I love GInterface definitions, more in Vala, because they are clean an easy to describe API. Interfaces are the way W3C defines their specifications, like SVG and DOM4.
Vala interfaces definition are realy close to be a copy and paste from W3C’s specification definitions. With some, well a bit, work, you can transform them in usable GObject Interfaces definitions.
GXml take DOM4 interfaces and implement them, using a set of instantiable classes.
GXml provides a GObject to XML and back serialization framework, allowing you to define your own classes and how you want your data is represented in XML.
In order to read back your information, GXml needs to create, on-the-fly, instances of your classes, this means you need GObject ones no GInterface.
Starting to implement XSD support in GXml, I’ve created a set of interfaces to interpret W3C specification, this is really helpful, but unusable when you need to instantiate an object it is declared as a Interface. For example, if you have an interface A and it has a property of type B, but at the same time B is a GInterface, you can’t implement A and have an instantiable object from B: I mean, using g_object_new().
Because GXml engine, requires instantiable objects, to create new element nodes when found, using a GObject type to parse attributes to properties, for example, I ended creating a set of interfaces, to help me design an clean API, makes room for other implementations engines, but creating a new classes that will implement XSD interfaces having its own “mirror” properties.
This is, while GXml.XsdSchema have a GXml.XsdListSimpleTypes property to access to all simple type definitions, GXml.GomXsdSchema will have two properties with same purpose: a GXml.GomXsdListSimpleTypes property AND a property of type GXml.XsdListSimpleTypes to fully implement GXml.XsdSchema. Second one, will mirror the first. These is more work to implement an interface but keeps your classes’ properties instantiable, and your users can choose to use just GXml.XsdSchema interfaces API to access your class implementation, keeping open to use different implementations.
Best of all, with GXml implementation of XML to GObject, more clearly using GXml.Gom* classes, you will have access to *all* nodes, attributes and child ones found in an XML file, without loose them in the process of de-serializing back to your class instance.
