JS -- XML Question - Can I add attributes using Javascript?

Question

I want to add an attribute to an element tag, but I don't see how to do it programmatically. Is it possible? Also, is there a way to name an element tag dynamically? For example:
The way to add a child element is to either use the appendChild method like this:
XMLObject.appendChild(<childElement/>);
XMLObject.childElement= "something";
or just add it like this:
XMLObject.childElement = "something";
Right? (Side Question: Is there a difference between these two methods?).
What I want to do is to either add a dynamic attribute to a statically named child, or to create a dynamically named child.
I haven't been able to figure this out myself. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Maybe have a look at Mozilla's E4X tutorial: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/E4X_Tutorial/
There's no need for eval() here. (There usually isn't.) Use:
XMLObject.appendChild(<{nameReference}/>);
To add an attribute, you can just use:
XMLObject.@new_att = "the value";
Jeff