How the DOM Works

MSXML reads an XML document and parses its contents into a set of abstract information containers called nodes. These nodes represent the structure and content of the document, allowing applications to read and manipulate the information in the document without explicitly understanding XML syntax. After a document is parsed, its nodes can be explored in any direction; they are not limited to straight-through text file processing.

For script developers, the most important programming object is DOMDocument. The DOMDocument object exposes properties and methods that allow you to navigate, query, and modify the content and structure of an XML document. Each of the following objects exposes methods and properties that enable you to gather information about the instance of the object, manipulate the value and structure of the object, and navigate to other objects within the tree.

For developers using C, C++, or Microsoft Visual Basic®, these objects are exposed as the following COM interfaces.

• IXMLDOMDocument/DOMDocument
• IXMLDOMNode
• IXMLDOMNodeList
• IXMLDOMNamedNodeMap
• IXMLDOMParseError

Reference Documentation

For complete reference material about each object, and the methods and properties exposed by that object, see XML DOM Objects/Interfaces.

For more information about integrating MSXML 5.0 with existing environments using MSXML, see Installing and Registering the MSXML 5.0 SDK and GUID and ProgID Information.

The following topics explain how to use the XML DOM objects and collections. They discuss the methods and properties exposed by each object, and also address DOM persistence.

• Use DOMDocument
• Use IXMLDOMNode
• Use IXMLDOMNodeList
• Use IXMLDOMNamedNodeMap
• Persistence and the DOM
• Character Encoding, XML, and MSXML