Java JDOM Element getContent() Method

The Java JDOM getContent() method of Element class is used to get the content objects inside the scope of an XML Element. Content objects include Element, Text, Comment, ProcessingInstruction, CDATA and EntityRef.

The getContent() method can also be used to retrieve only specific type of content such as only elements, only comments etc. This method can be used to get the content object at a specified index. It returns a live list and hence any modifications made to content objects affect the original content list.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of the Java JDOM Element getContent() method −

Element.getContent();
Element.getContent(index);
Element.getContent(filter);

Parameters

The Java getContent() method is a polymorphic method and it accepts the following parameters −

• index − represents the index of the content object.
• filter − represents the filter object to filter elements, comments etc.

Return Value

The Java getContent() method returns the list of content objects.

Example 1

We need to parse the following library.xml file −

<library> Readers choice
	<!--Book information is available here -->
   <book>War and peace</book>
   <book>Random thoughts</book>
</library>

Here is the basic example of using the Java JDOM Element getContent() method −

import java.io.File;
import java.util.List;
import org.jdom2.Content;
import org.jdom2.Document;
import org.jdom2.Element;
import org.jdom2.input.SAXBuilder;

public class GetContent {
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      try {
         //Reading the document and get the root
    	 SAXBuilder saxBuilder = new SAXBuilder();
    	 File inputFile = new File("library.xml");
    	 Document doc = saxBuilder.build(inputFile);
    	 Element root = doc.getRootElement();
    	 //Get content
    	 List<Content> contentList = root.getContent();
    	 for(Content con : contentList) {
    		System.out.println(con);
    	 }	  
      } catch(Exception e) {
    	 e.printStackTrace();
      }
   }
}

The list of content objects of the root element is displayed.

[Text:  Readers choice
	]
[Comment: <!--Book information is available here -->]
[Text: 
   ]
[Element: <book/>]
[Text: 
   ]
[Element: <book/>]
[Text: 
]

Example 2

The getContent() method retrieves content object at a specified index by passing the index as a parameter to it.

import java.io.File;
import org.jdom2.Content;
import org.jdom2.Document;
import org.jdom2.Element;
import org.jdom2.input.SAXBuilder;

public class GetContent {
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      try {
         //Reading the document and get the root
    	 SAXBuilder saxBuilder = new SAXBuilder();
    	 File inputFile = new File("library.xml");
    	 Document doc = saxBuilder.build(inputFile);
    	 Element root = doc.getRootElement();
    	 //Get content at index 1
    	 Content content = root.getContent(1);
    	 System.out.println(content);	  
      } catch(Exception e) {
    	 e.printStackTrace();
      }
   }
}

Content object at index 1 is displayed.

[Comment: <!--Book information is available here -->]

Example 3

The Filters.element() function filters only the Element type of content objects. This Element filter is passed as an argument inside the getContent() method to get only the element objects.

import java.io.File;
import java.util.List;
import org.jdom2.Content;
import org.jdom2.Document;
import org.jdom2.Element;
import org.jdom2.filter.Filter;
import org.jdom2.filter.Filters;
import org.jdom2.input.SAXBuilder;

public class GetContent {
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      try {
         //Reading the document and get the root
    	 SAXBuilder saxBuilder = new SAXBuilder();
    	 File inputFile = new File("library.xml");
    	 Document doc = saxBuilder.build(inputFile);
    	 Element root = doc.getRootElement();
    	 //Get only elements
    	 Filter<Element> element_filter = Filters.element();
    	 List<Element> elementList = root.getContent(element_filter);
    	 for(Content con : elementList) {
    		System.out.println(con);
    	 }	  
      } catch(Exception e) {
    	 e.printStackTrace();
      }
   }
}

Only the elements inside the current element are displayed.

[Element: <book/>]
[Element: <book/>]