'id' attribute in my XML file - strange things happening

[Splashy3d]

Hi guys,

I'm experimenting with the id method and I can't get it to work inside a function. please see below code example.


myXML= new XML ();
myXML.ignoreWhite = true
myXML.onLoad=handleLoad;
myXML.load("menu.xml");

function handleLoad(status){
status ? processXML() : trace ("XML not parsed.");
}

function processXML(nodeID){
for (i=0;i < myXML.nodeID.childNodes.length;i++){
trace (myXML.nodeID.childNodes[i]);
}
}

processXML ("tools");

If i hard code the nodeID to "tools" for exmple everythig works fine but when passing it as a param in a function it doesn't.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Splashy

[freelance hellraiser]

try using array notation - the example you just wrote will be looking for on object called nodeID in myXML -

use myXML[nodeID].childNodes etc instead, this should work

good luck

P

[VAYKENT]

You're asking for the node that is called 'nodeValue'.

What you want to do is::

myXML[nodeValue].childNodes

[VAYKENT]

lol - exact time!

[freelance hellraiser]

great minds etc etc.

[Splashy3d]

Thanks for the help but i still get nothing back.


myXML= new XML ();
myXML.ignoreWhite = true
myXML.onLoad=handleLoad;
myXML.load("menu.xml");

function handleLoad(status){
status ? processXML() : trace ("XML not parsed.");
}

function processXML (nodeID){
for (i=0;i < myXML[nodeID].childNodes.length;i++){
trace (myXML[nodeID].childNodes[i]);
}
}
processXML ("tools");

"tools" is the value of id in one of my branches if i hardcode it as shown below.

function processXML (){
for (i=0;i < myXML.tools.childNodes.length;i++){
trace (myXML.tools.childNodes[i]);
}
}

It returns all the children for that branch as expected but even using the method you suggested I get nothing back.

Boohoo, now I'm really confused!

Splashy

[VAYKENT]

So... why are you calling the function processXML() ??

Your statically calling the function is not a very good idea since you're not sure if the XML document has fully loaded....

... and when you call the processXML() function inside the handleLoad() function, you need to pass a parameter - otherwise it might not work - since you reference a parameter in the processXML() function...

... and was it a typo to have two definitions of the same function??

Try that and see how it goes.

-Oh ... and why do you say it returns all the children - but then you say you get nothing back??? That was a bit confusing.

[Splashy3d]

The first part of the code is with the array style addressing that you suggested. That doesn't work

The second part is the function that works by addressing the node directly using a hardcoded value, in this case myXML.tools... tools is the id value of a node in my xml with 3 child nodes. This methods returns the 3 child nodes as expected.

Grrrr it's hard to explain what i mean.

Basically I want to pass the value of an id to a function but using myXML.myvarible ... instead of myXML.specificidvalue ... doesn't seem to work.

cheers for your help guys,
Splashy

[tupps]

OK,

a couple of things:

1) First you have no checkes to see if your XML is being loaded or not. What you will want is to check that the XML has been loaded before starting to use it. myXML.onload is called when the XML has finished loaded, which occurs in the background while execution continues. (this probably isn't your problem, but always good to check!)

2) I think there is a mistake in your processXML function:

function processXML(nodeID){
for (i=0;i < myXML[nodeID]childNodes.length;i++){
trace (myXML[nodeID]childNodes[i]);
}
}

I assume you want to do something with each of the children so that is why I stuck the [i] on the end of the function. Otherwise you will get the same value printed out for each of your child nodes.

Thanks

Luke

[Splashy3d]

Hi,
Sorry tupps you will see earlier in the thread my checks to see that the xml is loaded etc I just didn't include them in the second and third examples, sorry for that.

Your also quite right I do want to process each of the children, it all appears to be down to me using the dot syntax between the myXML[nodID] and the childNodes.

Thanks for all your help!!
Splashy.

[XMLEvangelist]

Hi guys,

Just thought I would post in with a good use for this undocumented feature.

Often you will get an xml block like the following:

<school>
    <teachers>
        <teacher id="t1" name="Mary" classes="c1 c2 c4"/>
        <teacher id="t2" name="Bob" classes="c3 c5"/>
    </teachers>
    <classes>
        <class id="c1" name="Math 101" students="s1 s2 s3 s4" teacher="t1"/>
        <class id="c2" name="Flash for beginners" students="s4" teacher="t1"/>
        <class id="c3" name="English" students="s2" teacher="t2"/>
        <class id="c4" name="Computers" students="s2 s4" teacher="t1"/>
        <class id="c5" name="History" students="s3" teacher="t2"/>
    </classes>
    <students>
        <student id="s1" name="Jane" classes="c1 c3 c5"/>
        <student id="s2" name="Joe" classes="c3 c4"/>
        <student id="s3" name="William" classes="c5"/>
        <student id="s4" name="Tim" classes="c1 c2 c4"/>
    </students>
</school> 

The attribute "classes" on the "teacher" elements (and students/class, classes/student) are IDREFS, the "teacher" attribute of the "class" element is a IDREF.

These kinds of things can be common in XML to avoid repeating redundant data.

Using this new id syntax, it's possible to easily get details on each class with something like the following:

var xmlDoc = new XML();
xmlDoc.ignoreWhite = true;
xmlDoc.onLoad = showFlashClass;
xmlDoc.load( 'school.xml' );

function showFlashClass( success )
{
	if( success )
	{
		var xmlClasses = this.firstChild.childNodes[1].childNodes;
		for( var i=0; i < xmlClasses.length; i++ )
		{
			var xmlClass = xmlClasses[i];
			var xmlTeacher = this[ xmlClass.attributes[ 'teacher' ] ];
			var arrStudents = xmlClass.attributes[ 'students' ].split(' ');
			
			trace( 'Class: ' + xmlClass.attributes['name'] );
			trace( '>>Teacher: ' + xmlTeacher.attributes[ 'name'] );
			trace( '>>Students:' );
			for( var j=0; j < arrStudents.length; j++ )
			{
				var xmlStudent = this[ arrStudents[j] ];
				trace( '  ' + xmlStudent.attributes[ 'name' ] );
			}
		}
	} else {
		trace( 'ERROR: unable to load XML!' );
	}
}

The output is:

Class: Math 101
>>Teacher: Mary
>>Students:
  Jane
  Joe
  William
  Tim
Class: Flash for beginners
>>Teacher: Mary
>>Students:
  Tim
Class: English
>>Teacher: Bob
>>Students:
  Joe
Class: Computers
>>Teacher: Mary
>>Students:
  Joe
  Tim
Class: History
>>Teacher: Bob
>>Students:
  William

Hope this helps!

EDIT: fixed REFID and REFIDS to IDREF and IDREFS, thanks Vaykent

[VAYKENT]

That actually does help.

... and I swear - I'm not trying to be picky... it's IDREF not REFID

Thanks for your comments!

[random10122]

Just thought i would tag a quick thankyou note on the end, this thread has sorted out all my problems! Why on earth is this not in the help files?!

Thanks a lot.