XML Parser

All modern browsers have a built-in XML parser.

The XML parser converts an XML document into an XML DOM object - an object that can be manipulated with JavaScript.

Parse XML Document

The following code snippet parses an XML document into an XML DOM object:

if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
else
{// code for IE6, IE5
xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
xmlhttp.open("GET","books.xml",false);
xmlhttp.send();
xmlDoc=xmlhttp.responseXML;

Parse XML String

The following code snippet parses an XML string into an XML DOM object:

txt="<bookstore><book>";
txt=txt+"<title>Everyday Italian</title>";
txt=txt+"<author>Giada De Laurentiis</author>";
txt=txt+"<year>2005</year>";
txt=txt+"</book></bookstore>";

if (window.DOMParser)
{
parser=new DOMParser();
xmlDoc=parser.parseFromString(txt,"text/xml");
}
else // Internet Explorer
{
xmlDoc=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM");
xmlDoc.async=false;
xmlDoc.loadXML(txt);
}

Note:Internet Explorer uses the loadXML() method to parse an XML string, while other browsers use the DOMParser object.

Cross-origin Access

For security reasons, modern browsers do not allow cross-origin access.

This means that both the web page and the XML file it tries to load must be located on the same server.

XML DOM

In the next chapter, you will learn how to access the XML DOM object and retrieve data.


Other Extensions