org.dom4j

Interface Element

All Superinterfaces:: Branch, Cloneable, Node

Known Implementing Classes:: DatatypeElement, IndexedElement, NonLazyElement, UserDataElement

public interface Element

extends Branch

Element interface defines an XML element. An element can have declared namespaces, attributes, child nodes and textual content.

Some of this interface is optional. Some implementations may be read-only and not support being modified. Some implementations may not support the parent relationship and methods such as Elementor .

$Revision: 1.47 $

Author:: James Strachan

Fields inherited from interface org.dom4j.Node
`ANY_NODE`, `ATTRIBUTE_NODE`, `CDATA_SECTION_NODE`, `COMMENT_NODE`, `DOCUMENT_NODE`, `DOCUMENT_TYPE_NODE`, `ELEMENT_NODE`, `ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE`, `MAX_NODE_TYPE`, `NAMESPACE_NODE`, `PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION_NODE`, `TEXT_NODE`, `UNKNOWN_NODE`

Method Summary
`void`	`add(Attribute attribute)` Adds the given `Attribute` to this element.
`void`	`add(CDATA cdata)` Adds the given `CDATA` to this element.
`void`	`add(Entity entity)` Adds the given `Entity` to this element.
`void`	`add(Namespace namespace)` Adds the given `Namespace` to this element.
`void`	`add(Text text)` Adds the given `Text` to this element.
`Element`	`addAttribute(String name, String value)` Adds the attribute value of the given local name.
`Element`	`addAttribute(QName qName, String value)` Adds the attribute value of the given fully qualified name.
`Element`	`addCDATA(String cdata)` Adds a new `CDATA` node with the given text to this element.
`Element`	`addComment(String comment)` Adds a new `Comment` node with the given text to this element.
`Element`	`addEntity(String name, String text)` Adds a new `Entity` node with the given name and text to this element and returns a reference to the new node.
`Element`	`addNamespace(String prefix, String uri)` Adds a namespace to this element for use by its child content
`Element`	`addProcessingInstruction(String target, Map data)` Adds a processing instruction for the given target
`Element`	`addProcessingInstruction(String target, String text)` Adds a processing instruction for the given target
`Element`	`addText(String text)` Adds a new `Text` node with the given text to this element.
`List`	`additionalNamespaces()` Returns any additional namespaces declarations for this element other than namespace returned via the `getNamespace()`method.
`void`	`appendAttributes(Element element)` Appends the attributes of the given element to me.
`Attribute`	`attribute(String name)` Returns the attribute with the given name
`Attribute`	`attribute(int index)` Returns the attribute at the specified indexGets the
`Attribute`	`attribute(QName qName)` DOCUMENT ME!
`int`	`attributeCount()` DOCUMENT ME!
`Iterator`	`attributeIterator()` DOCUMENT ME!
`String`	`attributeValue(String name)` This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and any namespace or null if there is no such attribute or the empty string if the attribute value is empty.
`String`	`attributeValue(String name, String defaultValue)` This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and any namespace or the default value if there is no such attribute value.
`String`	`attributeValue(QName qName)` This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given fully qualified name or null if there is no such attribute or the empty string if the attribute value is empty.
`String`	`attributeValue(QName qName, String defaultValue)` This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given fully qualified name or the default value if there is no such attribute value.
`List`	`attributes()` Returns the `Attribute`instances this element contains as a backed `List`so that the attributes may be modified directly using the `List`interface.
`Element`	`createCopy()` Creates a deep copy of this element The new element is detached from its parent, and getParent() on the clone will return null.
`Element`	`createCopy(String name)` Creates a deep copy of this element with the given local name The new element is detached from its parent, and getParent() on the clone will return null.
`Element`	`createCopy(QName qName)` Creates a deep copy of this element with the given fully qualified name.
`List`	`declaredNamespaces()` Returns all the namespaces declared by this element.
`Element`	`element(String name)` Returns the first element for the given local name and any namespace.
`Element`	`element(QName qName)` Returns the first element for the given fully qualified name.
`Iterator`	`elementIterator()` Returns an iterator over all this elements child elements.
`Iterator`	`elementIterator(String name)` Returns an iterator over the elements contained in this element which match the given local name and any namespace.
`Iterator`	`elementIterator(QName qName)` Returns an iterator over the elements contained in this element which match the given fully qualified name.
`String`	`elementText(String name)`
`String`	`elementText(QName qname)`
`String`	`elementTextTrim(String name)`
`String`	`elementTextTrim(QName qname)`
`List`	`elements()` Returns the elements contained in this element.
`List`	`elements(String name)` Returns the elements contained in this element with the given local name and any namespace.
`List`	`elements(QName qName)` Returns the elements contained in this element with the given fully qualified name.
`Object`	`getData()` Accesses the data of this element which may implement data typing bindings such as XML Schema or Java Bean bindings or will return the same value as `getText()`
`Namespace`	`getNamespace()` Returns the `Namespace` of this element if one exists otherwise `Namespace.NO_NAMESPACE` is returned.
`Namespace`	`getNamespaceForPrefix(String prefix)` Returns the `Namespace` which is mapped to the given prefix or null if it could not be found.
`Namespace`	`getNamespaceForURI(String uri)` Returns the `Namespace` which is mapped to the given URI or null if it could not be found.
`String`	`getNamespacePrefix()` Returns the namespace prefix of this element if one exists otherwise an empty `String` is returned.
`String`	`getNamespaceURI()` Returns the URI mapped to the namespace of this element if one exists otherwise an empty `String` is returned.
`List`	`getNamespacesForURI(String uri)` Returns the all namespaces which are mapped to the given URI or an empty list if no such namespaces could be found.
`QName`	`getQName()` Returns the `QName` of this element which represents the local name, the qualified name and the `Namespace`.
`QName`	`getQName(String qualifiedName)` Returns the `QName` for the given qualified name, using the namespace URI in scope for the given prefix of the qualified name or the default namespace if the qualified name has no prefix.
`String`	`getQualifiedName()` Returns the fully qualified name of this element.
`String`	`getStringValue()` Returns the XPath string-value of this node.
`String`	`getText()` Returns the text value of this element without recursing through child elements.
`String`	`getTextTrim()` DOCUMENT ME!
`Node`	`getXPathResult(int index)` Returns a node at the given index suitable for an XPath result set.
`boolean`	`hasMixedContent()` Returns true if this `Element` has mixed content.
`boolean`	`isRootElement()` DOCUMENT ME!
`boolean`	`isTextOnly()` Returns true if this `Element` has text only content.
`boolean`	`remove(Attribute attribute)` Removes the given `Attribute` from this element.
`boolean`	`remove(CDATA cdata)` Removes the given `CDATA` if the node is an immediate child of this element.
`boolean`	`remove(Entity entity)` Removes the given `Entity` if the node is an immediate child of this element.
`boolean`	`remove(Namespace namespace)` Removes the given `Namespace` if the node is an immediate child of this element.
`boolean`	`remove(Text text)` Removes the given `Text` if the node is an immediate child of this element.
`void`	`setAttributeValue(String name, String value)` Deprecated. As of version 0.5.
`void`	`setAttributeValue(QName qName, String value)` Deprecated. As of version 0.5.
`void`	`setAttributes(List attributes)` Sets the attributes that this element contains
`void`	`setData(Object data)` Sets the data value of this element if this element supports data binding or calls `Element`if it doesn't
`void`	`setQName(QName qname)` Sets the `QName` of this element which represents the local name, the qualified name and the `Namespace`.

Methods inherited from interface org.dom4j.Branch
`add`, `add`, `add`, `add`, `addElement`, `addElement`, `addElement`, `appendContent`, `clearContent`, `content`, `elementByID`, `indexOf`, `node`, `nodeCount`, `nodeIterator`, `normalize`, `processingInstruction`, `processingInstructions`, `processingInstructions`, `remove`, `remove`, `remove`, `remove`, `removeProcessingInstruction`, `setContent`, `setProcessingInstructions`

accept, asXML, asXPathResult, clone, createXPath, detach, getDocument, getName, getNodeType, getNodeTypeName, getParent, getPath, getPath, getStringValue, getText, getUniquePath, getUniquePath, hasContent, isReadOnly, matches, numberValueOf, selectNodes, selectNodes, selectNodes, selectObject, selectSingleNode, setDocument, setName, setParent, setText, supportsParent, valueOf, write

add

public void add(Attribute attribute)

Adds the given Attribute to this element. If the given node already has a parent defined then an IllegalAddException will be thrown. Attributes with null values are silently ignored.
If the value of the attribute is null then this method call will remove any attributes with the QName of this attribute.
Parameters:
attribute - is the attribute to be added

add

public void add(CDATA cdata)

Adds the given CDATA to this element. If the given node already has a parent defined then an IllegalAddException will be thrown.
Parameters:
cdata - is the CDATA to be added

add

public void add(Entity entity)

Adds the given Entity to this element. If the given node already has a parent defined then an IllegalAddException will be thrown.
Parameters:
entity - is the entity to be added

add

public void add(Namespace namespace)

Adds the given Namespace to this element. If the given node already has a parent defined then an IllegalAddException will be thrown.
Parameters:
namespace - is the namespace to be added

add

public void add(Text text)

Adds the given Text to this element. If the given node already has a parent defined then an IllegalAddException will be thrown.
Parameters:
text - is the text to be added

addAttribute

public Element addAttribute(String name,
                            String value)

Adds the attribute value of the given local name. If an attribute already exists for the given name it will be replaced. Attributes with null values are silently ignored. If the value of the attribute is null then this method call will remove any attributes with the given name.
Parameters:
name - is the name of the attribute whose value is to be added or updated
value - is the attribute's value
Returns:
this Element instance.

addAttribute

public Element addAttribute(QName qName,
                            String value)

Adds the attribute value of the given fully qualified name. If an attribute already exists for the given name it will be replaced. Attributes with null values are silently ignored. If the value of the attribute is null then this method call will remove any attributes with the given name.
Parameters:
qName - is the fully qualified name of the attribute whose value is to be added or updated
value - is the attribute's value
Returns:
this Element instance.

addCDATA

public Element addCDATA(String cdata)

Adds a new CDATA node with the given text to this element.
Parameters:
cdata - is the text for the CDATA node.
Returns:
this Element instance.

addComment

public Element addComment(String comment)

Adds a new Comment node with the given text to this element.
Parameters:
comment - is the text for the Comment node.
Returns:
this Element instance.

addEntity

public Element addEntity(String name,
                         String text)

Adds a new Entity node with the given name and text to this element and returns a reference to the new node.
Parameters:
name - is the name for the Entity node.
text - is the text for the Entity node.
Returns:
this Element instance.

addNamespace

public Element addNamespace(String prefix,
                            String uri)

Adds a namespace to this element for use by its child content
Parameters:
prefix - is the prefix to use, which should not be null or blank
uri - is the namespace URI
Returns:
this Element instance.

addProcessingInstruction

public Element addProcessingInstruction(String target,
                                        Map data)

Adds a processing instruction for the given target
Parameters:
target - is the target of the processing instruction
data - is a Map of the key / value pairs of the processing instruction
Returns:
this Element instance.

addProcessingInstruction

public Element addProcessingInstruction(String target,
                                        String text)

Adds a processing instruction for the given target
Parameters:
target - is the target of the processing instruction
text - is the textual data (key/value pairs) of the processing instruction
Returns:
this Element instance.

addText

public Element addText(String text)

Adds a new Text node with the given text to this element.
Parameters:
text - is the text for the Text node.
Returns:
this Element instance.

additionalNamespaces

public List additionalNamespaces()

Returns any additional namespaces declarations for this element other than namespace returned via the getNamespace()method. If no additional namespace declarations are present for this element then an empty list will be returned. The list is backed by the element such that changes to the list will be reflected in the element though the reverse is not the case.
Returns:
a list of any additional namespace declarations.

appendAttributes

public void appendAttributes(Element element)

Appends the attributes of the given element to me. This method behaves like the java.util.Collection.addAll(java.util.Collection) method.
Parameters:
element - is the element whose attributes will be added to me.

attribute

public Attribute attribute(String name)

Returns the attribute with the given name
Parameters:
name - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the attribute for the given local name in any namespace. If there are more than one attributes with the given local name in different namespaces then the first one is returned.

attribute

public Attribute attribute(int index)

Returns the attribute at the specified indexGets the
Parameters:
index - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the attribute at the specified index where index >= 0 and index < number of attributes or throws an IndexOutOfBoundsException if the index is not within the allowable range

attribute

public Attribute attribute(QName qName)

DOCUMENT ME!
Parameters:
qName - is the fully qualified name
Returns:
the attribute for the given fully qualified name or null if it could not be found.

attributeCount

public int attributeCount()

DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the number of attributes this element contains

attributeIterator

public Iterator attributeIterator()

DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
an iterator over the attributes of this element

attributeValue

public String attributeValue(String name)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and any namespace or null if there is no such attribute or the empty string if the attribute value is empty.
Parameters:
name - is the name of the attribute value to be returnd
Returns:
the value of the attribute, null if the attribute does not exist or the empty string

attributeValue

public String attributeValue(String name,
                             String defaultValue)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and any namespace or the default value if there is no such attribute value.
Parameters:
name - is the name of the attribute value to be returnd
defaultValue - is the default value to be returned if the attribute has no value defined.
Returns:
the value of the attribute or the defaultValue if the attribute has no value defined.

attributeValue

public String attributeValue(QName qName)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given fully qualified name or null if there is no such attribute or the empty string if the attribute value is empty.
Parameters:
qName - is the fully qualified name
Returns:
the value of the attribute, null if the attribute does not exist or the empty string

attributeValue

public String attributeValue(QName qName,
                             String defaultValue)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given fully qualified name or the default value if there is no such attribute value.
Parameters:
qName - is the fully qualified name
defaultValue - is the default value to be returned if the attribute has no value defined.
Returns:
the value of the attribute or the defaultValue if the attribute has no value defined.

attributes

public List attributes()

Returns the Attributeinstances this element contains as a backed Listso that the attributes may be modified directly using the Listinterface. The List is backed by the Element so that changes to the list are reflected in the element and vice versa.
Returns:
the attributes that this element contains as a List

createCopy

public Element createCopy()

Creates a deep copy of this element The new element is detached from its parent, and getParent() on the clone will return null.
Returns:
a new deep copy Element

createCopy

public Element createCopy(String name)

Creates a deep copy of this element with the given local name The new element is detached from its parent, and getParent() on the clone will return null.
Parameters:
name - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
a new deep copy Element

createCopy

public Element createCopy(QName qName)

Creates a deep copy of this element with the given fully qualified name. The new element is detached from its parent, and getParent() on the clone will return null.
Parameters:
qName - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
a new deep copy Element

declaredNamespaces

public List declaredNamespaces()

Returns all the namespaces declared by this element. If no namespaces are declared for this element then an empty list will be returned. The list is backed by the element such that changes to the list will be reflected in the element though the reverse is not the case.
Returns:
a list of namespaces declared for this element.

element

public Element element(String name)

Returns the first element for the given local name and any namespace.
Parameters:
name - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the first element with the given local name

element

public Element element(QName qName)

Returns the first element for the given fully qualified name.
Parameters:
qName - is the fully qualified name to search for
Returns:
the first element with the given fully qualified name

elementIterator

public Iterator elementIterator()

Returns an iterator over all this elements child elements.
Returns:
an iterator over the contained elements

elementIterator

public Iterator elementIterator(String name)

Returns an iterator over the elements contained in this element which match the given local name and any namespace.
Parameters:
name - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
an iterator over the contained elements matching the given local name

elementIterator

public Iterator elementIterator(QName qName)

Returns an iterator over the elements contained in this element which match the given fully qualified name.
Parameters:
qName - is the fully qualified name to search for
Returns:
an iterator over the contained elements matching the given fully qualified name

elementText

public String elementText(String name)

elementText

public String elementText(QName qname)

elementTextTrim

public String elementTextTrim(String name)

elementTextTrim

public String elementTextTrim(QName qname)

elements

public List elements()

Returns the elements contained in this element. If this element does not contain any elements then this method returns an empty list. The list is backed by the element such that changes to the list will be reflected in the element though the reverse is not the case.
Returns:
a list of all the elements in this element.

elements

public List elements(String name)

Returns the elements contained in this element with the given local name and any namespace. If no elements are found then this method returns an empty list. The list is backed by the element such that changes to the list will be reflected in the element though the reverse is not the case.
Parameters:
name - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
a list of all the elements in this element for the given local name

elements

public List elements(QName qName)

Returns the elements contained in this element with the given fully qualified name. If no elements are found then this method returns an empty list. The list is backed by the element such that changes to the list will be reflected in the element though the reverse is not the case.
Parameters:
qName - is the fully qualified name to search for
Returns:
a list of all the elements in this element for the given fully qualified name.

getData

public Object getData()

Accesses the data of this element which may implement data typing bindings such as XML Schema or Java Bean bindings or will return the same value as getText()
Returns:
DOCUMENT ME!

getNamespace

public Namespace getNamespace()

Returns the Namespace of this element if one exists otherwise Namespace.NO_NAMESPACE is returned.
Returns:
the Namespace associated with this element

getNamespaceForPrefix

public Namespace getNamespaceForPrefix(String prefix)

Returns the Namespace which is mapped to the given prefix or null if it could not be found.
Parameters:
prefix - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the Namespace associated with the given prefix

getNamespaceForURI

public Namespace getNamespaceForURI(String uri)

Returns the Namespace which is mapped to the given URI or null if it could not be found. If there is more than one Namespace mapped to the URI, which of them will be returned is undetermined.
Parameters:
uri - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the Namespace associated with the given URI

getNamespacePrefix

public String getNamespacePrefix()

Returns the namespace prefix of this element if one exists otherwise an empty String is returned.
Returns:
the prefix of the Namespace of this element or an empty String

getNamespaceURI

public String getNamespaceURI()

Returns the URI mapped to the namespace of this element if one exists otherwise an empty String is returned.
Returns:
the URI for the Namespace of this element or an empty String

getNamespacesForURI

public List getNamespacesForURI(String uri)

Returns the all namespaces which are mapped to the given URI or an empty list if no such namespaces could be found.
Parameters:
uri - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the namespaces associated with the given URI
Since:
1.5

getQName

public QName getQName()

Returns the QName of this element which represents the local name, the qualified name and the Namespace.
Returns:
the QName associated with this element

getQName

public QName getQName(String qualifiedName)

Returns the QName for the given qualified name, using the namespace URI in scope for the given prefix of the qualified name or the default namespace if the qualified name has no prefix.
Parameters:
qualifiedName - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the QName for the given qualified name

getQualifiedName

public String getQualifiedName()

Returns the fully qualified name of this element. This will be the same as the value returned from Elementif this element has no namespace attached to this element or an expression of the form
 getNamespacePrefix() + ":" + getName()
 
will be returned.
Returns:
the fully qualified name of the element.

getStringValue

public String getStringValue()

Returns the XPath string-value of this node. The behaviour of this method is defined in the XPath specification . This method returns the string-value of all the contained Text,CDATA,Entityand Element nodes all appended together.
Specified by:
getStringValue in interface Node
Returns:
the text from all the child Text and Element nodes appended together.

getText

public String getText()

Returns the text value of this element without recursing through child elements. This method iterates through all Text,CDATA and Entitynodes that this element contains and appends the text values together.
Specified by:
getText in interface Node
Returns:
the textual content of this Element. Child elements are not navigated. This method does not return null;

getTextTrim

public String getTextTrim()

DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the trimmed text value where whitespace is trimmed and normalised into single spaces. This method does not return null.

getXPathResult

public Node getXPathResult(int index)

Returns a node at the given index suitable for an XPath result set. This means the resulting Node will either be null or it will support the parent relationship.
Parameters:
index - DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
the Node for the given index which will support the parent relationship or null if there is not a node at the given index.

hasMixedContent

public boolean hasMixedContent()

Returns true if this Element has mixed content. Mixed content means that an element contains both textual data and child elements.
Returns:
true if this element contains mixed content.

isRootElement

public boolean isRootElement()

DOCUMENT ME!
Returns:
true if this element is the root element of a document and this element supports the parent relationship else false.

isTextOnly

public boolean isTextOnly()

Returns true if this Element has text only content.
Returns:
true if this element is empty or only contains text content.

remove

public boolean remove(Attribute attribute)

Removes the given Attribute from this element.
Parameters:
attribute - is the attribute to be removed
Returns:
true if the attribute was removed

remove

public boolean remove(CDATA cdata)

Removes the given CDATA if the node is an immediate child of this element. If the given node is not an immediate child of this element then the Node.detach()method should be used instead.
Parameters:
cdata - is the CDATA to be removed
Returns:
true if the cdata was removed

remove

public boolean remove(Entity entity)

Removes the given Entity if the node is an immediate child of this element. If the given node is not an immediate child of this element then the Node.detach()method should be used instead.
Parameters:
entity - is the entity to be removed
Returns:
true if the entity was removed

remove

public boolean remove(Namespace namespace)

Removes the given Namespace if the node is an immediate child of this element. If the given node is not an immediate child of this element then the Node.detach()method should be used instead.
Parameters:
namespace - is the namespace to be removed
Returns:
true if the namespace was removed

remove

public boolean remove(Text text)

Removes the given Text if the node is an immediate child of this element. If the given node is not an immediate child of this element then the Node.detach()method should be used instead.
Parameters:
text - is the text to be removed
Returns:
true if the text was removed

setAttributeValue

public void setAttributeValue(String name,
                              String value)

Deprecated. As of version 0.5. Please use addAttribute(String,String) instead. WILL BE REMOVED IN dom4j-1.6 !!
Sets the attribute value of the given local name.
Parameters:
name - is the name of the attribute whose value is to be added or updated
value - is the attribute's value

setAttributeValue

public void setAttributeValue(QName qName,
                              String value)

Deprecated. As of version 0.5. Please use addAttribute(QName,String) instead. WILL BE REMOVED IN dom4j-1.6 !!
Sets the attribute value of the given fully qualified name.
Parameters:
qName - is the fully qualified name of the attribute whose value is to be added or updated
value - is the attribute's value

setAttributes

public void setAttributes(List attributes)

Sets the attributes that this element contains
Parameters:
attributes - DOCUMENT ME!

setData

public void setData(Object data)

Sets the data value of this element if this element supports data binding or calls Elementif it doesn't
Parameters:
data - DOCUMENT ME!

setQName

public void setQName(QName qname)

Sets the QName of this element which represents the local name, the qualified name and the Namespace.
Parameters:
qname - is the QName to be associated with this element

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org.dom4j

Interface Element

Fields inherited from interface org.dom4j.Node

Method Summary

Methods inherited from interface org.dom4j.Branch

Methods inherited from interface org.dom4j.Node

Method Details

add

add

add

add

add

addAttribute

addAttribute

addCDATA

addComment

addEntity

addNamespace

addProcessingInstruction

addProcessingInstruction

addText

additionalNamespaces

appendAttributes

attribute

attribute

attribute

attributeCount

attributeIterator

attributeValue

attributeValue

attributeValue

attributeValue

attributes

createCopy

createCopy

createCopy

declaredNamespaces

element

element

elementIterator

elementIterator

elementIterator

elementText

elementText

elementTextTrim

elementTextTrim

elements

elements

elements

getData

getNamespace

getNamespaceForPrefix

getNamespaceForURI

getNamespacePrefix

getNamespaceURI

getNamespacesForURI

getQName

getQName

getQualifiedName

getStringValue

getText

getTextTrim

getXPathResult

hasMixedContent

isRootElement

isTextOnly

remove

remove

remove

remove

remove

setAttributeValue

setAttributeValue

setAttributes

setData

setQName