Get value from XML file Using JavaScript

Question

I am having a some problems in getting a node value from a XML file

My XML looks like this:

<item>
   <item1><Description>test</Description></item1>
   <item2><Description>test2</Description></item2>
   <item3><Description>test3</Description></item3>
</item>

And I am trying to get 'test2' from Item2 > Description.

I am able to get the xml file display in a alert messagebox but can't seem to get the value i am looking for.

I am trying to do this in JavaScript and so far I have come up with the following:

function get_item()
{
    if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
      {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
      xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
      }
    else
      {// code for IE6, IE5
      xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
      }


      xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
       {

       if (xmlhttp.status==200)
         {
         //alert(xmlhttp.responseText);
          xmlDoc = xmlhttp.responseText;

            var item = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("Description")[0]; 
                item = item.childNodes.length ? item.childNodes[0].nodeValue : "" ;

             alert(item)

         } else
         {
         alert('Panel not communicating.Reason: '+xmlhttp.status);
         }
       }



    xmlhttp.open("POST","http://192.168.0.5/xml_file.xml",false);

    xmlhttp.send();
}

If I remove:

var item = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("Description")[0]; 
                    item = item.childNodes.length ? item.childNodes[0].nodeValue : "" ;

and change the alert to:

alert(xmlDoc)

it alerts my XML file, so i know it's reading my xml file but can't get the value.

Am I doing something wrong or is there a better way to get this value?

(I don't want to use jQuery for this)

Did you see this link it may help to you. codeproject.com/Articles/3337/XML-and-JavaScript — Victor Athoti.
– Victor Athoti., Commented Nov 22, 2012 at 6:32

Musa · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-22 06:32:46Z

2

Use xmlhttp.responseXML instead of xmlhttp.responseText, I think there might be some issue with older versions of IE though, in which case you can try

xmlDoc=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM");
xmlDoc.async=false;
xmlDoc.loadXML(xmlhttp.responseText);

answered Nov 22, 2012 at 6:32

Musa

97.9k17 gold badges123 silver badges144 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Aaron Over a year ago

Soon as I changed it to responseXML it worked. Something so simple.

Vinee · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-22 06:37:05Z

This function you can use to parse XML and use this link (http://www.hiteshagrawal.com/javascript/javascript-parsing-xml-in-javascript).

    function readXML()
    {
       if(xmlDoc.readyState == 4)
       {
        //Using documentElement Properties
        //Output company
        alert("XML Root Tag Name: " + xmlDoc.documentElement.tagName);

        //Using firstChild Properties
        //Output year
        alert("First Child: " + xmlDoc.documentElement.childNodes[1].firstChild.tagName);

    //Using lastChild Properties
    //Output average
    alert("Last Child: " + xmlDoc.documentElement.childNodes[1].lastChild.tagName);

    //Using nodeValue and Attributes Properties
    //Here both the statement will return you the same result
    //Output 001
    alert("Node Value: " + xmlDoc.documentElement.childNodes[0].attributes[0].nodeValue);
    alert("Node Value: " + xmlDoc.documentElement.childNodes[0].attributes.getNamedItem("id").nodeValue);

    //Using getElementByTagName Properties
    //Here both the statement will return you the same result
    //Output 2000
    alert("getElementsByTagName: " + xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("year")[0].attributes.getNamedItem("id").nodeValue);

    //Using text Properties
    //Output John
    alert("Text Content for Employee Tag: " + xmlDoc.documentElement.childNodes[0].text);

    //Using hasChildNodes Properties
    //Output True
    alert("Checking Child Nodes: " + xmlDoc.documentElement.childNodes[0].hasChildNodes);
}

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Get value from XML file Using JavaScript

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related