Question

Lets say i have this XML file:

<attributes>
  <units>
    <civilians>
      <unit>
        <name>Settler</name>
        <stats>
          <attack>26</attack>
          <defence>7</defence>
        </stats>
        <costs>
          <lumber/>
          <iron/>
        </costs>
      </unit>
      <unit>
        <name>Infantry</name>
        <stats>
          <attack>33</attack>
          <defence>7</defence>
        </stats>
        <costs>
          <lumber/>
          <iron/>
        </costs>
      </unit>
    </civilians>
  </units>
</attributes>

Does getElementsByTagName(“attack”) on the node attributes return a NodeList with the attack element containing 26 at first position and the attack element containing 33 at second position?

I’ve been thinking this is the case but it doesn’t seem to work.

If it isn’t as simple as this; what is a good way to grab all attack values from the XML file? Maybe the XML file itself is badly structured?

Edit: Ah. I get the nodes now, and .getTextContent() rather than .getNodeValue() solved my problems. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Answer 1

Dom Core 2 Spec says:

getElementsByTagName

Returns a NodeList of all descendant Elements with a given tag
name, in the order in which they are
encountered in a preorder traversal of
this Element tree.

And Dom Core 3 Spec says:

getElementsByTagName

Returns a NodeList of all descendant Elements with a given tag
name, in document order.

So your expectations for the function are correct. If that’s not what you’re getting it would be a bug in your code or in the library you’re using.