All Superinterfaces:

Cloneable, Node

All Known Subinterfaces:

Document, Element

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractBranch, AbstractDocument, AbstractElement, BaseElement, BeanElement, DatatypeElement, DefaultDocument, DefaultElement, DOMDocument, DOMElement, IndexedElement, NonLazyElement, UserDataElement
```
public interface Branch
extends Node
```
Branch interface defines the common behaviour for Nodes which can contain child nodes (content) such as XML elements and documents. This interface allows both elements and documents to be treated in a polymorphic manner when changing or navigating child nodes (content).

Field Summary
- Fields inherited from interface org.dom4j.Node
  ANY_NODE, ATTRIBUTE_NODE, CDATA_SECTION_NODE, COMMENT_NODE, DOCUMENT_NODE, DOCUMENT_TYPE_NODE, ELEMENT_NODE, ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE, MAX_NODE_TYPE, NAMESPACE_NODE, PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION_NODE, TEXT_NODE, UNKNOWN_NODE

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`void`	`add(Comment comment)`	Adds the given `Comment` to this branch.
`void`	`add(Element element)`	Adds the given `Element` to this branch.
`void`	`add(Node node)`	Adds the given `Node` or throws `IllegalAddException` if the given node is not of a valid type.
`void`	`add(ProcessingInstruction pi)`	Adds the given `ProcessingInstruction` to this branch.
`Element`	`addElement(String name)`	Adds a new `Element` node with the given name to this branch and returns a reference to the new node.
`Element`	`addElement(String qualifiedName, String namespaceURI)`	Adds a new `Element` node with the given qualified name and namespace URI to this branch and returns a reference to the new node.
`Element`	`addElement(QName qname)`	Adds a new `Element` node with the given `QName`to this branch and returns a reference to the new node.
`void`	`appendContent(Branch branch)`	Appends the content of the given branch to this branch instance.
`void`	`clearContent()`	Clears the content for this branch, removing any `Node` instances this branch may contain.
`List<Node>`	`content()`	Returns the content nodes of this branch as a backed `List`so that the content of this branch may be modified directly using the `List`interface.
`Element`	`elementByID(String elementID)`	Returns the element of the given ID attribute value.
`int`	`indexOf(Node node)`	Returns the index of the given node if it is a child node of this branch or -1 if the given node is not a child node.
`Node`	`node(int index)`	Returns the `Node` at the specified index position.
`int`	`nodeCount()`	Returns the number of `Node` instances that this branch contains.
`Iterator<Node>`	`nodeIterator()`	Returns an iterator through the content nodes of this branch
`void`	`normalize()`	Puts all `Text` nodes in the full depth of the sub-tree underneath this `Node`, including attribute nodes, into a "normal" form where only structure (e.g., elements, comments, processing instructions, CDATA sections, and entity references) separates `Text` nodes, i.e., there are neither adjacent `Text` nodes nor empty `Text` nodes.
`ProcessingInstruction`	`processingInstruction(String target)`	DOCUMENT ME!
`List<ProcessingInstruction>`	`processingInstructions()`	Returns a list of all the processing instructions in this branch.
`List<ProcessingInstruction>`	`processingInstructions(String target)`	Returns a list of the processing instructions for the given target.
`boolean`	`remove(Comment comment)`	Removes the given `Comment` if the node is an immediate child of this branch.
`boolean`	`remove(Element element)`	Removes the given `Element` if the node is an immediate child of this branch.
`boolean`	`remove(Node node)`	Removes the given `Node` if the node is an immediate child of this branch.
`boolean`	`remove(ProcessingInstruction pi)`	Removes the given `ProcessingInstruction` if the node is an immediate child of this branch.
`boolean`	`removeProcessingInstruction(String target)`	Removes the processing instruction for the given target if it exists
`void`	`setContent(List<Node> content)`	Sets the contents of this branch as a `List` of `Node` instances.
`void`	`setProcessingInstructions(List<ProcessingInstruction> listOfPIs)`	Sets all the processing instructions for this branch

Methods inherited from interface org.dom4j.Node
accept, asXML, asXPathResult, clone, createXPath, detach, getDocument, getName, getNodeType, getNodeTypeName, getParent, getPath, getPath, getStringValue, getText, getUniquePath, getUniquePath, hasContent, isReadOnly, matches, numberValueOf, selectNodes, selectNodes, selectNodes, selectObject, selectSingleNode, setDocument, setName, setParent, setText, supportsParent, valueOf, write

- Method Detail
  - node
```
Node node(int index)
   throws IndexOutOfBoundsException
```
    Returns the Node at the specified index position.
    
    Parameters:
    
    index - the index of the node to return.
    
    Returns:
    
    the Node at the specified position.
    
    Throws:
    
    IndexOutOfBoundsException - if the index is out of range (index < 0 || index >= nodeCount()).
  - indexOf
```
int indexOf(Node node)
```
    Returns the index of the given node if it is a child node of this branch or -1 if the given node is not a child node.
    
    Parameters:
    
    node - the content child node to find.
    
    Returns:
    
    the index of the given node starting at 0 or -1 if the node is not a child node of this branch
  - nodeCount
```
int nodeCount()
```
    Returns the number of Node instances that this branch contains.
    
    Returns:
    
    the number of nodes this branch contains
  - elementByID
```
Element elementByID(String elementID)
```
    Returns the element of the given ID attribute value. If this tree is capable of understanding which attribute value should be used for the ID then it should be used, otherwise this method should return null.
    
    Parameters:
    
    elementID - DOCUMENT ME!
    
    Returns:
    
    DOCUMENT ME!
  - content
```
List<Node> content()
```
    Returns the content nodes of this branch as a backed Listso that the content of this branch may be modified directly using the Listinterface. The List is backed by the Branch so that changes to the list are reflected in the branch and vice versa.
    
    Returns:
    
    the nodes that this branch contains as a List
  - nodeIterator
```
Iterator<Node> nodeIterator()
```
    Returns an iterator through the content nodes of this branch
    
    Returns:
    
    an iterator through the content nodes of this branch
  - setContent
```
void setContent(List<Node> content)
```
    Sets the contents of this branch as a List of Node instances.
    
    Parameters:
    
    content - is the list of nodes to use as the content for this branch.
  - appendContent
```
void appendContent(Branch branch)
```
    Appends the content of the given branch to this branch instance. This method behaves like the Collection.addAll(java.util.Collection) method.
    
    Parameters:
    
    branch - is the branch whose content will be added to me.
  - clearContent
```
void clearContent()
```
    Clears the content for this branch, removing any Node instances this branch may contain.
  - processingInstructions
```
List<ProcessingInstruction> processingInstructions()
```
    Returns a list of all the processing instructions in this branch. The list is backed by this branch so that changes to the list will be reflected in the branch but the reverse is not the case.
    
    Returns:
    
    a backed list of the processing instructions
  - processingInstructions
```
List<ProcessingInstruction> processingInstructions(String target)
```
    Returns a list of the processing instructions for the given target. The list is backed by this branch so that changes to the list will be reflected in the branch but the reverse is not the case.
    
    Parameters:
    
    target - DOCUMENT ME!
    
    Returns:
    
    a backed list of the processing instructions
  - processingInstruction
```
ProcessingInstruction processingInstruction(String target)
```
    DOCUMENT ME!
    
    Parameters:
    
    target - DOCUMENT ME!
    
    Returns:
    
    the processing instruction for the given target
  - setProcessingInstructions
```
void setProcessingInstructions(List<ProcessingInstruction> listOfPIs)
```
    Sets all the processing instructions for this branch
    
    Parameters:
    
    listOfPIs - DOCUMENT ME!
  - addElement
```
Element addElement(String name)
```
    Adds a new Element node with the given name to this branch and returns a reference to the new node.
    
    Parameters:
    
    name - is the name for the Element node.
    
    Returns:
    
    the newly added Element node.
  - addElement
```
Element addElement(QName qname)
```
    Adds a new Element node with the given QNameto this branch and returns a reference to the new node.
    
    Parameters:
    
    qname - is the qualified name for the Element node.
    
    Returns:
    
    the newly added Element node.
  - addElement
```
Element addElement(String qualifiedName,
                   String namespaceURI)
```
    Adds a new Element node with the given qualified name and namespace URI to this branch and returns a reference to the new node.
    
    Parameters:
    
    qualifiedName - is the fully qualified name of the Element
    
    namespaceURI - is the URI of the namespace to use
    
    Returns:
    
    the newly added Element node.
  - removeProcessingInstruction
```
boolean removeProcessingInstruction(String target)
```
    Removes the processing instruction for the given target if it exists
    
    Parameters:
    
    target - DOCUMENT ME!
    
    Returns:
    
    true if a processing instruction was removed else false
  - add
```
void add(Node node)
```
    Adds the given Node or throws IllegalAddException if the given node is not of a valid type. This is a polymorphic method which will call the typesafe method for the node type such as add(Element) or add(Comment).
    
    Parameters:
    
    node - is the given node to add
  - add
```
void add(Comment comment)
```
    Adds the given Comment to this branch. If the given node already has a parent defined then an IllegalAddException will be thrown.
    
    Parameters:
    
    comment - is the comment to be added
  - add
```
void add(Element element)
```
    Adds the given Element to this branch. If the given node already has a parent defined then an IllegalAddException will be thrown.
    
    Parameters:
    
    element - is the element to be added
  - add
```
void add(ProcessingInstruction pi)
```
    Adds the given ProcessingInstruction to this branch. If the given node already has a parent defined then an IllegalAddException will be thrown.
    
    Parameters:
    
    pi - is the processing instruction to be added
  - remove
```
boolean remove(Node node)
```
    Removes the given Node if the node is an immediate child of this branch. If the given node is not an immediate child of this branch then the Node.detach()method should be used instead. This is a polymorphic method which will call the typesafe method for the node type such as remove(Element) or remove(Comment).
    
    Parameters:
    
    node - is the given node to be removed
    
    Returns:
    
    true if the node was removed
  - remove
```
boolean remove(Comment comment)
```
    Removes the given Comment if the node is an immediate child of this branch. If the given node is not an immediate child of this branch then the Node.detach()method should be used instead.
    
    Parameters:
    
    comment - is the comment to be removed
    
    Returns:
    
    true if the comment was removed
  - remove
```
boolean remove(Element element)
```
    Removes the given Element if the node is an immediate child of this branch. If the given node is not an immediate child of this branch then the Node.detach()method should be used instead.
    
    Parameters:
    
    element - is the element to be removed
    
    Returns:
    
    true if the element was removed
  - remove
```
boolean remove(ProcessingInstruction pi)
```
    Removes the given ProcessingInstruction if the node is an immediate child of this branch. If the given node is not an immediate child of this branch then the Node.detach()method should be used instead.
    
    Parameters:
    
    pi - is the processing instruction to be removed
    
    Returns:
    
    true if the processing instruction was removed
  - normalize
```
void normalize()
```
    Puts all Text nodes in the full depth of the sub-tree underneath this Node, including attribute nodes, into a "normal" form where only structure (e.g., elements, comments, processing instructions, CDATA sections, and entity references) separates Text nodes, i.e., there are neither adjacent Text nodes nor empty Text nodes. This can be used to ensure that the DOM view of a document is the same as if it were saved and re-loaded, and is useful when operations (such as XPointer lookups) that depend on a particular document tree structure are to be used.In cases where the document contains CDATASections, the normalize operation alone may not be sufficient, since XPointers do not differentiate between Text nodes and CDATASection nodes.
    
    Since:
    
    DOM Level 2

Interface Branch

Field Summary

Fields inherited from interface org.dom4j.Node

Method Summary

Methods inherited from interface org.dom4j.Node

Method Detail

node

indexOf

nodeCount

elementByID

content

nodeIterator

setContent

appendContent

clearContent

processingInstructions

processingInstructions

processingInstruction

setProcessingInstructions

addElement

addElement

addElement

removeProcessingInstruction

add

add

add

add

remove

remove

remove

remove

normalize