Chapter 4 - Using XML in the .NET Framework

Abstract

This chapter elucidates how to work with XML through .NET. It discusses the very basics of the Document Object Model (DOM) for XML created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The DOM Range and DOM Traversal specifications are provided by the W3C to enable common access to editing and navigating nodes in an XML document. DOM Range is used to define a way for a developer to programmatically access data in an XML document without navigating the DOM hierarchy. DOM Traversal is used to navigate the node hierarchy without necessarily using the navigation built into the DOM interfaces. The Tree Walker is provided to allow a slightly more robust navigation of nodes in a manner similar to what the DOM Core interfaces provide. It can navigate in any direction in a node tree and also provides access to navigate deleted nodes even after they have been deleted from the node tree. Microsoft implemented DOM Level 1 Core, DOM Level 2 Core, and the NodeList interface while building their System.Xml classes. Every interface is fully supported, including every property and method defined by the W3C. Microsoft has made additions to the interfaces that the W3C recommends in order to make development with XML easier for the developer.