XML Applications

This chapter demonstrates an HTML application using XML, HTTP, DOM, and JavaScript.

used XML document

In this chapter, we will use the document named "music_list.xmlof the XML file.

Display XML data in an HTML table

This example traverses each <TRACK> element and then displays the values of the <ARTIST> and <TITLE> elements in an HTML table:

Example

<html>
<body>
<table id="demo"></table>
<script>
function loadXMLDoc() {
   var xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
  xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
    if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
      myFunction(this);
     }
  };
  xmlhttp.open("GET", "music_list.xml", true);
   xmlhttp.send();
}
function myFunction(xml) {
  var i;
   var xmlDoc = xml.responseXML;
  var table="<tr><th>Artist</th><th>Track</th></tr>";
   var x = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("TRACK");
  for (i = 0; i < x.length; i++) { 
    table += "<tr><td>" +
    x[i].getElementsByTagName("ARTIST")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue  +
    "</td><td>" +
    x[i].getElementsByTagName("TITLE")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue  +
    "</td></tr>";
  }
   document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = table;
}
</script>
</body>
</html>

Try It Yourself

For more information on using JavaScript and XML DOM, please visit DOM Introduction.

Display the first song in the HTML div element

This example uses a function to display the first song in the HTML element with id="displayMUSIC":

Example

displayMUSIC(0);
function displayMUSIC(i) {
  var xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
  xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
    if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
      myFunction(this, i);
    }
  };
  xmlhttp.open("GET", "music_list.xml", true);
  xmlhttp.send();
}
function myFunction(xml, i) {
  var xmlDoc = xml.responseXML; 
  x = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("TRACK");
  document.getElementById("showMUSIC").innerHTML =
  "<ul>" + 
  "<li>Track: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("TITLE")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>"
  "<li>Artist: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("ARTIST")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "<li>Album: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("ALBUM")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "<li>Country: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("COUNTRY")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "<li>Company: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("COMPANY")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "<li>Year: " + 
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("YEAR")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "</ul>";
}

Try It Yourself

Navigate between tracks

To navigate between tracks in the above example, add the next() and previous() functions:

Example

function next() {
  // Display the next song, unless it is the last one
   if (i < x.length-1) {
    i++;
    displayMUSIC(i);
  }
}
function previous() {
  // Display the previous song, unless it is the first one
   if (i > 0) {
  i--;
  displayMUSIC(i);
  }
}

Try It Yourself

Display album information when clicking on a song

This last example demonstrates how to display album information when a user clicks on a song:

Example

function displayMUSIC(i) {
  document.getElementById("showMUSIC").innerHTML =
  "<ul>" + 
  "<li>Track: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("TITLE")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>"
  "<li>Artist: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("ARTIST")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "<li>Album: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("ALBUM")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "<li>Country: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("COUNTRY")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "<li>Company: " +
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("COMPANY")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "<li>Year: " + 
  x[i].getElementsByTagName("YEAR")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "</li>" +
  "</ul>";
}

Try It Yourself