Contents > Developing ColdFusion MX Applications > Using XML and WDDX > Using an XML object > Referencing the contents of an XML object

Referencing the contents of an XML object

Use the following rules when you reference the contents of an XML document object on the right side of an assignment or as a function argument:

• By default, ColdFusion ignores element name case. As a result, it considers the element name MyElement and the element name myELement to be equivalent. To make element name matching case-sensitive, specify CaseSensitive="True" in the cfxml tag, or specify True as a second argument in the XmlNew or XmlParse function that creates the document object.
• Use an array index to specify one of multiple elements with the same name; for example, #mydoc.employee.name[1] and #mydoc.employee.name[2].

  If you omit the array index on the last component of an element identifier, ColdFusion treats the reference as the array of all elements with the specified name. For example, mydoc.employee.name refers to an array of two name elements.

• Use an array index into the XmlChildren array to specify an element without using its name; for example, mydoc.XmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].
• Use associative array (bracket) notation to specify an element name that contains a period or colon; for example, myotherdoc.XmlRoot["Type1.Case1"].
• You can use DOM methods in place of structure entry names.

For example, the following variables all refer to the XmlText value "Almanzo" in the XML document created in A simple XML document:

mydoc.XmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlChildren[1].XmlText
mydoc.employee.name[1].first.XmlText
mydoc.employee.name[1]["first"].XmlText
mydoc["employee"].name[1]["first"].XmlText
mydoc.XmlRoot.name[1].XmlChildren[1]["XmlText"]

The following variables all refer to the EmpType attribute of the first name element in the XML document created in A simple XML document:

mydoc.employee.name[1].XmlAttributes.EmpType
mydoc.employee.name[1].XmlAttributes["EmpType"]
mydoc.employee.XmlChildren[1].XmlAttributes.EmpType
mydoc.XmlRoot.name[1].XmlAttributes["EmpType"]
mydoc.XmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlAttributes.EmpType 

Neither of these lists contains a complete set of the possible combinations that can make up a reference to the value or attribute.

Contents > Developing ColdFusion MX Applications > Using XML and WDDX > Using an XML object > Referencing the contents of an XML object

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