Modify attribute value

Question

Here is a part of an XML file:
<caseManagement>
               <investigationNote noteSeqNo="1" noteNo="1" investigationNoteType="INN" investigationDesc="5oy6B3eHj%2FE%3D"/>
               <investigationNote noteSeqNo="2" noteNo="2" investigationNoteType="INN" investigationDesc="aRBOig%2B6le4%3D"/>
               <investigationNote noteSeqNo="3" noteNo="3" investigationNoteType="INN" investigationDesc="fsldAFvH6dLcAjVg3RXP5Q%3D%3D"/>
               <investigationNote noteSeqNo="4" noteNo="4" investigationNoteType="INN" investigationDesc="1WNfgJJjGnv%2B32wCLuSvDE%2Fqy%2B7WzrIptImmQn21E8F3rUvv%2FUwJ4t7CPT6D7iatJzcvDWyZF%2FNR%0AThV8zR0Wn8F19U3NLOs%2B0QJuBCvXkOs%3D"/>
<caseManagement>
I am trying to change the value of the attribute "investigationDesc"(which is encrypted).
----------import java.io.*;
import org.apache.xerces.parsers.DOMParser;
import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
import org.w3c.dom.*;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args)
String xmlBase = "c://test//sample.xml";
DOMParser parser = new DOMParser();
try {
parser.parse(xmlBase);
} catch (SAXException e) {
e.printStackTrace(); //To change body of catch statement use File | Settings | File Templates.
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace(); //To change body of catch statement use File | Settings | File Templates.
Document doc = parser.getDocument();
NodeList nodeList = doc.getElementsByTagName("investigationNote");
for(int i =0 ; i< nodeList.getLength() ; i++)
Node node = nodeList.item(i);
NamedNodeMap nnp = node.getAttributes();
for(int j= 0 ; j < nnp.getLength() ; j++)
Attr atr = (Attr) nnp.item(j);
if(atr.getName().equalsIgnoreCase("investigationDesc"))
System.out.println(atr.getName() +" : " + atr.getNodeValue() );
atr.setNodeValue("CHANGED");
I also tried atr.setValue("XXXX");
Has the value in the DOM changed but not written to the actual XML file?
Thanks,
Chintu

Answer 1

here is an example of the comple code ... hope it will help you. The structure of xml is bit complex but i if ur able to do a complex one then rest is a piece of cake :)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Root>
<Task1>
<Source>
<SourceDriver>sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver</SourceDriver>
<SourceConnection>jdbc:odbc:abc_awdb</SourceConnection>
<SourceUser>ixyz</SourceUser>
<SourcePassword>zad</SourcePassword>
<Table>
<SourceTable>dbo_Agent_Half_Hour</SourceTable>
<![CDATA[ <SourceQuery>Select DateTime,SkillTargetID,TimeZone,MRDomainID,RecoveryKey,LoggedOnTimeToHalf,AvailTimeToHalf,NotReadyTimeToHalf,TalkOtherTimeToHalf,AvailableInMRDTimeToHalf,AvailTimeToHalf,NotReadyTimeToHalf,TalkOtherTimeToHalf,AvailableInMRDTimeToHalf,RoutableInMRDTimeToHalf from dbo_Agent_Half_Hour where SkillTargetID  > {value_1} and TimeZone < {value_2}</SourceQuery>]]>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="DateTime" ColumnNumber="1" DataType="Numeric" DefaultValue="0" Format="mm/dd/yyyy xx:xx:xx XX"></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="SkillTargetID" ColumnNumber="2" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="TimeZone" ColumnNumber="3" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="MRDomainID" ColumnNumber="3" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="RecoveryKey" ColumnNumber="3" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="LoggedOnTimeToHalf" ColumnNumber="3" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="AvailTimeToHalf" ColumnNumber="3" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="NotReadyTimeToHalf" ColumnNumber="3" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="TalkOtherTimeToHalf" ColumnNumber="3" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="AvailableInMRDTimeToHalf" ColumnNumber="3" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<SourceParm BusinessRule="" ColumnName="RoutableInMRDTimeToHalf" ColumnNumber="3" DataType="String" DefaultValue="" Format=""></SourceParm>
<!--To update the following fields -->
<QueryParm id_1="1" FldName_1="SkillTargetID" value_1="0"></QueryParm>
<QueryParm id_2="2" FldName_2="TimeZone" value_2="-200"></QueryParm>
     </Table>
</Source>
</Task1>
</Root>
here is the java code
import java.io.*;
import org.w3c.dom.*;
import org.apache.xerces.parsers.DOMParser;
import org.apache.xerces.*;
public class XMLWriter
static String displayStrings[] = new String[1000];
static int numberDisplayLines = 0;
static Document document;
static Node c;
public static void displayDocument(String uri)
try {
DOMParser parser = new DOMParser();
parser.parse(uri);
document = parser.getDocument();
display(document, "");
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace(System.err);
public static void display(Node node, String indent)
if (node == null) {
return;
int type = node.getNodeType();
          NodeList nodeList = document.getElementsByTagName("QueryParm");
switch (type) {
case Node.DOCUMENT_NODE: {
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] = indent;
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] +=
"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\""+
"UTF-8" + "\"?>";
numberDisplayLines++;
display(((Document)node).getDocumentElement(), "");
break;
case Node.ELEMENT_NODE: {
if(node.getNodeName().equals("QueryParm")) {
for(int i =0 ; i< nodeList.getLength() ; i++)
                         Node nodeQry = nodeList.item(i);
                         NamedNodeMap nnp = nodeQry.getAttributes();
                         for(int j= 0 ; j < nnp.getLength() ; j++)
                              Attr atr = (Attr) nnp.item(j);
                              if(atr.getName().equalsIgnoreCase("value_"+(i+1)))
                                   System.out.println(atr.getName() +" : " + atr.getNodeValue() );
                                   atr.setNodeValue("CHANGED "+(i+3*2));
//System.out.println("Found");
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] = indent;
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += "<";
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += node.getNodeName();
int length = (node.getAttributes() != null) ?
node.getAttributes().getLength() : 0;
Attr attributes[] = new Attr[length];
for (int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < length; loopIndex++) {
attributes[loopIndex] = (Attr)node.getAttributes().item(loopIndex);
for (int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < attributes.length; loopIndex++) {
Attr attribute = attributes[loopIndex];
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += " ";
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += attribute.getNodeName();
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += "=\"";
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += attribute.getNodeValue();
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += "\"";
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines]+=">";
numberDisplayLines++;
NodeList childNodes = node.getChildNodes();
if (childNodes != null) {
length = childNodes.getLength();
indent += " ";
for (int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < length; loopIndex++ ) {
display(childNodes.item(loopIndex), indent);
break;
case Node.CDATA_SECTION_NODE: {
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] = indent;
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += "<![CDATA[";
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += node.getNodeValue();
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += "]]>";
numberDisplayLines++;
break;
case Node.TEXT_NODE: {
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] = indent;
String newText = node.getNodeValue().trim();
if(newText.indexOf("\n") < 0 && newText.length() > 0) {
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += newText;
numberDisplayLines++;
break;
case Node.PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION_NODE: {
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] = indent;
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += "<?";
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += node.getNodeName();
String text = node.getNodeValue();
if (text != null && text.length() > 0) {
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += text;
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += "?>";
numberDisplayLines++;
break;
if (type == Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] = indent.substring(0,
indent.length() - 4);
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += "</";
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += node.getNodeName();
displayStrings[numberDisplayLines] += ">";
numberDisplayLines++;
indent += " ";
public static void main(String args[])
displayDocument("MyxmlFile.xml");
try {
FileWriter filewriter = new FileWriter("MyxmlFile.xml");
for(int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < numberDisplayLines; loopIndex++){
filewriter.write(displayStrings[loopIndex].toCharArray());
filewriter.write("\n");
filewriter.close();
catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace(System.err);
Regards
Kashif Qasim