Markup language parser

A computer program product for parsing a plurality of data elements arranged in a structured tree within a document, wherein said elements are arranged with a root element at a root level branching to remaining elements at lower levels within branches of the structured tree, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code readable and executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:

• receiving an external request to provide one or more elements from a structured tree, wherein the one or more elements being requested are from a group consisting of a next sibling element and a next child element in the structured tree;
• providing a next sibling element by fetching next and subsequent elements in the document until a specified sibling level in the structured tree is reached;
• returning the next sibling element to a requester;
• providing a next child element by fetching and returning a next element in response to the next element being a child element;
• and
• returning the next child element to the requester.

A computer system for parsing a plurality of data elements arranged in a structured tree within a document, wherein said elements are arranged with a root element at a root level branching to remaining elements at lower levels within branches of the structured tree, and wherein said computer system comprises:

• a processor, a computer readable memory, and a computer readable storage medium;
• first program instructions to provide a next sibling element by fetching next and subsequent elements in the document until a specified sibling level in the structured tree is reached;
• second program instructions to return the next sibling element to a requester;
• third program instructions to provide a next child element by fetching and returning a next element in response to the next element being a child element;
• and
• fourth program instructions to return the next child element to the requester;
• and wherein said first, second, third, and fourth program instructions are stored on said computer readable storage medium, and wherein said program instructions are executed by said processor via said computer readable memory.