Returns an iterator over the children of the given element with the given tag name. : DOM Element « XML « Java Tutorial

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import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Iterator;

import org.w3c.dom.Element;
import org.w3c.dom.Node;
import org.w3c.dom.NodeList;

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public class Utils {


  /**
   * Returns an iterator over the children of the given element with
   * the given tag name.
   *
   * @param element    The parent element
   * @param tagName    The name of the desired child
   * @return           An interator of children or null if element is null.
   */
  public static Iterator<Element> getChildrenByTagName(Element element,
                                              String tagName)
  {
     if (element == null) return null;
     // getElementsByTagName gives the corresponding elements in the whole 
     // descendance. We want only children

     NodeList children = element.getChildNodes();
     ArrayList<Element> goodChildren = new ArrayList<Element>();
     for (int i=0; i<children.getLength(); i++) {
        Node currentChild = children.item(i);
        if (currentChild.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE && 
            ((Element)currentChild).getTagName().equals(tagName)) {
           goodChildren.add((Element)currentChild);
        }
     }
     return goodChildren.iterator();
  }

}