Java XML api removes whitespace before self closing tag

Question

I've XML file which contains only one element

<Message>
    <Location URI ="XXX:XXX:XXX" />
</Message>

I want to read and print same XML using Java, but after print it loses white space before />

<Message>
    <Location URI ="XXX:XXX:XXX"/>
</Message>

I have tried different configuration of DocumentBuilderFactory and Transformer but the result is same.

Any Idea?

DocumentBuilderFactory factory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
DocumentBuilder builder = factory.newDocumentBuilder();
Document requestDocument = builder.parse(this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("/message-template.xml"));

TransformerFactory tf = TransformerFactory.newInstance();
Transformer transformer = tf.newTransformer();
transformer.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.OMIT_XML_DECLARATION, "yes");
DOMSource domSource = new DOMSource(requestDocument);
StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
StreamResult result = new StreamResult(writer);
transformer.transform(domSource, result);

System.out.println(writer.toString());

Why is the space relevant for you? Both XML code describe the same document. — Progman
– Progman, Commented Jul 29, 2018 at 17:33
@Nikolas I've edited my question. Now you can see code snippet — Niko
– Niko, Commented Jul 29, 2018 at 17:41
"Any Idea?" Several. Stop caring if the space is there. Don't read and print, just print. Write your own set of XML tools that don't care about the XML standards and act as if the space you're concerned about matters. — kumesana
– kumesana, Commented Jul 29, 2018 at 17:48

davidxxx · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-29 17:56:31Z

1

Here :

DOMSource domSource = new DOMSource(requestDocument);
...
transformer.transform(domSource, result);

You transform a DOMSource into a StreamResult . A DOMSource is not not a textual representation of the XML file but a Document Object Model (DOM) tree.
So whitespaces that are not considered as relevant to represent the content of the tree are not kept in the DOMSource :

URI ="XXX:XXX:XXX" />
                  |-------> not preserved

Most of APIs to represent and manipulate XML work in this way.
If you need to keep not significant whitespace in your result, you should probably do yourself the parsing of the XML file.

answered Jul 29, 2018 at 17:56

davidxxx

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