--- Lib/test/test_sax.py	(revision 62992)
+++ Lib/test/test_sax.py	(working copy)
@@ -163,6 +163,16 @@
 
         self.assertEquals(result.getvalue(), start + "<doc></doc>")
 
+    def test_xmlgen_basic_empty(self):
+        result = StringIO()
+        gen = XMLGenerator(result, short_empty_elements=True)
+        gen.startDocument()
+        gen.startElement("doc", {})
+        gen.endElement("doc")
+        gen.endDocument()
+
+        self.assertEquals(result.getvalue(), start + "<doc/>")
+
     def test_xmlgen_content(self):
         result = StringIO()
         gen = XMLGenerator(result)
@@ -175,6 +185,18 @@
 
         self.assertEquals(result.getvalue(), start + "<doc>huhei</doc>")
 
+    def test_xmlgen_content_empty(self):
+        result = StringIO()
+        gen = XMLGenerator(result, short_empty_elements=True)
+
+        gen.startDocument()
+        gen.startElement("doc", {})
+        gen.characters("huhei")
+        gen.endElement("doc")
+        gen.endDocument()
+
+        self.assertEquals(result.getvalue(), start + "<doc>huhei</doc>")
+
     def test_xmlgen_pi(self):
         result = StringIO()
         gen = XMLGenerator(result)
@@ -232,6 +254,18 @@
 
         self.assertEquals(result.getvalue(), start + "<doc> </doc>")
 
+    def test_xmlgen_ignorable_empty(self):
+        result = StringIO()
+        gen = XMLGenerator(result, short_empty_elements=True)
+
+        gen.startDocument()
+        gen.startElement("doc", {})
+        gen.ignorableWhitespace(" ")
+        gen.endElement("doc")
+        gen.endDocument()
+
+        self.assertEquals(result.getvalue(), start + "<doc> </doc>")
+
     def test_xmlgen_ns(self):
         result = StringIO()
         gen = XMLGenerator(result)
@@ -250,6 +284,24 @@
            ('<ns1:doc xmlns:ns1="%s"><udoc></udoc></ns1:doc>' %
                                          ns_uri))
 
+    def test_xmlgen_ns_empty(self):
+        result = StringIO()
+        gen = XMLGenerator(result, short_empty_elements=True)
+
+        gen.startDocument()
+        gen.startPrefixMapping("ns1", ns_uri)
+        gen.startElementNS((ns_uri, "doc"), "ns1:doc", {})
+        # add an unqualified name
+        gen.startElementNS((None, "udoc"), None, {})
+        gen.endElementNS((None, "udoc"), None)
+        gen.endElementNS((ns_uri, "doc"), "ns1:doc")
+        gen.endPrefixMapping("ns1")
+        gen.endDocument()
+
+        self.assertEquals(result.getvalue(), start + \
+           ('<ns1:doc xmlns:ns1="%s"><udoc/></ns1:doc>' %
+                                         ns_uri))
+
     def test_1463026_1(self):
         result = StringIO()
         gen = XMLGenerator(result)
@@ -261,6 +313,17 @@
 
         self.assertEquals(result.getvalue(), start+'<a b="c"></a>')
 
+    def test_1463026_1_empty(self):
+        result = StringIO()
+        gen = XMLGenerator(result, short_empty_elements=True)
+
+        gen.startDocument()
+        gen.startElementNS((None, 'a'), 'a', {(None, 'b'):'c'})
+        gen.endElementNS((None, 'a'), 'a')
+        gen.endDocument()
+
+        self.assertEquals(result.getvalue(), start+'<a b="c"/>')
+
     def test_1463026_2(self):
         result = StringIO()
         gen = XMLGenerator(result)

--- Lib/xml/sax/saxutils.py.orig	2008-05-10 17:37:22.000000000 +0200
+++ Lib/xml/sax/saxutils.py	2008-05-10 18:04:39.000000000 +0200
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
 
 class XMLGenerator(handler.ContentHandler):
 
-    def __init__(self, out=None, encoding="iso-8859-1"):
+    def __init__(self, out=None, encoding="iso-8859-1", short_empty_elements=False):
         if out is None:
             import sys
             out = sys.stdout
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@
         self._current_context = self._ns_contexts[-1]
         self._undeclared_ns_maps = []
         self._encoding = encoding
+        self._short_empty_elements = short_empty_elements
         self._pending_start_element = False
 
     def _write(self, text):
@@ -137,7 +138,10 @@
         self._write('<' + name)
         for (name, value) in attrs.items():
             self._write(' %s=%s' % (name, quoteattr(value)))
-        self._pending_start_element = True
+        if self._short_empty_elements:
+            self._pending_start_element = True
+        else:
+            self._write(">")
 
     def endElement(self, name):
         if self._pending_start_element: