XML DOM Node List
A list of nodes is returned by the getElementsByTagName() method and the childNodes property.
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Try it Yourself - Examples |
The examples below use the XML file
books.xml.
A function, loadXMLDoc(), in an external JavaScript is used to load the XML file.
Get the text
from the first <title> element
This example uses the getElementsByTagName() method to get the text from the
first <title> element in "books.xml".
Loop through
nodes using the length property
This example uses node list and the length property to loop through all <title>
elements in "books.xml"
Get the
attribute of an element
This example uses a attribute list to get attribute from the first <book>
element in "books.xml".
DOM Node List
When using properties or methods like childNodes or getElementsByTagName(),
a node list object is returned.
A node list object represents a list of nodes, in the same order as in the
XML.
Nodes in the node list are accessed with index numbers starting from 0.
The following image represents a node list of the <title> elements in "books.xml":
The following code fragment loads "books.xml"
into xmlDoc using loadXMLDoc() and returns a node list of title elements in "books.xml":
xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("books.xml");
x=xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("title"); |
After the execution of the statement above, x is a node list object.
The following code fragment returns the text from the first <title> element
in the node list (x):
After the execution of the statement above, txt = "Everyday Italian".
Node List Length
A node list object keeps itself up-to-date. If an element is
deleted or added, the list is automatically
updated.
The length property of a node list is
the number of nodes in the list.
The following code fragment loads "books.xml"
into xmlDoc using loadXMLDoc() and returns the number of <title> elements in "books.xml":
xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("books.xml");
x=xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName('title').length; |
After the execution of the statement above, x = 4.
The length of the node list can be used to loop through all the elements in the list.
The following code fragment uses the length property to loop through the list of <title> elements:
Example
xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("books.xml");
//the x variable will hold a node list
x=xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName('title');
for (i=0;i<x.length;i++)
{
document.write(x[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue);
document.write("<br />");
}
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Output:
Everyday Italian
Harry Potter
XQuery Kick Start
Learning XML
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Try it yourself »
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Example explained:
- Load "books.xml"
into xmlDoc using loadXMLDoc()
- Set the x variable to hold a node list of all title elements
- Output the value from the text node of all <title> elements
DOM Attribute List (Named Node Map)
The attributes property of an element node returns a list of attribute nodes.
This is called a named node map, and is similar to a node list, except for
some differences in methods and properties.
A attribute list keeps itself up-to-date. If an attribute is
deleted or added, the list is automatically
updated.
The following code fragment loads "books.xml"
into xmlDoc using loadXMLDoc() and returns a list of attribute nodes from the first <book> element in "books.xml":
xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("books.xml");
x=xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName('book')[0].attributes; |
After the execution of the code above, x.length = is the number of attributes
and x.getNamedItem() can be used to return an attribute node.
The following code fragment displays the value of the "category"
attribute, and the number of attributes, of a book:
Example
xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("books.xml");
x=xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("book")[0].attributes;
document.write(x.getNamedItem("category").nodeValue);
document.write("<br />" + x.length);
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Output:
Try it yourself »
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Example explained:
- Load "books.xml"
into xmlDoc using loadXMLDoc()
- Set the x variable to hold a list of all attributes of the first <book>
element
- Output the value from the "category" attribute
- Output the length of the attribute list
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