2 * Copyright (c) 2004 World Wide Web Consortium,
4 * (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, European Research Consortium for
5 * Informatics and Mathematics, Keio University). All Rights Reserved. This
6 * work is distributed under the W3C(r) Software License [1] in the hope that
7 * it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
8 * warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
10 * [1] http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/2002/copyright-software-20021231
16 * The <code>Element</code> interface represents an element in an HTML or XML
17 * document. Elements may have attributes associated with them; since the
18 * <code>Element</code> interface inherits from <code>Node</code>, the
19 * generic <code>Node</code> interface attribute <code>attributes</code> may
20 * be used to retrieve the set of all attributes for an element. There are
21 * methods on the <code>Element</code> interface to retrieve either an
22 * <code>Attr</code> object by name or an attribute value by name. In XML,
23 * where an attribute value may contain entity references, an
24 * <code>Attr</code> object should be retrieved to examine the possibly
25 * fairly complex sub-tree representing the attribute value. On the other
26 * hand, in HTML, where all attributes have simple string values, methods to
27 * directly access an attribute value can safely be used as a convenience.
28 * <p ><b>Note:</b> In DOM Level 2, the method <code>normalize</code> is
29 * inherited from the <code>Node</code> interface where it was moved.
30 * <p>See also the <a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-DOM-Level-3-Core-20040407'>Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a>.
32 public interface Element extends Node {
34 * The name of the element. If <code>Node.localName</code> is different
35 * from <code>null</code>, this attribute is a qualified name. For
37 * <pre> <elementExample id="demo"> ...
38 * </elementExample> , </pre>
39 * <code>tagName</code> has the value
40 * <code>"elementExample"</code>. Note that this is case-preserving in
41 * XML, as are all of the operations of the DOM. The HTML DOM returns
42 * the <code>tagName</code> of an HTML element in the canonical
43 * uppercase form, regardless of the case in the source HTML document.
45 public String getTagName();
48 * Retrieves an attribute value by name.
49 * @param name The name of the attribute to retrieve.
50 * @return The <code>Attr</code> value as a string, or the empty string
51 * if that attribute does not have a specified or default value.
53 public String getAttribute(String name);
56 * Adds a new attribute. If an attribute with that name is already present
57 * in the element, its value is changed to be that of the value
58 * parameter. This value is a simple string; it is not parsed as it is
59 * being set. So any markup (such as syntax to be recognized as an
60 * entity reference) is treated as literal text, and needs to be
61 * appropriately escaped by the implementation when it is written out.
62 * In order to assign an attribute value that contains entity
63 * references, the user must create an <code>Attr</code> node plus any
64 * <code>Text</code> and <code>EntityReference</code> nodes, build the
65 * appropriate subtree, and use <code>setAttributeNode</code> to assign
66 * it as the value of an attribute.
67 * <br>To set an attribute with a qualified name and namespace URI, use
68 * the <code>setAttributeNS</code> method.
69 * @param name The name of the attribute to create or alter.
70 * @param value Value to set in string form.
71 * @exception DOMException
72 * INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR: Raised if the specified name is not an XML
73 * name according to the XML version in use specified in the
74 * <code>Document.xmlVersion</code> attribute.
75 * <br>NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
77 public void setAttribute(String name,
82 * Removes an attribute by name. If a default value for the removed
83 * attribute is defined in the DTD, a new attribute immediately appears
84 * with the default value as well as the corresponding namespace URI,
85 * local name, and prefix when applicable. The implementation may handle
86 * default values from other schemas similarly but applications should
87 * use <code>Document.normalizeDocument()</code> to guarantee this
88 * information is up-to-date.
89 * <br>If no attribute with this name is found, this method has no effect.
90 * <br>To remove an attribute by local name and namespace URI, use the
91 * <code>removeAttributeNS</code> method.
92 * @param name The name of the attribute to remove.
93 * @exception DOMException
94 * NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
96 public void removeAttribute(String name)
100 * Retrieves an attribute node by name.
101 * <br>To retrieve an attribute node by qualified name and namespace URI,
102 * use the <code>getAttributeNodeNS</code> method.
103 * @param name The name (<code>nodeName</code>) of the attribute to
105 * @return The <code>Attr</code> node with the specified name (
106 * <code>nodeName</code>) or <code>null</code> if there is no such
109 public Attr getAttributeNode(String name);
112 * Adds a new attribute node. If an attribute with that name (
113 * <code>nodeName</code>) is already present in the element, it is
114 * replaced by the new one. Replacing an attribute node by itself has no
116 * <br>To add a new attribute node with a qualified name and namespace
117 * URI, use the <code>setAttributeNodeNS</code> method.
118 * @param newAttr The <code>Attr</code> node to add to the attribute list.
119 * @return If the <code>newAttr</code> attribute replaces an existing
120 * attribute, the replaced <code>Attr</code> node is returned,
121 * otherwise <code>null</code> is returned.
122 * @exception DOMException
123 * WRONG_DOCUMENT_ERR: Raised if <code>newAttr</code> was created from a
124 * different document than the one that created the element.
125 * <br>NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
126 * <br>INUSE_ATTRIBUTE_ERR: Raised if <code>newAttr</code> is already an
127 * attribute of another <code>Element</code> object. The DOM user must
128 * explicitly clone <code>Attr</code> nodes to re-use them in other
131 public Attr setAttributeNode(Attr newAttr)
135 * Removes the specified attribute node. If a default value for the
136 * removed <code>Attr</code> node is defined in the DTD, a new node
137 * immediately appears with the default value as well as the
138 * corresponding namespace URI, local name, and prefix when applicable.
139 * The implementation may handle default values from other schemas
140 * similarly but applications should use
141 * <code>Document.normalizeDocument()</code> to guarantee this
142 * information is up-to-date.
143 * @param oldAttr The <code>Attr</code> node to remove from the attribute
145 * @return The <code>Attr</code> node that was removed.
146 * @exception DOMException
147 * NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
148 * <br>NOT_FOUND_ERR: Raised if <code>oldAttr</code> is not an attribute
151 public Attr removeAttributeNode(Attr oldAttr)
155 * Returns a <code>NodeList</code> of all descendant <code>Elements</code>
156 * with a given tag name, in document order.
157 * @param name The name of the tag to match on. The special value "*"
159 * @return A list of matching <code>Element</code> nodes.
161 public NodeList getElementsByTagName(String name);
164 * Retrieves an attribute value by local name and namespace URI.
165 * <br>Per [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xml-names-19990114/'>XML Namespaces</a>]
166 * , applications must use the value <code>null</code> as the
167 * <code>namespaceURI</code> parameter for methods if they wish to have
169 * @param namespaceURI The namespace URI of the attribute to retrieve.
170 * @param localName The local name of the attribute to retrieve.
171 * @return The <code>Attr</code> value as a string, or the empty string
172 * if that attribute does not have a specified or default value.
173 * @exception DOMException
174 * NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR: May be raised if the implementation does not
175 * support the feature <code>"XML"</code> and the language exposed
176 * through the Document does not support XML Namespaces (such as [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/'>HTML 4.01</a>]).
179 public String getAttributeNS(String namespaceURI,
184 * Adds a new attribute. If an attribute with the same local name and
185 * namespace URI is already present on the element, its prefix is
186 * changed to be the prefix part of the <code>qualifiedName</code>, and
187 * its value is changed to be the <code>value</code> parameter. This
188 * value is a simple string; it is not parsed as it is being set. So any
189 * markup (such as syntax to be recognized as an entity reference) is
190 * treated as literal text, and needs to be appropriately escaped by the
191 * implementation when it is written out. In order to assign an
192 * attribute value that contains entity references, the user must create
193 * an <code>Attr</code> node plus any <code>Text</code> and
194 * <code>EntityReference</code> nodes, build the appropriate subtree,
195 * and use <code>setAttributeNodeNS</code> or
196 * <code>setAttributeNode</code> to assign it as the value of an
198 * <br>Per [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xml-names-19990114/'>XML Namespaces</a>]
199 * , applications must use the value <code>null</code> as the
200 * <code>namespaceURI</code> parameter for methods if they wish to have
202 * @param namespaceURI The namespace URI of the attribute to create or
204 * @param qualifiedName The qualified name of the attribute to create or
206 * @param value The value to set in string form.
207 * @exception DOMException
208 * INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR: Raised if the specified qualified name is not
209 * an XML name according to the XML version in use specified in the
210 * <code>Document.xmlVersion</code> attribute.
211 * <br>NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
212 * <br>NAMESPACE_ERR: Raised if the <code>qualifiedName</code> is
213 * malformed per the Namespaces in XML specification, if the
214 * <code>qualifiedName</code> has a prefix and the
215 * <code>namespaceURI</code> is <code>null</code>, if the
216 * <code>qualifiedName</code> has a prefix that is "xml" and the
217 * <code>namespaceURI</code> is different from "<a href='http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace'>
218 * http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace</a>", if the <code>qualifiedName</code> or its prefix is "xmlns" and the
219 * <code>namespaceURI</code> is different from "<a href='http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/'>http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/</a>", or if the <code>namespaceURI</code> is "<a href='http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/'>http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/</a>" and neither the <code>qualifiedName</code> nor its prefix is "xmlns".
220 * <br>NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR: May be raised if the implementation does not
221 * support the feature <code>"XML"</code> and the language exposed
222 * through the Document does not support XML Namespaces (such as [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/'>HTML 4.01</a>]).
225 public void setAttributeNS(String namespaceURI,
226 String qualifiedName,
231 * Removes an attribute by local name and namespace URI. If a default
232 * value for the removed attribute is defined in the DTD, a new
233 * attribute immediately appears with the default value as well as the
234 * corresponding namespace URI, local name, and prefix when applicable.
235 * The implementation may handle default values from other schemas
236 * similarly but applications should use
237 * <code>Document.normalizeDocument()</code> to guarantee this
238 * information is up-to-date.
239 * <br>If no attribute with this local name and namespace URI is found,
240 * this method has no effect.
241 * <br>Per [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xml-names-19990114/'>XML Namespaces</a>]
242 * , applications must use the value <code>null</code> as the
243 * <code>namespaceURI</code> parameter for methods if they wish to have
245 * @param namespaceURI The namespace URI of the attribute to remove.
246 * @param localName The local name of the attribute to remove.
247 * @exception DOMException
248 * NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
249 * <br>NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR: May be raised if the implementation does not
250 * support the feature <code>"XML"</code> and the language exposed
251 * through the Document does not support XML Namespaces (such as [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/'>HTML 4.01</a>]).
254 public void removeAttributeNS(String namespaceURI,
259 * Retrieves an <code>Attr</code> node by local name and namespace URI.
260 * <br>Per [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xml-names-19990114/'>XML Namespaces</a>]
261 * , applications must use the value <code>null</code> as the
262 * <code>namespaceURI</code> parameter for methods if they wish to have
264 * @param namespaceURI The namespace URI of the attribute to retrieve.
265 * @param localName The local name of the attribute to retrieve.
266 * @return The <code>Attr</code> node with the specified attribute local
267 * name and namespace URI or <code>null</code> if there is no such
269 * @exception DOMException
270 * NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR: May be raised if the implementation does not
271 * support the feature <code>"XML"</code> and the language exposed
272 * through the Document does not support XML Namespaces (such as [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/'>HTML 4.01</a>]).
275 public Attr getAttributeNodeNS(String namespaceURI,
280 * Adds a new attribute. If an attribute with that local name and that
281 * namespace URI is already present in the element, it is replaced by
282 * the new one. Replacing an attribute node by itself has no effect.
283 * <br>Per [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xml-names-19990114/'>XML Namespaces</a>]
284 * , applications must use the value <code>null</code> as the
285 * <code>namespaceURI</code> parameter for methods if they wish to have
287 * @param newAttr The <code>Attr</code> node to add to the attribute list.
288 * @return If the <code>newAttr</code> attribute replaces an existing
289 * attribute with the same local name and namespace URI, the replaced
290 * <code>Attr</code> node is returned, otherwise <code>null</code> is
292 * @exception DOMException
293 * WRONG_DOCUMENT_ERR: Raised if <code>newAttr</code> was created from a
294 * different document than the one that created the element.
295 * <br>NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
296 * <br>INUSE_ATTRIBUTE_ERR: Raised if <code>newAttr</code> is already an
297 * attribute of another <code>Element</code> object. The DOM user must
298 * explicitly clone <code>Attr</code> nodes to re-use them in other
300 * <br>NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR: May be raised if the implementation does not
301 * support the feature <code>"XML"</code> and the language exposed
302 * through the Document does not support XML Namespaces (such as [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/'>HTML 4.01</a>]).
305 public Attr setAttributeNodeNS(Attr newAttr)
309 * Returns a <code>NodeList</code> of all the descendant
310 * <code>Elements</code> with a given local name and namespace URI in
312 * @param namespaceURI The namespace URI of the elements to match on. The
313 * special value "*" matches all namespaces.
314 * @param localName The local name of the elements to match on. The
315 * special value "*" matches all local names.
316 * @return A new <code>NodeList</code> object containing all the matched
317 * <code>Elements</code>.
318 * @exception DOMException
319 * NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR: May be raised if the implementation does not
320 * support the feature <code>"XML"</code> and the language exposed
321 * through the Document does not support XML Namespaces (such as [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/'>HTML 4.01</a>]).
324 public NodeList getElementsByTagNameNS(String namespaceURI,
329 * Returns <code>true</code> when an attribute with a given name is
330 * specified on this element or has a default value, <code>false</code>
332 * @param name The name of the attribute to look for.
333 * @return <code>true</code> if an attribute with the given name is
334 * specified on this element or has a default value, <code>false</code>
338 public boolean hasAttribute(String name);
341 * Returns <code>true</code> when an attribute with a given local name and
342 * namespace URI is specified on this element or has a default value,
343 * <code>false</code> otherwise.
344 * <br>Per [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xml-names-19990114/'>XML Namespaces</a>]
345 * , applications must use the value <code>null</code> as the
346 * <code>namespaceURI</code> parameter for methods if they wish to have
348 * @param namespaceURI The namespace URI of the attribute to look for.
349 * @param localName The local name of the attribute to look for.
350 * @return <code>true</code> if an attribute with the given local name
351 * and namespace URI is specified or has a default value on this
352 * element, <code>false</code> otherwise.
353 * @exception DOMException
354 * NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR: May be raised if the implementation does not
355 * support the feature <code>"XML"</code> and the language exposed
356 * through the Document does not support XML Namespaces (such as [<a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/'>HTML 4.01</a>]).
359 public boolean hasAttributeNS(String namespaceURI,
364 * The type information associated with this element.
367 public TypeInfo getSchemaTypeInfo();
370 * If the parameter <code>isId</code> is <code>true</code>, this method
371 * declares the specified attribute to be a user-determined ID attribute
372 * . This affects the value of <code>Attr.isId</code> and the behavior
373 * of <code>Document.getElementById</code>, but does not change any
374 * schema that may be in use, in particular this does not affect the
375 * <code>Attr.schemaTypeInfo</code> of the specified <code>Attr</code>
376 * node. Use the value <code>false</code> for the parameter
377 * <code>isId</code> to undeclare an attribute for being a
378 * user-determined ID attribute.
379 * <br> To specify an attribute by local name and namespace URI, use the
380 * <code>setIdAttributeNS</code> method.
381 * @param name The name of the attribute.
382 * @param isId Whether the attribute is a of type ID.
383 * @exception DOMException
384 * NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
385 * <br>NOT_FOUND_ERR: Raised if the specified node is not an attribute
389 public void setIdAttribute(String name,
394 * If the parameter <code>isId</code> is <code>true</code>, this method
395 * declares the specified attribute to be a user-determined ID attribute
396 * . This affects the value of <code>Attr.isId</code> and the behavior
397 * of <code>Document.getElementById</code>, but does not change any
398 * schema that may be in use, in particular this does not affect the
399 * <code>Attr.schemaTypeInfo</code> of the specified <code>Attr</code>
400 * node. Use the value <code>false</code> for the parameter
401 * <code>isId</code> to undeclare an attribute for being a
402 * user-determined ID attribute.
403 * @param namespaceURI The namespace URI of the attribute.
404 * @param localName The local name of the attribute.
405 * @param isId Whether the attribute is a of type ID.
406 * @exception DOMException
407 * NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
408 * <br>NOT_FOUND_ERR: Raised if the specified node is not an attribute
412 public void setIdAttributeNS(String namespaceURI,
418 * If the parameter <code>isId</code> is <code>true</code>, this method
419 * declares the specified attribute to be a user-determined ID attribute
420 * . This affects the value of <code>Attr.isId</code> and the behavior
421 * of <code>Document.getElementById</code>, but does not change any
422 * schema that may be in use, in particular this does not affect the
423 * <code>Attr.schemaTypeInfo</code> of the specified <code>Attr</code>
424 * node. Use the value <code>false</code> for the parameter
425 * <code>isId</code> to undeclare an attribute for being a
426 * user-determined ID attribute.
427 * @param idAttr The attribute node.
428 * @param isId Whether the attribute is a of type ID.
429 * @exception DOMException
430 * NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR: Raised if this node is readonly.
431 * <br>NOT_FOUND_ERR: Raised if the specified node is not an attribute
435 public void setIdAttributeNode(Attr idAttr,