xmldom

What is xmldom?

The xmldom npm package is a pure JavaScript W3C standard-based (XML DOM Level 2 Core) DOMParser and XMLSerializer module. It allows users to parse XML data into a DOM tree structure and serialize DOM trees back into XML. This package is particularly useful for server-side applications where DOM manipulation is needed without a browser environment.

What are xmldom's main functionalities?

Parsing XML to DOM

This feature allows you to parse a string of XML into a DOM tree, enabling programmatic access and manipulation of the structure and content.

const { DOMParser } = require('xmldom');
const xmlString = '<root>Hello World</root>';
const doc = new DOMParser().parseFromString(xmlString, 'text/xml');
console.log(doc.documentElement.nodeName); // 'root'

Serializing DOM to XML

This feature enables you to take a DOM tree and serialize it back into a string of XML, useful for outputting modified XML data.

const { XMLSerializer } = require('xmldom');
const doc = new DOMParser().parseFromString('<root>Hello World</root>', 'text/xml');
const xmlString = new XMLSerializer().serializeToString(doc);
console.log(xmlString); // '<root>Hello World</root>'

Other packages similar to xmldom

libxmljs

libxmljs is a native library for parsing and manipulating XML. It offers faster performance due to its native implementation but requires compilation, which can be a downside compared to the pure JavaScript implementation of xmldom.

cheerio

cheerio is primarily used for web scraping and server-side manipulation of HTML. While it can handle XML and offers a jQuery-like syntax for manipulation, it's more tailored towards HTML content. Compared to xmldom, cheerio might be more user-friendly for those familiar with jQuery but less strict in terms of XML standards compliance.

README

XMLDOM

A JavaScript implementation of W3C DOM for Node.js, Rhino and the browser. Fully compatible with W3C DOM level2; and some compatible with level3. Supports DOMParser and XMLSerializer interface such as in browser.

Original project location: https://github.com/jindw/xmldom

Install:

npm install xmldom

Example:

const { DOMParser } = require('xmldom')

const doc = new DOMParser().parseFromString(
    '<xml xmlns="a" xmlns:c="./lite">\n' +
        '\t<child>test</child>\n' +
        '\t<child></child>\n' +
        '\t<child/>\n' +
        '</xml>',
    'text/xml'
)
doc.documentElement.setAttribute('x', 'y')
doc.documentElement.setAttributeNS('./lite', 'c:x', 'y2')
console.info(doc)

const nsAttr = doc.documentElement.getAttributeNS('./lite', 'x')
console.info(nsAttr)

Note: in Typescript and ES6 you can use the import approach, as follows:

import { DOMParser } from 'xmldom'

API Reference

• DOMParser:

  parseFromString(xmlsource,mimeType)
  

  • options extension by xmldom(not BOM standard!!)

  //added the options argument
  new DOMParser(options)
  
  //errorHandler is supported
  new DOMParser({
  	/**
  	 * locator is always need for error position info
  	 */
  	locator:{},
  	/**
  	 * you can override the errorHandler for xml parser
  	 * @link http://www.saxproject.org/apidoc/org/xml/sax/ErrorHandler.html
  	 */
  	errorHandler:{warning:function(w){console.warn(w)},error:callback,fatalError:callback}
  	//only callback model
  	//errorHandler:function(level,msg){console.log(level,msg)}
  })
  	
  

• XMLSerializer

  serializeToString(node)
  

DOM level2 method and attribute:

• Node

   attribute:
   	nodeValue|prefix
   readonly attribute:
   	nodeName|nodeType|parentNode|childNodes|firstChild|lastChild|previousSibling|nextSibling|attributes|ownerDocument|namespaceURI|localName
   method:	
   	insertBefore(newChild, refChild)
   	replaceChild(newChild, oldChild)
   	removeChild(oldChild)
   	appendChild(newChild)
   	hasChildNodes()
   	cloneNode(deep)
   	normalize()
   	isSupported(feature, version)
   	hasAttributes()
  

• DOMImplementation

   method:
   	hasFeature(feature, version)
   	createDocumentType(qualifiedName, publicId, systemId)
   	createDocument(namespaceURI, qualifiedName, doctype)
  

• Document : Node

   readonly attribute:
   	doctype|implementation|documentElement
   method:
   	createElement(tagName)
   	createDocumentFragment()
   	createTextNode(data)
   	createComment(data)
   	createCDATASection(data)
   	createProcessingInstruction(target, data)
   	createAttribute(name)
   	createEntityReference(name)
   	getElementsByTagName(tagname)
   	importNode(importedNode, deep)
   	createElementNS(namespaceURI, qualifiedName)
   	createAttributeNS(namespaceURI, qualifiedName)
   	getElementsByTagNameNS(namespaceURI, localName)
   	getElementById(elementId)
  

• DocumentFragment : Node

• Element : Node

   readonly attribute:
   	tagName
   method:
   	getAttribute(name)
   	setAttribute(name, value)
   	removeAttribute(name)
   	getAttributeNode(name)
   	setAttributeNode(newAttr)
   	removeAttributeNode(oldAttr)
   	getElementsByTagName(name)
   	getAttributeNS(namespaceURI, localName)
   	setAttributeNS(namespaceURI, qualifiedName, value)
   	removeAttributeNS(namespaceURI, localName)
   	getAttributeNodeNS(namespaceURI, localName)
   	setAttributeNodeNS(newAttr)
   	getElementsByTagNameNS(namespaceURI, localName)
   	hasAttribute(name)
   	hasAttributeNS(namespaceURI, localName)
  

• Attr : Node

   attribute:
   	value
   readonly attribute:
   	name|specified|ownerElement
  

• NodeList

   readonly attribute:
   	length
   method:
   	item(index)
  

• NamedNodeMap

   readonly attribute:
   	length
   method:
   	getNamedItem(name)
   	setNamedItem(arg)
   	removeNamedItem(name)
   	item(index)
   	getNamedItemNS(namespaceURI, localName)
   	setNamedItemNS(arg)
   	removeNamedItemNS(namespaceURI, localName)
   
  

• CharacterData : Node

   method:
   	substringData(offset, count)
   	appendData(arg)
   	insertData(offset, arg)
   	deleteData(offset, count)
   	replaceData(offset, count, arg)
   
  

• Text : CharacterData

   method:
   	splitText(offset)
   	
  

• CDATASection

• Comment : CharacterData

• DocumentType

   readonly attribute:
   	name|entities|notations|publicId|systemId|internalSubset
   	
  

• Notation : Node

   readonly attribute:
   	publicId|systemId
   	
  

• Entity : Node

   readonly attribute:
   	publicId|systemId|notationName
   	
  

• EntityReference : Node

• ProcessingInstruction : Node

   attribute:
   	data
   readonly attribute:
   	target
   
  

DOM level 3 support:

• Node

   attribute:
   	textContent
   method:
   	isDefaultNamespace(namespaceURI){
   	lookupNamespaceURI(prefix)
  

DOM extension by xmldom

• [Node] Source position extension;

   attribute:
   	//Numbered starting from '1'
   	lineNumber
   	//Numbered starting from '1'
   	columnNumber