DOM Methods and Properties

Estimated study time: 15 minutes.

Once an XML document is loaded into a DOM tree, a standard set of methods and properties lets you read and modify it programmatically.

Common Properties

node.nodeName        // the tag name, e.g. "title"
node.nodeValue        // the text value, for text nodes
node.nodeType          // numeric code for the node type
node.parentNode         // the parent node
node.childNodes          // list of direct child nodes
node.attributes            // list of attributes on this node

Common Methods

doc.getElementsByTagName("title")   // all elements with this tag name
node.getAttribute("id")             // read a specific attribute's value
node.setAttribute("id", "DA-102")   // set or update an attribute
node.appendChild(newNode)           // add a new child node
node.removeChild(oldNode)           // remove a child node
doc.createElement("module")         // create a brand-new element node

Example (JavaScript)

let titleNode = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("title")[0];
console.log(titleNode.textContent);   // "Data Analytics"

titleNode.textContent = "Advanced Data Analytics";

Reading vs Modifying

Properties like nodeValue and methods like getAttribute are read operations. Methods like setAttribute, appendChild, and removeChild mutate the tree — after changes, you'd typically serialize the DOM back into an XML string to save it.