Microsoft DOM Objects Reference

createNode()

Syntax

As an alternative to the createElement(), createAttribute(), etc. methods, you can also use the createNode() method, which creates any type of Node, using the following syntax:

set objXMLDOMNode = objDOMDocument.createNode(Type, name, namespaceURI)

Table  describes the syntax of createNode().

0.0.1 Signature of the createNode method (continued)

Remark

Before we continue, please refer to the nodeType property section, which explains in detail the different Node types, their enumeration values, and descriptions.

You cannot create a Node of the following types:

¬ Document-it is the root of the XML; it cannot be a childNode. The
create-Node() method only creates child Nodes. To create the root
of your XML, you initialize a DOMDocument object as we have seen
in most examples so far.

¬ Document type-DTDs cannot be added to the DOMDocument. See the
docType property in this section.

¬ Entity-entities are declared in the DTD; therefore, being external to the XML file restricts their creation

¬ Notation-this is the same as entities

If you attempt to create any of the above, an error will occur.

Table  lists what to insert in the Type and Name parts of the create- Node() signature. We have not added the namespace property in the signature, as this only applies to element and attribute Nodes, where you can specify the namespace. If there is not a namespace, you need to add an empty string (""), as this signature has no optional addresses.

In the Type part of the createNode() signature, you can insert either the nodeType value or the nodeTypeString value. You can insert the Name section in the name part of the signature.

0.0.1 Specifications of values to insert in createNode signature (continued)

Example

In the following examples, we create the different nodeTypes and append them to the documentElement property of the DOMDocument.

To create an element Node, pass the nodeTypeString as the type:

Set objNode = m_objXMLDOM.createNode("element", "PERSON", "")

m_objXMLDOM.documentElement.appendChild objNode

¬ It is such a pity that the DOM- NodeType enum for the Node type in the signature was not used as the passed variable. (Instead, an integer or string was inserted.) It would have made the Intellisense auto-complete in VB so much easier to read.

Alternatively, you can pass the nodeType enumeration as the type:

Set objNode = m_objXMLDOM.createNode(NODE_ELEMENT, "PERSON", "")

m_objXMLDOM.documentElement.appendChild objNode

Otherwise, you can pass the nodeType enumeration value as the type:

Set objNode = m_objXMLDOM.createNode(1, "PERSON", "")

m_objXMLDOM.documentElement.appendChild objNode

The example from the createComment() method example would change as follows for the createNode() method:

Dim objDOMDocument As DOMDocument

Dim objComment As IXMLDOMComment

Set objDOMDocument = New DOMDocument

Set objComment = objDOMDocument.createNode(NODE_COMMENT, "", "")

objComment.Text = "This is a comment."

objDOMDocument.appendChild objComment

¬ We've used the nodeType enumuration for the nodeType. Don't forget to pass empty strings for the other two parameters, as they are not optional.

¬ Add the comment text.

¬ Append the comment Node to its parent, which in this case is the DOMDocument.

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!