Changing node name of xml-node with Java

Question

I have following scenario: I have a XML-Document, e.g. like this

<someRootElement>
<tag1>
    <tag2 
        someKey=someValue
        someKey2=someValue2
    />
    <tag3/>
    <tag4
        newKey=newValue
        newKey2=newValue2
    />
</tag1>
</someRootElement>

Now I want the parent tag1 to be called reallyCoolTag without losing the childnodes. I tried the following, but it unfortunately doesn't work as I wish it would (but I do know why, b/c it is missing something, I guess):

// the new element:
Element neu = doc.createElement( newValue );
// append it to the root:
root.appendChild( neu );
// get all the child nodes:
NamedNodeMap nnm = nodes.item(i).getAttributes();
for( int dg = 0; dg < nnm.getLength(); dg++ ){
    neu.setAttribute(  nnm.item( dg ).getNodeName(),
    nnm.item( dg ).getNodeValue() );
}
//---------------------------------------------------------
// HERE I GUESS I AM MISSING THE PART WHERE THE CHILD NODES
// ARE BEING APPENDED TO THE NEW NODE?????
//---------------------------------------------------------
// nodes.item(i) := the old value (nodes := is a NodeList
root.replaceChild( neu, nodes.item(i));
TransformerFactory tFactory     = TransformerFactory.newInstance();
Transformer transformer         = tFactory.newTransformer();
DOMSource source                = new DOMSource( doc );
StreamResult result         = new StreamResult( xml );
transformer.transform( source, result );
nodes.item( i ).getParentNode().removeChild( nodes.item(i) );

Now this does work to a certain extend, as I mentioned, I guess I am missing the part where the child nodes are being appened, but what I actually wanted to know is, whether there is a really short way to rename the parent node without having to copy everything and replace the whole thing?

Thnx in advance!!!

Sudip Bhandari · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-10 09:33:25Z

39

Using Document.renameNode:

NodeList nodes = document.getElementsByTagName("tag1");
for (Node eachNode: nodes) {
  document.renameNode(eachNode, null, "reallyCoolTag");
}

edited Jan 10, 2018 at 9:33

Sudip Bhandari

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answered Aug 22, 2009 at 21:40

McDowell

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Comments

McDowell · Accepted Answer · 2009-08-19 15:33:17Z

2

You could use an XSL Transformation (XSLT) for this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
  version="1.0">
  <xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes" />
  <xsl:template match="*"> <!-- match anything -->
    <xsl:copy>
      <xsl:copy-of select="@*" />
      <xsl:apply-templates />
    </xsl:copy>
  </xsl:template>
  <xsl:template match="tag1"> <!-- switch the element name -->
    <xsl:element name="reallyCoolTag">
      <xsl:copy-of select="@*" />
      <xsl:apply-templates />
    </xsl:element>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

This can be used with the javax.xml.transform package (Java 1.4 and above):

TransformerFactory transFactory = TransformerFactory.newInstance();
Transformer transformer = transFactory.newTransformer(new StreamSource(
    new File("RenameTag.xslt")));
transformer
    .transform(new DOMSource(document), new StreamResult(System.out));

See DOMResult if you want a Document as the output.

answered Aug 19, 2009 at 15:33

McDowell

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1 Comment

Jean-Philippe Over a year ago

If you also need to run java code to run the style sheet, it may be better to use only java to solve the problem. In doing so, you limit the technologies involved, disk access and disk dependencies. You may prefer style sheets when there are several changes to make and they are more heterogeneous. I Suggest Using Document.renameNode

ZZ Coder · Accepted Answer · 2009-08-19 14:12:21Z

0

Your tag1 is invalid. It doesn't have closing >. Also the attributes should be quoted. It should look like this,

<someRootElement>
<tag1>
    <tag2 
        someKey="someValue"
        someKey2="someValue2"
    />
    <tag3/>
    <tag4
        newKey="newValue"
        newKey2="newValue2"
    />
</tag1>
</someRootElement>

Try with the corrected XML. It should work.

answered Aug 19, 2009 at 14:12

ZZ Coder

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1 Comment

doro Over a year ago

aside from that the suggested methods did not work ... I had to loop through the children of the node and add em ... but you are right, it isn't valid the way I put it.

Aaron Digulla · Accepted Answer · 2009-08-20 07:49:33Z

0

Just call setName("reallyCoolTag") on the element(s) you want to rename. There is no need to copy the children around; the name attribute of an element is a mutable field.

edited Aug 20, 2009 at 7:49

answered Aug 19, 2009 at 13:41

Aaron Digulla

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4 Comments

doro Over a year ago

I've tried that before, but it didn't work. Maybe I am doing it wrong? If the node I want to rename is 'nodes.item(i)' and the root-element is called root, how exactly am I doing that? I've tried: nodes.item(i).setName(newValue) ... but eclipse wants me to add a cast ...

Aaron Digulla Over a year ago

It does work; it just doesn't change the file on disk. You need to save the document in RAM somewhere to see the effect.

doro Over a year ago

see above, eclipse wants me to add a cast ... I guess, the method is not supposed to work that way ... and as you can see above I am saving the changes I want to make :(

Aaron Digulla Over a year ago

Sorry, I didn't mean the root element but the element(s) you want renamed. There is really no need to copy the children. Just search for the elements you want renamed and call setName() on them.

Grzegorz Rożniecki · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-31 12:28:45Z

0

As you did get the attributes:

NamedNodeMap nnm = nodes.item(i).getAttributes();

and you added these attributes to the new element,

You should get the children of nodes.item(i) and set them in the new node.

You can use for ex.:

neu.addContent(nodes.item(i).getChildren());

edited May 31, 2013 at 12:28

Grzegorz Rożniecki

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answered Aug 19, 2009 at 13:48

Moro

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2 Comments

doro Over a year ago

Maybe I should get a new eclipse or it really doesn't know 'addContent' :(

Moro Over a year ago

sorry, I was using JDOM. By org.w3c: you can use nodes.item(i).getChildNodes(); //return list of child then loop on them using appendChild(Element); //to append each child

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