Replacing text in an XML node in node.js

Question

I'm having some trouble replacing text inside an XML node in Node.js (v0.12.0). The "nodeValue" property appears to let me read the text from the node, but not change it.

I'm using the node modules "xpath.js" (1.0.6) and "xmldom" (0.1.19)

My code:

// Use xpath.js and xmldom to fetch the "metadata" node
var doc = new Parser().parseFromString(jobXml, 'application/xml');
var nodes = select(doc, '/job/metadata/metafield[@name="metadata"]');
var metaNode = nodes[0];

console.log(metaNode.firstChild.nodeValue); // Output is "hello"
metaNode.firstChild.nodeValue = 'world'; // Replace "hello" with "world"
console.log(metaNode.firstChild.nodeValue); // Output is now "world"

var result = new Serializer().serializeToString(doc);
console.log(result); // text has reverted to "hello"

I've put together a runnable.com project demonstrating this behaviour:

http://runnable.com/VWw18wFQKv46Ng_V/sean-s-sandbox-for-node-js-and-hello-world

Can anyone spot what I'm doing wrong? Is there another way to achieve this?

After posting I've just spotted this in the issues list for xmldom: github.com/jindw/xmldom/issues/116 — seanhodges
– seanhodges, Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 11:05

seanhodges · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-01 12:59:50Z

1

I found a workaround that solved this for me:

function setNodeValue(doc, node, newValue) {
    while (node.firstChild) {
        node.removeChild(node.firstChild);
    }
    var newText = doc.createTextNode(newValue);
    node.appendChild(newText);
}

It looks like a bug in XMLDOM linked to Web browser compatibility in the upstream project (see #116 and #33).

answered Jun 1, 2015 at 12:59

seanhodges

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