The XML Document Object Model

The XML Document Object Model
An Introduction

Prof. David Bernstein
James Madison University

Computer Science Department

bernstdh@jmu.edu

Text Documents

Text Documents (cont.)

A Simple (Hierarchical) Model

Modeling Other Documents

HTML Documents:
- Text (i.e., headings, paragraphs, lists, etc...)
- Not hierarchical (e.g., paragraphs not in sections)
- Don't always use containment (e.g., P)
XHTML Documents:
- Like HTML but always use containment
XML Documents:
- Not just text
- Hierarchical

The XML Document Object Model (DOM)

The XML Document Object Model (cont.)

A Portion of the DOM 2.0 Core (in UML)

The Node Interface

The Node Interface

The NodeList Interface

The NamedNodeMap Interface

Description:
- A collection of Node objects that can be accessed by name
- It does not extend NodeList and its members are not ordered
Methods:
- getNamedItem(name:DOMString): Node
- setNamedItem(arg:Node): Node
- removeNamedItem(name:DOMString): Node

The Attr Interface

Description:
- Represents an attribute in an Element
- Extends Node (i.e., "is a" Node)
- Is not a "child" of the Node that contains it
Attributes:
- name: DOMString
- specified: boolean (as opposed to a default)
- value: DOMString
- ownerElement: Element

The Element Interface

The Document Interface

Other Interfaces

The Text Interface:
- The textual content (or character data) of an Element or Attr
The Comment Interface:
- The contents of a comment