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Class org.jdom.Element

java.lang.Object
   |
   +----org.jdom.Element

public class Element
extends Object
implements Serializable, Cloneable

Element defines behavior for an XML element, modeled in Java. Methods allow the user to obtain the value of the element's textual content, obtain its attributes, and get its children.

Version:
$Revision: 1.115 $, $Date: 2002/03/28 11:08:12 $
Author:
Brett McLaughlin, Jason Hunter, Lucas Gonze, Kevin Regan, Dan Schaffer, Yusuf Goolamabbas, Kent C. Johnson, Jools Enticknap, Alex Rosen, Bradley S. Huffman

Variable Index

 o additionalNamespaces
Additional {
 o attributes
The attributes of the Element.
 o content
The mixed content of the Element.
 o name
The local name of the Element
 o namespace
The {
 o parent
Parent element, document, or null if none

Constructor Index

 o Element()

This protected constructor is provided in order to support an Element subclass that wants full control over variable initialization.

 o Element(String)

This will create an Element in no {

 o Element(String, Namespace)

This will create a new Element with the supplied (local) name, and define the {

 o Element(String, String)

This will create a new Element with the supplied (local) name, and specifies the URI of the {

 o Element(String, String, String)

This will create a new Element with the supplied (local) name, and specifies the prefix and URI of the {

Method Index

 o addContent(CDATA)

This adds a CDATA section as content to this element.

 o addContent(Comment)

This adds a comment as content to this element.

 o addContent(Element)

This adds element content to this element.

 o addContent(EntityRef)

This adds entity content to this element.

 o addContent(ProcessingInstruction)

This adds a processing instruction as content to this element.

 o addContent(String)

This adds text content to this element.

 o addContent(Text)

This adds text content to this element.

 o addNamespaceDeclaration(Namespace)

This will add a namespace declarations to this element.

 o clone()

This returns a deep clone of this element.

 o detach()

This detaches the element from its parent, or does nothing if the element has no parent.

 o equals(Object)

This tests for equality of this Element to the supplied Object, explicitly using the == operator.

 o getAdditionalNamespaces()

This will return any namespace declarations on this element that exist, excluding the namespace of the element itself, which can be obtained through {

 o getAttribute(String)

This returns the attribute for this element with the given name and within no namespace, or null if no such attribute exists.

 o getAttribute(String, Namespace)

This returns the attribute for this element with the given name and within the given Namespace, or null if no such attribute exists.

 o getAttributes()

This returns the complete set of attributes for this element, as a List of Attribute objects in no particular order, or an empty list if there are none.

 o getAttributeValue(String)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and within no namespace, null if there is no such attribute, and the empty string if the attribute value is empty.

 o getAttributeValue(String, Namespace)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and within the given Namespace, null if there is no such attribute, and the empty string if the attribute value is empty.

 o getAttributeValue(String, Namespace, String)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and within the given Namespace, or the passed-in default if there is no such attribute.

 o getAttributeValue(String, String)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and within no namespace, or the passed-in default if there is no such attribute.

 o getChild(String)

This returns the first child element within this element with the given local name and belonging to no namespace.

 o getChild(String, Namespace)

This returns the first child element within this element with the given local name and belonging to the given namespace.

 o getChildren()

This returns a List of all the child elements nested directly (one level deep) within this element, as Element objects.

 o getChildren(String)

This returns a List of all the child elements nested directly (one level deep) within this element with the given local name and belonging to no namespace, returned as Element objects.

 o getChildren(String, Namespace)

This returns a List of all the child elements nested directly (one level deep) within this element with the given local name and belonging to the given Namespace, returned as Element objects.

 o getChildText(String)

This convenience method returns the textual content of the named child element, or returns an empty String ("") if the child has no textual content.

 o getChildText(String, Namespace)

This convenience method returns the textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child.

 o getChildTextNormalize(String)

This convenience method returns the normalized textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child.

 o getChildTextNormalize(String, Namespace)

This convenience method returns the normalized textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child.

 o getChildTextTrim(String)

This convenience method returns the trimmed textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child.

 o getChildTextTrim(String, Namespace)

This convenience method returns the trimmed textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child.

 o getContent()

This returns the full content of the element as a List which may contain objects of type Text, Element, Comment, ProcessingInstruction, CDATA, and EntityRef.

 o getContent(Filter)

Return a filter view of this Element's content.

 o getDocument()

This retrieves the owning {

 o getName()

This returns the (local) name of the Element, without any namespace prefix, if one exists.

 o getNamespace()

This will return this Element's {

 o getNamespace(String)

This returns the Namespace in scope on this element for the given prefix (this involves searching up the tree, so the results depend on the current location of the element).

 o getNamespacePrefix()

This returns the namespace prefix of the Element, if one exists.

 o getNamespaceURI()

This returns the URI mapped to this Element's prefix (or the default namespace if no prefix).

 o getParent()

This will return the parent of this Element.

 o getQualifiedName()

This returns the full name of the Element, in the form [namespacePrefix]:[localName].

 o getText()

This returns the textual content directly held under this element.

 o getTextNormalize()

This returns the textual content of this element with all surrounding whitespace removed and internal whitespace normalized to a single space.

 o getTextTrim()

This returns the textual content of this element with all surrounding whitespace removed.

 o hasChildren()

Test whether this element has a child element.

 o hashCode()

This returns the hash code for this Element.

 o isAncestor(Element)

Determines if this element is the ancestor of another element.

 o isRootElement()

This returns a boolean value indicating whether this Element is a root Element for a JDOM {

 o removeAttribute(Attribute)

This removes the supplied Attribute should it exist.

 o removeAttribute(String)

This removes the attribute with the given name and within no namespace.

 o removeAttribute(String, Namespace)

This removes the attribute with the given name and within the given Namespace.

 o removeChild(String)

This removes the first child element (one level deep) with the given local name and belonging to no namespace.

 o removeChild(String, Namespace)

This removes the first child element (one level deep) with the given local name and belonging to the given namespace.

 o removeChildren()

This removes all child elements.

 o removeChildren(String)

This removes all child elements (one level deep) with the given local name and belonging to no namespace.

 o removeChildren(String, Namespace)

This removes all child elements (one level deep) with the given local name and belonging to the given namespace.

 o removeContent(CDATA)

This removes the specified CDATA.

 o removeContent(Comment)

This removes the specified Comment.

 o removeContent(Element)

This removes the specified Element.

 o removeContent(EntityRef)

This removes the specified EntityRef.

 o removeContent(ProcessingInstruction)

This removes the specified ProcessingInstruction.

 o removeContent(Text)

This removes the specified Text.

 o removeNamespaceDeclaration(Namespace)

This will remove a namespace declarations from this element.

 o setAttribute(Attribute)

This sets an attribute value for this element.

 o setAttribute(String, String)

This sets an attribute value for this element.

 o setAttribute(String, String, Namespace)

This sets an attribute value for this element.

 o setAttributes(List)

This sets the attributes of the element.

 o setChildren(List)

This sets the content of the element the same as {

 o setContent(List)

This sets the content of the element.

 o setDocument(Document)

This sets the {

 o setName(String)

This sets the (local) name of the Element.

 o setNamespace(Namespace)

This sets this Element's {

 o setParent(Element)

This will set the parent of this Element.

 o setText(String)

This sets the content of the element to be the text given.

 o toString()

This returns a String representation of the Element, suitable for debugging.

Variables

 o name
 protected String name
The local name of the Element

 o namespace
 protected transient Namespace namespace
The {@link Namespace} of the Element

 o additionalNamespaces
 protected transient List additionalNamespaces
Additional {@link Namespace} declarations on this element

 o parent
 protected Object parent
Parent element, document, or null if none

 o attributes
 protected AttributeList attributes
The attributes of the Element.

 o content
 protected ContentList content
The mixed content of the Element.

Constructors

 o Element
 protected Element()

This protected constructor is provided in order to support an Element subclass that wants full control over variable initialization. It intentionally leaves all instance variables null, allowing a lightweight subclass implementation. The subclass is responsible for ensuring all the get and set methods on Element behave as documented.

When implementing an Element subclass which doesn't require full control over variable initialization, be aware that simply calling super() (or letting the compiler add the implicit super() call) will not initialize the instance variables which will cause many of the methods to throw a NullPointerException. Therefore, the constructor for these subclasses should call one of the public constructors so variable initialization is handled automatically.

 o Element
 public Element(String name,
                Namespace namespace)

This will create a new Element with the supplied (local) name, and define the {@link Namespace} to be used. If the provided namespace is null, the element will have no namespace.

Parameters:
name - String name of element.
 o Element
 public Element(String name)

This will create an Element in no {@link Namespace}.

Parameters:
name - String name of element.
 o Element
 public Element(String name,
                String uri)

This will create a new Element with the supplied (local) name, and specifies the URI of the {@link Namespace} the Element should be in, resulting it being unprefixed (in the default namespace).

Parameters:
name - String name of element.
uri - String URI for Namespace element should be in.
 o Element
 public Element(String name,
                String prefix,
                String uri)

This will create a new Element with the supplied (local) name, and specifies the prefix and URI of the {@link Namespace} the Element should be in.

Parameters:
name - String name of element.
uri - String URI for Namespace element should be in.

Methods

 o getName
 public String getName()

This returns the (local) name of the Element, without any namespace prefix, if one exists.

Returns:
String - element name.
 o setName
 public Element setName(String name)

This sets the (local) name of the Element.

Returns:
Element - the element modified.
Throws: IllegalNameException
if the given name is illegal as an Element name.
 o getNamespace
 public Namespace getNamespace()

This will return this Element's {@link Namespace}.

Returns:
Namespace - Namespace object for this Element
 o setNamespace
 public Element setNamespace(Namespace namespace)

This sets this Element's {@link Namespace}. If the provided namespace is null, the element will have no namespace.

Returns:
Element - the element modified.
 o getNamespacePrefix
 public String getNamespacePrefix()

This returns the namespace prefix of the Element, if one exists. Otherwise, an empty String is returned.

Returns:
String - namespace prefix.
 o getNamespaceURI
 public String getNamespaceURI()

This returns the URI mapped to this Element's prefix (or the default namespace if no prefix). If no mapping is found, an empty String is returned.

Returns:
String - namespace URI for this Element.
 o getNamespace
 public Namespace getNamespace(String prefix)

This returns the Namespace in scope on this element for the given prefix (this involves searching up the tree, so the results depend on the current location of the element). It returns null if there is no Namespace in scope with the given prefix at this point in the document.

Parameters:
prefix - namespace prefix to look up
Returns:
Namespace - namespace in scope for the given prefix on this Element, or null if none.
 o getQualifiedName
 public String getQualifiedName()

This returns the full name of the Element, in the form [namespacePrefix]:[localName]. If no namespace prefix exists for the Element, simply the local name is returned.

Returns:
String - full name of element.
 o addNamespaceDeclaration
 public void addNamespaceDeclaration(Namespace additional)

This will add a namespace declarations to this element. This should not be used to add the declaration for this element itself; that should be assigned in the construction of the element. Instead, this is for adding namespace declarations on the element not relating directly to itself.

Parameters:
additional - Namespace to add.
Throws: IllegalAddException
if the namespace prefix collides with another namespace prefix on the element.
 o removeNamespaceDeclaration
 public void removeNamespaceDeclaration(Namespace additionalNamespace)

This will remove a namespace declarations from this element. This should not be used to remove the declaration for this element itself; that should be handled in the construction of the element. Instead, this is for removing namespace declarations on the element not relating directly to itself. If the declaration is not present, this method does nothing.

Parameters:
additionalNamespace - Namespace to remove.
 o getAdditionalNamespaces
 public List getAdditionalNamespaces()

This will return any namespace declarations on this element that exist, excluding the namespace of the element itself, which can be obtained through {@link #getNamespace()}. If there are no additional declarations, this returns an empty list. Note, the returned list is not live, for performance reasons.

Returns:
List - the additional namespace declarations.
 o getParent
 public Element getParent()

This will return the parent of this Element. If there is no parent, then this returns null. Also note that on its own, this is not 100% sufficient to see if the Element is not in use - this should be used in tandem with {@link #isRootElement} to determine this.

Returns:
parent of this Element.
 o setParent
 protected Element setParent(Element parent)

This will set the parent of this Element. The caller is responsible for handling pre-existing parentage.

Parameters:
parent - Element to be new parent.
Returns:
Element - this Element modified.
 o detach
 public Element detach()

This detaches the element from its parent, or does nothing if the element has no parent.

Returns:
Element - this Element modified.
 o isRootElement
 public boolean isRootElement()

This returns a boolean value indicating whether this Element is a root Element for a JDOM {@link Document}. This should be used in tandem with {@link #getParent} to determine if an Element has no "attachments" to parents.

Returns:
boolean - whether this is a root element.
 o setDocument
 protected Element setDocument(Document document)

This sets the {@link Document} parent of this element and makes it the root element. The caller is responsible for ensuring the element doesn't have a pre-existing parent.

Parameters:
document - Document parent
Returns:
Document this Element modified
 o getDocument
 public Document getDocument()

This retrieves the owning {@link Document} for this Element, or null if not a currently a member of a {@link Document}.

Returns:
Document owning this Element, or null.
 o getText
 public String getText()

This returns the textual content directly held under this element. This will include all text within this single element, including whitespace and CDATA sections if they exist. It's essentially the concatenation of all Text and CDATA nodes returned by getContent(). The call does not recurse into child elements. If no textual value exists for the element, an empty String ("") is returned.

Returns:
text content for this element, or empty string if none
 o getTextTrim
 public String getTextTrim()

This returns the textual content of this element with all surrounding whitespace removed. If no textual value exists for the element, or if only whitespace exists, the empty string is returned.

Returns:
trimmed text content for this element, or empty string if none
 o getTextNormalize
 public String getTextNormalize()

This returns the textual content of this element with all surrounding whitespace removed and internal whitespace normalized to a single space. If no textual value exists for the element, or if only whitespace exists, the empty string is returned.

Returns:
normalized text content for this element, or empty string if none
 o getChildText
 public String getChildText(String name)

This convenience method returns the textual content of the named child element, or returns an empty String ("") if the child has no textual content. However, if the child does not exist, null is returned.

Parameters:
name - the name of the child
Returns:
text content for the named child, or null if none
 o getChildTextTrim
 public String getChildTextTrim(String name)

This convenience method returns the trimmed textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child. See {@link #getTextTrim()} for details of text trimming.

Parameters:
name - the name of the child
Returns:
trimmed text content for the named child, or null if none
 o getChildTextNormalize
 public String getChildTextNormalize(String name)

This convenience method returns the normalized textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child. See {@link #getTextNormalize()} for details of text normalizing.

Parameters:
name - the name of the child
Returns:
normalized text content for the named child, or null if none
 o getChildText
 public String getChildText(String name,
                            Namespace ns)

This convenience method returns the textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child.

Parameters:
name - the name of the child
ns - the namespace of the child
Returns:
text content for the named child, or null if none
 o getChildTextTrim
 public String getChildTextTrim(String name,
                                Namespace ns)

This convenience method returns the trimmed textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child. See {@link #getTextTrim()} for details of text trimming.

Parameters:
name - the name of the child
ns - the namespace of the child
Returns:
trimmed text content for the named child, or null if none
 o getChildTextNormalize
 public String getChildTextNormalize(String name,
                                     Namespace ns)

This convenience method returns the normalized textual content of the named child element, or returns null if there's no such child. See {@link #getTextNormalize()} for details of text normalizing.

Parameters:
name - the name of the child
ns - the namespace of the child
Returns:
normalized text content for the named child, or null if none
 o setText
 public Element setText(String text)

This sets the content of the element to be the text given. All existing text content and non-text context is removed. If this element should have both textual content and nested elements, use {@link #setContent} instead. Setting a null text value is equivalent to setting an empty string value.

Parameters:
text - new content for the element
Returns:
this element modified
 o getContent
 public List getContent()

This returns the full content of the element as a List which may contain objects of type Text, Element, Comment, ProcessingInstruction, CDATA, and EntityRef. The List returned is "live" in document order and modifications to it affect the element's actual contents. Whitespace content is returned in its entirety.

Sequential traversal through the List is best done with an Iterator since the underlying implement of List.size() may require walking the entire list.

Returns:
a List containing the mixed content of the element: may contain Text, {@link Element}, {@link Comment}, {@link ProcessingInstruction}, {@link CDATA}, and {@link EntityRef} objects.
 o getContent
 public List getContent(Filter filter)

Return a filter view of this Element's content.

Sequential traversal through the List is best done with a Iterator since the underlying implement of List.size() may require walking the entire list.

Parameters:
filter - Filter to apply
Returns:
List - filtered Element content
 o setContent
 public Element setContent(List newContent)

This sets the content of the element. The supplied List should contain only objects of type Element, Text, CDATA, Comment, ProcessingInstruction, and EntityRef.

When all objects in the supplied List are legal and before the new content is added, all objects in the old content will have their parentage set to null (no parent) and the old content list will be cleared. This has the effect that any active list (previously obtained with a call to {@link #getContent} or {@link #getChildren}) will also change to reflect the new content. In addition, all objects in the supplied List will have their parentage set to this element, but the List itself will not be "live" and further removals and additions will have no effect on this elements content. If the user wants to continue working with a "live" list, then a call to setContent should be followed by a call to {@link #getContent} or {@link #getChildren} to obtain a "live" version of the content.

Passing a null or empty List clears the existing content.

In event of an exception the original content will be unchanged and the objects in the supplied content will be unaltered.

Parameters:
newContent - List of content to set
Returns:
this element modified
Throws: IllegalAddException
if the List contains objects of illegal types.
 o hasChildren
 public boolean hasChildren()

Test whether this element has a child element. This method can be used before a call to {@link #getContent}, which always creates a "live" list, to improve performance.

Returns:
true if this element has at least one child element
 o getChildren
 public List getChildren()

This returns a List of all the child elements nested directly (one level deep) within this element, as Element objects. If this target element has no nested elements, an empty List is returned. The returned list is "live" in document order and changes to it affect the element's actual contents.

Sequential traversal through the List is best done with a Iterator since the underlying implement of List.size() may not be the most efficient.

No recursion is performed, so elements nested two levels deep would have to be obtained with:

 
   Iterator itr = (currentElement.getChildren()).iterator();
   while(itr.hasNext()) {
     Element oneLevelDeep = (Element)itr.next();
     List twoLevelsDeep = oneLevelDeep.getChildren();
     // Do something with these children
   }
 
 

Returns:
list of child Element objects for this element
 o setChildren
 public Element setChildren(List children)

This sets the content of the element the same as {@link #setContent}, except only Element objects are allowed in the supplied list.

Parameters:
children - List of Element objects to add
Returns:
this element modified
 o getChildren
 public List getChildren(String name)

This returns a List of all the child elements nested directly (one level deep) within this element with the given local name and belonging to no namespace, returned as Element objects. If this target element has no nested elements with the given name outside a namespace, an empty List is returned. The returned list is "live" in document order and changes to it affect the element's actual contents.

Please see the notes for {@link #getChildren} for a code example.

Parameters:
name - local name for the children to match
Returns:
all matching child elements
 o getChildren
 public List getChildren(String name,
                         Namespace ns)

This returns a List of all the child elements nested directly (one level deep) within this element with the given local name and belonging to the given Namespace, returned as Element objects. If this target element has no nested elements with the given name in the given Namespace, an empty List is returned. The returned list is "live" in document order and changes to it affect the element's actual contents.

Please see the notes for {@link #getChildren} for a code example.

Parameters:
name - local name for the children to match
ns - Namespace to search within
Returns:
all matching child elements
 o getChild
 public Element getChild(String name,
                         Namespace ns)

This returns the first child element within this element with the given local name and belonging to the given namespace. If no elements exist for the specified name and namespace, null is returned.

Parameters:
name - local name of child element to match
ns - Namespace to search within
Returns:
the first matching child element, or null if not found
 o getChild
 public Element getChild(String name)

This returns the first child element within this element with the given local name and belonging to no namespace. If no elements exist for the specified name and namespace, null is returned.

Parameters:
name - local name of child element to match
Returns:
the first matching child element, or null if not found
 o addContent
 public Element addContent(String str)

This adds text content to this element. It does not replace the existing content as does setText().

Parameters:
str - String to add
Returns:
this element modified
 o addContent
 public Element addContent(Text text)

This adds text content to this element. It does not replace the existing content as does setText().

Parameters:
text - Text to add
Returns:
this element modified
 o addContent
 public Element addContent(CDATA cdata)

This adds a CDATA section as content to this element.

Parameters:
cdata - CDATA to add
Returns:
this element modified
 o addContent
 public Element addContent(Element element)

This adds element content to this element.

Parameters:
element - Element to add
Returns:
this element modified
Throws: IllegalAddException
if the element you're attempting to add already has a parent element, or if you're attempting to add it as a descendent of itself (which would result in a recursive element definition!).
 o addContent
 public Element addContent(ProcessingInstruction pi)

This adds a processing instruction as content to this element.

Parameters:
pi - ProcessingInstruction to add
Returns:
this element modified
Throws: IllegalAddException
if the given processing instruction, pi, already has a parent.
 o addContent
 public Element addContent(EntityRef entity)

This adds entity content to this element.

Parameters:
entity - EntityRef to add
Returns:
this element modified
Throws: IllegalAddException
if the given EntityRef already has a parent.
 o addContent
 public Element addContent(Comment comment)

This adds a comment as content to this element.

Parameters:
comment - Comment to add
Returns:
this element modified
Throws: IllegalAddException
if the given Comment already has a parent.
 o isAncestor
 public boolean isAncestor(Element element)

Determines if this element is the ancestor of another element.

Parameters:
element - Element to check against
Returns:
true if this element is the ancestor of the supplied element
 o removeChild
 public boolean removeChild(String name)

This removes the first child element (one level deep) with the given local name and belonging to no namespace. Returns true if a child was removed.

Parameters:
name - the name of child elements to remove
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o removeChild
 public boolean removeChild(String name,
                            Namespace ns)

This removes the first child element (one level deep) with the given local name and belonging to the given namespace. Returns true if a child was removed.

Parameters:
name - the name of child element to remove
ns - Namespace to search within
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o removeChildren
 public boolean removeChildren(String name)

This removes all child elements (one level deep) with the given local name and belonging to no namespace. Returns true if any were removed.

Parameters:
name - the name of child elements to remove
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o removeChildren
 public boolean removeChildren(String name,
                               Namespace ns)

This removes all child elements (one level deep) with the given local name and belonging to the given namespace. Returns true if any were removed.

Parameters:
name - the name of child elements to remove
ns - Namespace to search within
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o removeChildren
 public boolean removeChildren()

This removes all child elements. Returns true if any were removed.

Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o getAttributes
 public List getAttributes()

This returns the complete set of attributes for this element, as a List of Attribute objects in no particular order, or an empty list if there are none. The returned list is "live" and changes to it affect the element's actual attributes.

Returns:
attributes for the element
 o getAttribute
 public Attribute getAttribute(String name)

This returns the attribute for this element with the given name and within no namespace, or null if no such attribute exists.

Parameters:
name - name of the attribute to return
Returns:
attribute for the element
 o getAttribute
 public Attribute getAttribute(String name,
                               Namespace ns)

This returns the attribute for this element with the given name and within the given Namespace, or null if no such attribute exists.

Parameters:
name - name of the attribute to return
ns - Namespace to search within
Returns:
attribute for the element
 o getAttributeValue
 public String getAttributeValue(String name)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and within no namespace, null if there is no such attribute, and the empty string if the attribute value is empty.

Parameters:
name - name of the attribute whose value to be returned
Returns:
the named attribute's value, or null if no such attribute
 o getAttributeValue
 public String getAttributeValue(String name,
                                 Namespace ns,
                                 String def)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and within the given Namespace, or the passed-in default if there is no such attribute.

Parameters:
name - name of the attribute whose valud is to be returned
ns - Namespace to search within
def - a default value to return if the attribute does not exist
Returns:
the named attribute's value, or the default if no such attribute
 o getAttributeValue
 public String getAttributeValue(String name,
                                 String def)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and within no namespace, or the passed-in default if there is no such attribute.

Parameters:
name - name of the attribute whose value to be returned
def - a default value to return if the attribute does not exist
Returns:
the named attribute's value, or the default if no such attribute
 o getAttributeValue
 public String getAttributeValue(String name,
                                 Namespace ns)

This returns the attribute value for the attribute with the given name and within the given Namespace, null if there is no such attribute, and the empty string if the attribute value is empty.

Parameters:
name - name of the attribute whose valud is to be returned
ns - Namespace to search within
Returns:
the named attribute's value, or null if no such attribute
 o setAttributes
 public Element setAttributes(List newAttributes)

This sets the attributes of the element. The supplied List should contain only objects of type Attribute.

When all objects in the supplied List are legal and before the new attributes are added, all old attributes will have their parentage set to null (no parent) and the old attribute list will be cleared. This has the effect that any active attribute list (previously obtained with a call to {@link #getAttributes}) will also change to reflect the new attributes. In addition, all attributes in the supplied List will have their parentage set to this element, but the List itself will not be "live" and further removals and additions will have no effect on this elements attributes. If the user wants to continue working with a "live" attribute list, then a call to setAttributes should be followed by a call to {@link #getAttributes} to obtain a "live" version of the attributes.

Passing a null or empty List clears the existing attributes.

In cases where the List contains duplicate attributes, only the last one will be retained. This has the same effect as calling {@link #setAttribute(Attribute)} sequentially.

In event of an exception the original attributes will be unchanged and the attributes in the supplied attributes will be unaltered.

Parameters:
attributes - List of attributes to set
Returns:
this element modified
Throws: IllegalAddException
if the List contains objects of illegal types.
 o setAttribute
 public Element setAttribute(String name,
                             String value)

This sets an attribute value for this element. Any existing attribute with the same name and namespace URI is removed.

Parameters:
name - name of the attribute to set
value - value of the attribute to set
Returns:
this element modified
 o setAttribute
 public Element setAttribute(String name,
                             String value,
                             Namespace ns)

This sets an attribute value for this element. Any existing attribute with the same name and namespace URI is removed.

Parameters:
name - name of the attribute to set
value - value of the attribute to set
ns - namespace of the attribute to set
Returns:
this element modified
 o setAttribute
 public Element setAttribute(Attribute attribute)

This sets an attribute value for this element. Any existing attribute with the same name and namespace URI is removed.

Parameters:
attribute - Attribute to set
Returns:
this element modified
Throws: IllegalAddException
if the attribute being added already has a parent or if the attribute namespace prefix collides with another namespace prefix on the element.
 o removeAttribute
 public boolean removeAttribute(String name)

This removes the attribute with the given name and within no namespace. If no such attribute exists, this method does nothing.

Parameters:
name - name of attribute to remove
Returns:
whether the attribute was removed
 o removeAttribute
 public boolean removeAttribute(String name,
                                Namespace ns)

This removes the attribute with the given name and within the given Namespace. If no such attribute exists, this method does nothing.

Parameters:
name - name of attribute to remove
ns - namespace URI of attribute to remove
Returns:
whether the attribute was removed
 o removeAttribute
 public boolean removeAttribute(Attribute attribute)

This removes the supplied Attribute should it exist.

Parameters:
attribute - Reference to the attribute to be removed.
Returns:
whether the attribute was removed
 o removeContent
 public boolean removeContent(Element element)

This removes the specified Element. If the specified Element is not a child of this Element, this method does nothing.

Parameters:
child - Element to delete
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o removeContent
 public boolean removeContent(ProcessingInstruction pi)

This removes the specified ProcessingInstruction. If the specified ProcessingInstruction is not a child of this Element, this method does nothing.

Parameters:
child - ProcessingInstruction to delete
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o removeContent
 public boolean removeContent(Comment comment)

This removes the specified Comment. If the specified Comment is not a child of this Element, this method does nothing.

Parameters:
comment - Comment to delete
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o removeContent
 public boolean removeContent(CDATA cdata)

This removes the specified CDATA. If the specified CDATA is not a child of this Element, this method does nothing.

Parameters:
cdata - CDATA to delete
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o removeContent
 public boolean removeContent(Text text)

This removes the specified Text. If the specified Text is not a child of this Element, this method does nothing.

Parameters:
text - Text to delete
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o removeContent
 public boolean removeContent(EntityRef entity)

This removes the specified EntityRef. If the specified EntityRef is not a child of this Element, this method does nothing.

Parameters:
child - EntityRef to delete
Returns:
whether deletion occurred
 o toString
 public String toString()

This returns a String representation of the Element, suitable for debugging. If the XML representation of the Element is desired, {@link org.jdom.output.XMLOutputter#outputString(Element)} should be used.

Returns:
String - information about the Element
Overrides:
toString in class Object
 o equals
 public final boolean equals(Object ob)

This tests for equality of this Element to the supplied Object, explicitly using the == operator.

Parameters:
ob - Object to compare to
Returns:
whether the elements are equal
Overrides:
equals in class Object
 o hashCode
 public final int hashCode()

This returns the hash code for this Element.

Returns:
inherited hash code
Overrides:
hashCode in class Object
 o clone
 public Object clone()

This returns a deep clone of this element. The new element is detached from its parent, and getParent() on the clone will return null.

Returns:
the clone of this element
Overrides:
clone in class Object

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