Microsoft DOM Objects Reference

resolveExternals

Syntax

blnVal = objDOMDocument.resolveExternals

objDOMDocument.resolveExternals = blnVal

Remark

This property is readable and writable. True/False is returned/set, defaulting to True. Remember that there is a difference between valid and well-formed. A merely well-formed XML document has matching tags and is syntactically correct. Valid means that the entire XML document is correct, including the use of a Schema, DTD, or other externals.

Externals are items that are referenced from within the XML document, such as namespaces, DTDs, and other included files or objects.

When the DOMDocument is parsed, validation can occur or not. We can turn validation off-as is the default for IE5 when it displays XML files-by setting validateOnParse property to False.

During parsing, if validation occurs, validation will fail unless resolveExternals is set to True.

Example

To resolve a namespace, the Microsoft DOM objects require that the URI prefix begins with "x-schema."

In the following example, the DOM document loaded has a DTD. Before the load takes place, the DOMDocument needs to resolve the DTD. Therefore, the resolveExternals property needs to be set before loading the document. But if we want the XML file validated against the DTD file request, we must set the validateOnParse property to True:

Dim objDOMDocument As DOMDocument

Set objDOMDocument = New DOMDocument

objDOMDocument.async = False

objDOMDocument.resolveExternals = True

objDOMDocument.validateOnParse = True

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