docs/index.md: Describe the different libxml++ ABIs

kjellahl · kjellahl · commit bbc31d7646c7 · 2020-12-23T13:47:43.000+01:00
The changes are automatically published at libxmlplusplus.github.io/libxmlplusplus. See issue #20
diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md
@@ -12,13 +12,28 @@ libxml++ is a C++ wrapper for the [libxml](http://www.xmlsoft.org) XML parser li
 
 Libxml++ is released under the [LGPL](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html#TOC1) version 2 or above
 
+## ABI Versions
+
+There are several ABI (Application Binary Interface) versions of libxml++.
+They can be installed in parallel.
+
+libxml++-2.6: Old ABI, not recommended for new applications. Uses Glib::ustring from the glibmm-2.4 ABI.
+
+libxml++-3.0: Uses Glib::ustring from the glibmm-2.4 ABI, therefore has methods that handle UTF-8 characters rather than raw bytes.
+
+libxml++-4.0: Uses Glib::ustring from the newer glibmm-2.68 ABI, therefore has methods that handle UTF-8 characters rather than raw bytes.
+
+libxml++-5.0: Does not depend on glibmm, is not as good at handling UTF-8 strings, but has fewer dependencies.
+
 ## Download
 
 You can download libxml++ from [here](http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/libxml++/).
 
 ## Required Libraries
 
 * [libxml2](http://www.xmlsoft.org/)
+* libxml++-2.6 and libxml++-3.0: [glibmm-2.4](https://developer.gnome.org/glibmm/2.64/)
+* libxml++-4.0: [glibmm-2.68](https://developer.gnome.org/glibmm/2.68/)
 
 ## Documentation
 
