Microsoft DOM Objects Reference

async

Syntax

blnValue = objDOMDocument.async

objDOMDocument.async = blnValue

Remark

The async property indicates or sets a boolean as to whether the XML document is downloaded asynchronously or synchronously. This should be set before loading the XML document, if you do not want to use the default.

The default for this property is set to True. This default is important to remember when dealing with the load() method of the DOMDocument, as it will load your information asynchronously. Therefore, as your DOMDocument is busy loading the XML, your VB code will continue to run without waiting for the documents to finish loading.

If you have set your DOMDocument to run asynchronously (or have forgotten to change it to false), it will then proceed to call another method afterwards, like:

Set objPeopleRoot = m_objDOMPeople.documentElement

This will cause an object has not been set error. This happens because the DOMDocument has not yet completed loading, and you are trying to access it. Therefore, before calling the load() method, don't forget to set the async property to False, if you want your XML document to be loaded synchronously.

Example

Dim objDOMDocument As DOMDocument

Dim objXMLDOMElement As IXMLDOMElement

Set objDOMDocument = New DOMDocument

objDOMDocument.async = False

objDOMDocument.Load "http://localhost/xmlcode/people2.dtd"

¬ The other approach is to use the WithEvents language statement in order to expose the event that come with the DOMDocument. Within these events, you can catch when the document has completed loading.

¬ For a more detailed example of using WithEvents and the async method, see the section on Loading a file asynchronously in chapter 4, "Programming with XML."

This manuscript is an abridged version of a chapter from the Manning Publications book XML Programming with VB and ASP. This chapter looks at the Microsoft DOM objects. NOTE: Most images have been removed to increase speed and many of the code comments have also been removed for presentation. Please purchase the book to enjoy the full experience of all the chapters with images and code comments!