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XML DOM Replace Nodes

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The replaceChild() method replaces a specified node.

The nodeValue property replaces text in a text node.

Try it Yourself - Examples

The examples below use the XML file books.xml.

Replace an element node
This example uses replaceChild() to replace the first <book> node.

Replace data in a text node
This example uses the nodeValue property to replace data in a text node.

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Header

Replace an Element Node

The replaceChild() method is used to replace a node.

The following code fragment replaces the first <book> element:

Example

xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("books.xml");

x=xmlDoc.documentElement;

//create a book element, title element and a text node
newNode=xmlDoc.createElement("book");
newTitle=xmlDoc.createElement("title");
newText=xmlDoc.createTextNode("A Notebook");

//add the text node to the title node,
newTitle.appendChild(newText);
//add the title node to the book node
newNode.appendChild(newTitle);

y=xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("book")[0]
//replace the first book node with the new node
x.replaceChild(newNode,y);
Try it Yourself »

Example explained:

  1. Load "books.xml" into xmlDoc
  2. Create a new element node <book>
  3. Create a new element node <title>
  4. Create a new text node with the text "A Notebook"
  5. Append the new text node to the new element node <title>
  6. Append the new element node <title> to the new element node <book>
  7. Replace the first <book> element node with the new <book> element node

Replace Data In a Text Node

The replaceData() method is used to replace data in a text node.

The replaceData() method has three parameters:

  • offset - Where to begin replacing characters. Offset value starts at zero
  • length - How many characters to replace
  • string - The string to insert

Example

xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("books.xml");

x=xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("title")[0].childNodes[0];

x.replaceData(0,8,"Easy");
Try it Yourself »

Example explained:

  1. Load "books.xml" into xmlDoc
  2. Get the text node of the first <title> element node
  3. Use the replaceData method to replace the eight first characters from the text node with "Easy"

Use the nodeValue Property Instead

It is easier to replace the data in a text node using the nodeValue property.

The following code fragment will replace the text node value in the first <title> element with "Easy Italian":

Example

xmlDoc=loadXMLDoc("books.xml");

x=xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("title")[0].childNodes[0];

x.nodeValue="Easy Italian";
Try it Yourself »

Example explained:

  1. Load "books.xml" into xmlDoc
  2. Get the text node of the first <title> element node
  3. Use the nodeValue property to change the text of the text node

You can read more about changing node values in the Change Node chapter.


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