# phpman > man > XML::Grove::AsString(3pm)

## NAME
    [XML::Grove::AsString](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/XML%3A%3AGrove%3A%3AAsString/markdown) - output content of XML objects as a string

## SYNOPSIS
     use [XML::Grove::AsString](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/XML%3A%3AGrove%3A%3AAsString/markdown);

     # Using as_string method on [XML::Grove::Document](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/XML%3A%3AGrove%3A%3ADocument/markdown) or [XML::Grove::Element](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/XML%3A%3AGrove%3A%3AElement/markdown):
     $string = $xml_object->as_string OPTIONS;
     $string = $element->attr_as_string $attr, OPTIONS;

     # Using an [XML::Grove::AsString](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/XML%3A%3AGrove%3A%3AAsString/markdown) instance:
     $writer = new [XML::Grove::AsString](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/XML%3A%3AGrove%3A%3AAsString/markdown) OPTIONS;

     $string = $writer->as_string($xml_object);
     $writer->as_string($xml_object, $file_handle);

## DESCRIPTION
    Calling `"as_string"' on an XML object returns the character data contents of that object as a
    string, including all elements below that object. Calling `"attr_as_string"' on an element
    returns the contents of the named attribute as a string. Comments, processing instructions, and,
    by default, entities all return an empty string.

    *OPTIONS* may either be a key-value list or a hash containing the options described below.
    *OPTIONS* may be modified directly in the object. The default options are no filtering and
    entities are mapped to empty strings.

## OPTIONS
    Filter
        `"Filter"' is an anonymous sub that gets called to process character data before it is
        appended to the string to be returned. This can be used, for example, to escape characters
        that are special in output formats. The `"Filter"' sub is called like this:

            $string = &$filter ($character_data);

    EntityMap
        `"EntityMap"' is an object that accepts `"lookup"' methods or an anonymous sub that gets
        called with the entity replacement text (data) and mapper options as arguments and returns
        the corresponding character replacements. It is called like this if it is an object:

            $replacement_text = $entity_map->lookup ($entity_data,
                                                     $entity_map_options);

        or this if it is a sub:

            $replacement_text = &$entity_map ($entity_data,
                                              $entity_map_options);

    EntityMapOptions
        `"EntityMapOptions"' is a hash passed through to the `"lookup"' method or anonymous sub, the
        type of value is defined by the entity mapping package or the anonymous sub.

    EntityMapFilter
        `"EntityMapFilter"' is a flag to indicate if mapped entities should be filtered after
        mapping.

## EXAMPLES
    Here is an example of entity mapping using the [Text::EntityMap](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Text%3A%3AEntityMap/markdown) module:

        use [Text::EntityMap](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Text%3A%3AEntityMap/markdown);
        use [XML::Grove::AsString](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/XML%3A%3AGrove%3A%3AAsString/markdown);

        $html_iso_dia = [Text::EntityMap](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Text%3A%3AEntityMap/markdown)->load ('ISOdia.2html');
        $html_iso_pub = [Text::EntityMap](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Text%3A%3AEntityMap/markdown)->load ('ISOpub.2html');
        $html_map = [Text::EntityMap](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Text%3A%3AEntityMap/markdown)->group ($html_iso_dia,
                                            $html_iso_pub);

        $element->as_string (EntityMap => $html_map);

## AUTHOR
    Ken MacLeod, <ken@bitsko.slc.ut.us>

## SEE ALSO
### perl

    Extensible Markup Language (XML) <<http://www.w3c.org/XML>>