Easy XML Parser for MT5

Related: xml parser for metatrader 4/5 - another powerful library for MetaTrader 5 traders.

EasyXML: A Powerful XML and XHTML Parser for MQL5

Core Functionality and Capabilities

Also recommended: XML Parser for MetaTrader 5 - similar library with strong performance on MetaTrader 5.

EasyXML is a robust yet user-friendly XML parser designed to read and process XML data from multiple sources, including URLs, file inputs, and string inputs.
It is entirely developed in native MQL5 and utilizes the Windows native 'wininet.dll' solely for retrieving XML documents from URLs.
EasyXML can parse XML and XHTML documents with virtually unlimited node depth, provided the document is well-formed. It does not, however, perform validation against DTD or XSLT stylesheets.

MQL5 Integration
The node classes in EasyXML inherit from MQL5's native classes, and nodes are stored efficiently.
When navigating the DOM tree, nodes can be easily manipulated using EasyXML's public methods and MQL5's native functions for retrieving and setting data within the DOM.

URL, File Caching, and Debugging
Recognizing the potential unreliability of RSS feed uptimes, EasyXML offers XML caching. It can save a local cache file of a feed after successfully loading it from a URL for the first time. This cache can be used for parsing if the live feed becomes unavailable.
Given that XML and XHTML documents can sometimes contain errors, EasyXML includes a debugging option. While it cannot repair malformed XML, it significantly aids in identifying the source of errors by providing detailed information about the parsed nodes when enabled.
Additionally, all errors encountered are logged and displayed, regardless of whether debugging is active.

Basic Usage
To begin using EasyXML, simply include the base class in your scripts. Then, create an instance of the EasyXML class. Configure debugging and file caching settings as needed, and call one of the methods to load and parse the XML data.
The examples demonstrate all three loading methods. Typically, you will not need to use all of them simultaneously, though you can clear the DOM tree between operations and parse from a different source using the clear() command.
The setdebugging() and seturlcachefile() methods are optional.
easyxmldocument.getdocumentroot() returns the root node of the DOM tree. All nodes, including the root, are of type ceasyxmlnode, which itself is derived from MQL5's cobject. From this point, you can utilize EasyXML methods alongside native MQL5 functions from carrayobj and cobject to traverse the parsed DOM tree.

Recursive and Inline Reading
The readrecursive() function, called in the examples, offers significant advantages over inline reading for recursive XML document processing, although it may not suit every scenario.
Calling attributes() on a node retrieves all parsed attributes, while children() fetches the child nodes. Both methods return a carrayobj containing the elements. You can iterate through these elements using total() within a for() loop. getname() and getvalue() retrieve the node's content.
Inline node iteration is also possible, functioning similarly to the recursive example but requiring a separate for() loop for each node level.

Step-by-Step DOM Manipulation
You can also navigate the DOM step by step and manipulate individual elements:
This process involves using EasyXML methods in conjunction with native MQL5 iteration and getter/setter functions from cobject and carrayobj.
It is crucial to be aware that some of these functions do not perform memory access validation and may return null if unsuccessful.
For instance, calling childnode.next() on a sibling node without checking for pointer validity can lead to a critical bad pointer fault, potentially crashing the script. Therefore, when manually stepping through or manipulating the DOM tree, always ensure pointer validity for cobject and carrayobj methods.

Key Node Getters
[List of important node getters]

Key Node Setters
[List of important node setters]
For advanced node and node array manipulation, refer to the documentation on relevant classes.

Attribute Getters/Setters
Attribute objects provide the same get/setname() and get/setvalue() methods for data storage and retrieval as node objects.

Disclaimer
This software is under active development and, like all software, may contain bugs or defects. Use EasyXML at your own risk and test thoroughly before integrating it into any live trading systems. Please feel free to contact the developer with any questions or issues.

Credits
The integration of wininet.dll for URL content fetching is used by the library. While this library is built on its own unique parsing system, the documentation on MQL5 string operations from 2026 was a valuable learning resource.

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#property copyright "robotfx"
#property link "https://robotfx.org"
#property version   "1.00"
#include <easyxml\easyxml.mqh>
int readrecursive(ceasyxmlnode *actualnode,int inodelevel=0)
  {
   string sspace;
   string soutput;
   stringinit(sspace,inodelevel*4,stringgetcharacter(" ",0));
   soutput += sspace + integertostring(inodelevel) + " - node name: '" + actualnode.getname() + "'";

.......

• This tool is provided for educational and testing purposes only.
• Past performance does not guarantee future results.
• Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Use on a demo account first.
• Results may vary depending on market conditions, broker, and settings.
• We recommend thorough backtesting and forward testing before using with real funds.