Microsoft DOM Objects Reference

nodeType

Syntax

objDOMNodeTypeEnum = objDOMDocument.nodeType

lngType = objDOMDocument.nodeType

Remark

This property is read-only.

Each Node will have a nodeType enumeration (enum) property to distinguish what type of Node we are currently working with. Knowing the Node type also determines whether the Node will have child Nodes.

Example

In each section, we mention what child Node types each Node type can have. Each Node type has its own interface; for example, NODE_ELEMENT uses the XMLDOMElement. However, as mentioned earlier, we will not discuss each one of these interfaces.

In the following example, we iterate through the child Nodes of the DOMDocument. Depending on what type of Node it its, using the nodeType property, we display a message box of what its type is.

Dim objDOMDocument As DOMDocument

Dim objNode as IXMLDOMNode

Set objDOMDocument = New DOMDocument

objDOMDocument.async = False

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

If objDOMDocument.length > 0 then

For Each objNode In objDOMDocument.childNodes

Select Case objNode.nodeType

Case NODE_DOCUMENT_TYPE

MsgBox "This is the dtd"

Case NODE_ELEMENT

MsgBox "This is an element"

Case NODE_PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION

MsgBox "This is a processing instruction"

End Select

Next objNode

End If

You may have noticed that we used an IXMLDOMNode object (objNode) for iterating through the collection of child Nodes in the DOMDocument. This is because most of the XML objects inherit the IXMLDOMNode interface. Due of this, you can cast the object into the preferred interface once you have assessed what type of Node you are dealing with.

For example, if your nodeType for your object is NODE_DOCUMENT_TYPE, then you can cast it like this:

set objXMLDOMDocumentType = objNode

Now you can work with a declared IXMLDOMDocumentType object and use its properties and methods. Let's look more closely at the different nodeTypes.

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!