How to Pretty Print XML in Java

Sheeraz Gul Feb 02, 2024

Java Java XML

Pretty Print XML in the Console
Pretty Print XML in a File

Pretty printing the XML means printing the XML code in an intended way. This tutorial demonstrates how to pretty-print the XML in the console and an XML file.

Pretty Print XML in the Console

The example below demonstrates how to create XML and pretty print it in the console:

package delftstack;

import java.io.File;
import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder;
import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;
import javax.xml.transform.OutputKeys;
import javax.xml.transform.Transformer;
import javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory;
import javax.xml.transform.dom.DOMSource;
import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult;
import org.w3c.dom.Document;
import org.w3c.dom.Element;
import org.w3c.dom.Node;

public class XML_Pretty_Print {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    DocumentBuilderFactory Doc_Builder_Factory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
    DocumentBuilder Document_Builder;
    try {
      Document_Builder = Doc_Builder_Factory.newDocumentBuilder();
      Document document = Document_Builder.newDocument();
      // adding elements to Document
      Element Root_Element = document.createElementNS("https://www.delftstack.com/", "Tutorials");
      document.appendChild(Root_Element);

      // add a first child element to the root element
      Root_Element.appendChild(Get_Tutorial(document, "1",
          "Perform String to String Array Conversion in Java",
          "https://www.delftstack.com/howto/java/how-to-perform-string-to-string-array-conversion-in-java/",
          "Java", "May-21, 2020"));

      // add a second child
      Root_Element.appendChild(Get_Tutorial(document, "2", "Compile a C++ Program Using GCC",
          "https://www.delftstack.com/howto/cpp/gcc-compile-cpp/", "C++", "March-25, 2022"));
      // add third child
      Root_Element.appendChild(Get_Tutorial(document, "3", "Python Tutorial - Introduction",
          "https://www.delftstack.com/tutorial/python-3-basic-tutorial/python-introduction/",
          "Python", "January-29, 2018"));

      // create output
      TransformerFactory Transformer_Factory = TransformerFactory.newInstance();
      Transformer transformer = Transformer_Factory.newTransformer();
      // open indent for the xml code (Pretty Print)
      transformer.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.INDENT, "yes");
      DOMSource Dom_Source = new DOMSource(document);

      // Pretty Print the XML to Console
      StreamResult XML_console = new StreamResult(System.out);
      transformer.transform(Dom_Source, XML_console);

    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }

  private static Node Get_Tutorial(Document document, String id, String article_name, String link,
      String programming_language, String date_created) {
    Element tutorial = document.createElement("Tutorial");

    // set the tutorial id attribute
    tutorial.setAttribute("Id", id);

    // create article name element
    tutorial.appendChild(Get_Tutorial_Elements(document, tutorial, "ArticleName", article_name));

    // create the Link element
    tutorial.appendChild(Get_Tutorial_Elements(document, tutorial, "Link", link));

    // create the Programming Language element
    tutorial.appendChild(
        Get_Tutorial_Elements(document, tutorial, "ProgrammingLanguage", programming_language));

    // create Date Created element
    tutorial.appendChild(Get_Tutorial_Elements(document, tutorial, "DateCreated", date_created));

    return tutorial;
  }

  // method to create text node
  private static Node Get_Tutorial_Elements(
      Document document, Element element, String element_name, String element_value) {
    Element element_node = document.createElement(element_name);
    element_node.appendChild(document.createTextNode(element_value));
    return element_node;
  }
}

Output:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<Tutorials xmlns="https://www.delftstack.com/">
    <Tutorial Id="1">
        <ArticleName>Perform String to String Array Conversion in Java</ArticleName>
        <Link>https://www.delftstack.com/howto/java/how-to-perform-string-to-string-array-conversion-in-java/</Link>
        <ProgrammingLanguage>Java</ProgrammingLanguage>
        <DateCreated>May-21, 2020</DateCreated>
    </Tutorial>
    <Tutorial Id="2">
        <ArticleName>Compile a C++ Program Using GCC</ArticleName>
        <Link>https://www.delftstack.com/howto/cpp/gcc-compile-cpp/</Link>
        <ProgrammingLanguage>C++</ProgrammingLanguage>
        <DateCreated>March-25, 2022</DateCreated>
    </Tutorial>
    <Tutorial Id="3">
        <ArticleName>Python Tutorial - Introduction</ArticleName>
        <Link>https://www.delftstack.com/tutorial/python-3-basic-tutorial/python-introduction/</Link>
        <ProgrammingLanguage>Python</ProgrammingLanguage>
        <DateCreated>January-29, 2018</DateCreated>
    </Tutorial>
</Tutorials>

Pretty Print XML in a File

To pretty-print XML in a file, we have to create an XML file and write the XML in that file using the pretty print way. See example:

package delftstack;

import java.io.File;
import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder;
import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;
import javax.xml.transform.OutputKeys;
import javax.xml.transform.Transformer;
import javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory;
import javax.xml.transform.dom.DOMSource;
import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult;
import org.w3c.dom.Document;
import org.w3c.dom.Element;
import org.w3c.dom.Node;

public class XML_Pretty_Print {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    DocumentBuilderFactory Doc_Builder_Factory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
    DocumentBuilder Document_Builder;
    try {
      Document_Builder = Doc_Builder_Factory.newDocumentBuilder();
      Document document = Document_Builder.newDocument();
      // adding elements to Document
      Element Root_Element = document.createElementNS("https://www.delftstack.com/", "Tutorials");
      document.appendChild(Root_Element);

      // add a first child element to the root element
      Root_Element.appendChild(Get_Tutorial(document, "1",
          "Perform String to String Array Conversion in Java",
          "https://www.delftstack.com/howto/java/how-to-perform-string-to-string-array-conversion-in-java/",
          "Java", "May-21, 2020"));

      // add a second child
      Root_Element.appendChild(Get_Tutorial(document, "2", "Compile a C++ Program Using GCC",
          "https://www.delftstack.com/howto/cpp/gcc-compile-cpp/", "C++", "March-25, 2022"));
      // add third child
      Root_Element.appendChild(Get_Tutorial(document, "3", "Python Tutorial - Introduction",
          "https://www.delftstack.com/tutorial/python-3-basic-tutorial/python-introduction/",
          "Python", "January-29, 2018"));

      // create output
      TransformerFactory Transformer_Factory = TransformerFactory.newInstance();
      Transformer transformer = Transformer_Factory.newTransformer();
      // open indent for the xml code (Pretty Print)
      transformer.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.INDENT, "yes");
      DOMSource Dom_Source = new DOMSource(document);

      // Create a file and write XML to it
      StreamResult XML_file = new StreamResult(new File("delftstack.xml"));
      // write data
      transformer.transform(Dom_Source, XML_file);

      System.out.println("The XML file has been Generated");

    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }

  private static Node Get_Tutorial(Document document, String id, String article_name, String link,
      String programming_language, String date_created) {
    Element tutorial = document.createElement("Tutorial");

    // set the tutorial id attribute
    tutorial.setAttribute("Id", id);

    // create article name element
    tutorial.appendChild(Get_Tutorial_Elements(document, tutorial, "ArticleName", article_name));

    // create the Link element
    tutorial.appendChild(Get_Tutorial_Elements(document, tutorial, "Link", link));

    // create the Programming Language element
    tutorial.appendChild(
        Get_Tutorial_Elements(document, tutorial, "ProgrammingLanguage", programming_language));

    // create Date Created element
    tutorial.appendChild(Get_Tutorial_Elements(document, tutorial, "DateCreated", date_created));

    return tutorial;
  }

  // method to create text node
  private static Node Get_Tutorial_Elements(
      Document document, Element element, String element_name, String element_value) {
    Element element_node = document.createElement(element_name);
    element_node.appendChild(document.createTextNode(element_value));
    return element_node;
  }
}

The code above will write the XML into a file using a pretty print way.

Output:

The XML file has been Generated

Pretty Print XML in Java

Author: Sheeraz Gul

Sheeraz is a Doctorate fellow in Computer Science at Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xian, China. He has 7 years of Software Development experience in AI, Web, Database, and Desktop technologies. He writes tutorials in Java, PHP, Python, GoLang, R, etc., to help beginners learn the field of Computer Science.

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Pretty Print XML in the Console

Pretty Print XML in a File

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