stdout, with this option
the result XML instance will be saved onto a file.
--path "PATH(S)"
Use the (space- or colon-separated) list of filesystem paths specified
by PATHS to load DTDs or
entities. Enclose space-separated lists by quotation marks.
--pattern PATTERNVALUEUsed 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.
--pedanticEnable additional warnings.
--postvalidValidate after parsing has completed.
--pushUse the push mode of the parser.
--quietDon't print informational messages to stderr.
--recoverOutput any parsable portions of an invalid document.
--relaxng SCHEMA
Use RelaxNG file named SCHEMA
for validation.
--repeatRepeat 100 times, for timing or profiling.
--schema SCHEMA
Use a W3C XML Schema file
named SCHEMA for validation.
--shellRun 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.
--testIOTest user input/output support.
--timingOutput 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.
--versionDisplay the version of libxml(3) used.
--walkerTest the walker module, which is a reader interface but for a document tree, instead of using the reader API on an unparsed document it works on an existing in-memory tree. Used for debugging.
--xincludeDo XInclude processing.
--xmlout
Used in conjunction with --html. Usually
when HTML is parsed the document is saved with
the HTML serializer. But with this option the
resulting document is saved with the XML
serializer. This is primarily used to
generate XHTML from HTML input.
xmllint offers an interactive shell mode invoked with
the --shell command. Available commands in shell mode
include (in alphabetical order):
Display XML base of the node.
Leave the shell.
NODEDisplay the given node or the current one.
PATHChange the current node to the given path (if unique) or root if no argument is given.
PATHDumps information about the node (namespace, attributes, content).
PATHShow the structure of the subtree under the given path or the current node.
Leave the shell.
Show this help.
Display memory usage.
FILENAMELoad a new document with the given filename.
PATHList contents of the given path or the current directory.
Display the path to the current node.
Leave the shell.
FILENAMESave the current document to the given filename or to the original name.
validateCheck the document for errors.
FILENAMEWrite the current node to the given filename.
SGML_CATALOG_FILESSGML 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 deactivate loading the
default catalog.
XML_CATALOG_FILESXML catalog behavior can be changed by redirecting
queries to the user's own set of catalogs. This can be done by setting
the XML_CATALOG_FILES environment variable to a space-separated
list of catalogs. Use percent-encoding to escape spaces or other characters.
An empty variable should deactivate loading the default catalog.
XML_DEBUG_CATALOGSetting the environment variable XML_DEBUG_CATALOG
to non-zero using the export
command outputs debugging information related to catalog operations.
XMLLINT_INDENTSetting the environment variable XMLLINT_INDENT
controls the indentation. The default value is two spaces " ".
xmllint return codes provide information that can be used when calling it from scripts.
No error
Unclassified
Error in DTD
Validation error
Validation error
Error in schema compilation
Error writing output
Error in pattern (generated when --pattern option is used)
Error in Reader registration (generated
when --chkregister option is used)
Out of memory error
XPath evaluation error
libxml(3)
More information can be found at
libxml(3) web page https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2