ActionScript® 3.0 Reference for the Adobe® Flash® Platform
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Top Level 

XMLList  - AS3

PackageTop Level
Classpublic final dynamic class XMLList
InheritanceXMLList Inheritance Object

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

The XMLList class contains methods for working with one or more XML elements. An XMLList object can represent one or more XML objects or elements (including multiple nodes or attributes), so you can call methods on the elements as a group or on the individual elements in the collection.

If an XMLList object has only one XML element, you can use the XML class methods on the XMLList object directly. In the following example, example.two is an XMLList object of length 1, so you can call any XML method on it.

 var example2 = <example><two>2</two></example>;

If you attempt to use XML class methods with an XMLList object containing more than one XML object, an exception is thrown; instead, iterate over the XMLList collection (using a for each..in statement, for example) and apply the methods to each XML object in the collection.

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Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
 Inheritedconstructor : Object
A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.
Object
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
Creates a new XMLList object.
XMLList
  
attribute(attributeName:*):XMLList
Calls the attribute() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object of the results.
XMLList
  
Calls the attributes() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object of attributes for each XML object.
XMLList
  
child(propertyName:Object):XMLList
Calls the child() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object that contains the results in order.
XMLList
  
Calls the children() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object that contains the results.
XMLList
  
Calls the comments() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList of comments.
XMLList
  
Checks whether the XMLList object contains an XML object that is equal to the given value parameter.
XMLList
  
Returns a copy of the given XMLList object.
XMLList
  
Returns all descendants (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on) of the XML object that have the given name parameter.
XMLList
  
Calls the elements() method of each XML object.
XMLList
  
Checks whether the XMLList object contains complex content.
XMLList
  
Checks for the property specified by p.
XMLList
  
Checks whether the XMLList object contains simple content.
XMLList
 Inherited
Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.
Object
  
Returns the number of properties in the XMLList object.
XMLList
  
Merges adjacent text nodes and eliminates empty text nodes for each of the following: all text nodes in the XMLList, all the XML objects contained in the XMLList, and the descendants of all the XML objects in the XMLList.
XMLList
  
Returns the parent of the XMLList object if all items in the XMLList object have the same parent.
XMLList
  
If a name parameter is provided, lists all the children of the XMLList object that contain processing instructions with that name.
XMLList
  
Checks whether the property p is in the set of properties that can be iterated in a for..in statement applied to the XMLList object.
XMLList
 Inherited
Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.
Object
  
Calls the text() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object that contains the results.
XMLList
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.
Object
  
Returns a string representation of all the XML objects in an XMLList object.
XMLList
  
Returns a string representation of all the XML objects in an XMLList object.
XMLList
  
Returns the XMLList object.
XMLList
Constructor Detail

XMLList

()Constructor
public function XMLList(value:Object)

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Creates a new XMLList object.

Parameters
value:Object — Any object that can be converted to an XMLList object by using the top-level XMLList() function.

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Method Detail

attribute

()method
AS3 function attribute(attributeName:*):XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Calls the attribute() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object of the results. The results match the given attributeName parameter. If there is no match, the attribute() method returns an empty XMLList object.

Parameters

attributeName:* — The name of the attribute that you want to include in an XMLList object.

Returns
XMLList — An XMLList object of matching XML objects or an empty XMLList object.

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attributes

()method 
AS3 function attributes():XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Calls the attributes() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object of attributes for each XML object.

Returns
XMLList — An XMLList object of attributes for each XML object.

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child

()method 
AS3 function child(propertyName:Object):XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Calls the child() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object that contains the results in order.

Parameters

propertyName:Object — The element name or integer of the XML child.

Returns
XMLList — An XMLList object of child nodes that match the input parameter.

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children

()method 
AS3 function children():XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Calls the children() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object that contains the results.

Returns
XMLList — An XMLList object of the children in the XML objects.

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comments

()method 
AS3 function comments():XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Calls the comments() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList of comments.

Returns
XMLList — An XMLList of the comments in the XML objects.

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contains

()method 
AS3 function contains(value:XML):Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Checks whether the XMLList object contains an XML object that is equal to the given value parameter.

Parameters

value:XML — An XML object to compare against the current XMLList object.

Returns
Boolean — If the XMLList contains the XML object declared in the value parameter, then true; otherwise false.

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copy

()method 
AS3 function copy():XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Returns a copy of the given XMLList object. The copy is a duplicate of the entire tree of nodes. The copied XML object has no parent and returns null if you attempt to call the parent() method.

Returns
XMLList — The copy of the XMLList object.

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descendants

()method 
AS3 function descendants(name:Object = *):XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Returns all descendants (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on) of the XML object that have the given name parameter. The name parameter can be a QName object, a String data type, or any other data type that is then converted to a String data type.

To return all descendants, use the asterisk (*) parameter. If no parameter is passed, the string "*" is passed and returns all descendants of the XML object.

Parameters

name:Object (default = *) — The name of the element to match.

Returns
XMLList — An XMLList object of the matching descendants (children, grandchildren, and so on) of the XML objects in the original list. If there are no descendants, returns an empty XMLList object.

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elements

()method 
AS3 function elements(name:Object = *):XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Calls the elements() method of each XML object. The name parameter is passed to the descendants() method. If no parameter is passed, the string "*" is passed to the descendants() method.

Parameters

name:Object (default = *) — The name of the elements to match.

Returns
XMLList — An XMLList object of the matching child elements of the XML objects.

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hasComplexContent

()method 
AS3 function hasComplexContent():Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Checks whether the XMLList object contains complex content. An XMLList object is considered to contain complex content if it is not empty and either of the following conditions is true:

  • The XMLList object contains a single XML item with complex content.
  • The XMLList object contains elements.

Returns
Boolean — If the XMLList object contains complex content, then true; otherwise false.

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hasOwnProperty

()method 
AS3 function hasOwnProperty(p:String):Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Checks for the property specified by p.

Parameters

p:String — The property to match.

Returns
Boolean — If the parameter exists, then true; otherwise false.

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hasSimpleContent

()method 
AS3 function hasSimpleContent():Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Checks whether the XMLList object contains simple content. An XMLList object is considered to contain simple content if one or more of the following conditions is true:

  • The XMLList object is empty
  • The XMLList object contains a single XML item with simple content
  • The XMLList object contains no elements

Returns
Boolean — If the XMLList contains simple content, then true; otherwise false.

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length

()method 
AS3 function length():int

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Returns the number of properties in the XMLList object.

Returns
int — The number of properties in the XMLList object.

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normalize

()method 
AS3 function normalize():XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Merges adjacent text nodes and eliminates empty text nodes for each of the following: all text nodes in the XMLList, all the XML objects contained in the XMLList, and the descendants of all the XML objects in the XMLList.

Returns
XMLList — The normalized XMLList object.

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parent

()method 
AS3 function parent():Object

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Returns the parent of the XMLList object if all items in the XMLList object have the same parent. If the XMLList object has no parent or different parents, the method returns undefined.

Returns
Object — Returns the parent XML object.

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processingInstructions

()method 
AS3 function processingInstructions(name:String = "*"):XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

If a name parameter is provided, lists all the children of the XMLList object that contain processing instructions with that name. With no parameters, the method lists all the children of the XMLList object that contain any processing instructions.

Parameters

name:String (default = "*") — The name of the processing instructions to match.

Returns
XMLList — An XMLList object that contains the processing instructions for each XML object.

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propertyIsEnumerable

()method 
AS3 function propertyIsEnumerable(p:String):Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Checks whether the property p is in the set of properties that can be iterated in a for..in statement applied to the XMLList object. This is true only if toNumber(p) is greater than or equal to 0 and less than the length of the XMLList object.

Parameters

p:String — The index of a property to check.

Returns
Boolean — If the property can be iterated in a for..in statement, then true; otherwise false.

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text

()method 
AS3 function text():XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Calls the text() method of each XML object and returns an XMLList object that contains the results.

Returns
XMLList — An XMLList object of all XML properties of the XMLList object that represent XML text nodes.

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toString

()method 
AS3 function toString():String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Returns a string representation of all the XML objects in an XMLList object. The rules for this conversion depend on whether the XML object has simple content or complex content:

  • If the XML object has simple content, toString() returns the string contents of the XML object with the following stripped out: the start tag, attributes, namespace declarations, and end tag.
  • If the XML object has complex content, toString() returns an XML encoded string representing the entire XML object, including the start tag, attributes, namespace declarations, and end tag.

To return the entire XML object every time, use the toXMLString() method.

Returns
String — The string representation of the XML object.

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Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example shows what the toString() method returns when the XML object has simple content:
var test:XML = <type name="Joe">example</type>;
trace(test.toString()); //example

The following example shows what the toString() method returns when the XML object has complex content:
var test:XML = 
<type name="Joe">
    <base name="Bob"></base>
    example
</type>;
trace(test.toString());
  // <type name="Joe">
  // <base name="Bob"/>
  // example
  // </type> 

toXMLString

()method 
AS3 function toXMLString():String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Returns a string representation of all the XML objects in an XMLList object. Unlike the toString() method, the toXMLString() method always returns the start tag, attributes, and end tag of the XML object, regardless of whether the XML object has simple content or complex content. (The toString() method strips out these items for XML objects that contain simple content.)

Returns
String — The string representation of the XML object.

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valueOf

()method 
AS3 function valueOf():XMLList

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9

Returns the XMLList object.

Returns
XMLList — Returns the current XMLList object.

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XMLListExample.as

The following example creates an XML property named books and adds several items with book publisher and name tags to a node named books. Then the showBooksByPublisher() method is called, which takes the XMLList and returns each item matching the publisher, "Addison-Wesley."
package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;

    public class XMLListExample extends Sprite {
        private var books:XML;

        public function XMLListExample() {
            books =    <books>
                        <book publisher="Addison-Wesley" name="Design Patterns" />
                        <book publisher="Addison-Wesley" name="The Pragmatic Programmer" />
                        <book publisher="Addison-Wesley" name="Test Driven Development" />
                        <book publisher="Addison-Wesley" name="Refactoring to Patterns" />
                        <book publisher="O'Reilly Media" name="The Cathedral & the Bazaar" />
                        <book publisher="O'Reilly Media" name="Unit Test Frameworks" />
                    </books>;

            showBooksByPublisher("Addison-Wesley");
        }

        private function showBooksByPublisher(name:String):void {
            var results:XMLList = books.book.(@publisher == name);
            showList(results);
        }

        private function showList(list:XMLList):void {
            var item:XML;
            for each(item in list) {
                trace("item: " + item.toXMLString());
            }
        }
    }
}