XML Element to string conversion returning null

Question

Hi,
When i try to convert XML Element to string using toString() API, it returns something like [device: null] where device is element tag.
Code is as follows -
Document xmlDoc;
DOMParser parser = (DOMParser)Class.forName("org.apache.xerces.parsers.DOMParser").newInstance();
parser.setFeature( "http://apache.org/xml/features/dom/defer-node-expansion", true );
parser.parse(new InputSource(new StringReader(tableStr)));
xmlDoc = parser.getDocument();
Element root = xmlDoc.getDocumentElement();
NodeList nodeList = root.getElementsByTagName("device");
Element deviceNode = (Element)nodeList.item(nodeList.getLength()-1);
System.out.println(deviceNode.toString()); //prints [device: null] ????
System.out.println(deviceNode.getAttribute("ipAddress")); //prints correct ip address
Any idea why i am getting [device: null] when trying to convert Element to String though attribute value is retrieved.
Thanks,
Deepak

Answer 1

Hello ,
I want to get the root node (<ZTOP60_XML_TAG_STRUCTURE>
) of the following xml file .
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ZTOP60_XML_TAG_STRUCTURE>
     <MSGTYPE>NAPOBACK</MSGTYPE>
     <SNDPRN>657393485</SNDPRN>
     <RECEIVER/>
     <RCVPRN>GSOHUBDM1</RCVPRN>
     <PONUM/>
     <VENDCODE>0020040266</VENDCODE>
     <VENDUNS>002601768</VENDUNS>
     <PARTNERFUNC_WE>WE</PARTNERFUNC_WE>
     <PARTNERNUM_WE>C240</PARTNERNUM_WE>
     <LINE_ITEMS>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00687</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999999.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>1.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>7.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>339.65</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>FE-26865-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>PTR, T632, LEXMARK 5-BIN MAILBOX</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00178</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999999.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>1.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>303.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>18.62</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>FE-ZZYRG-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>FDD,FDI-PC,1.44MB,3.5 ,HH</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00157</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999998.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>24.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>303.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>26.25</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>FE-25094-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>MOUSE,PC,3BUT,,INTELLIMOUSE,PS2</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00881</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999999.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>1.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>62.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>368.80</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>FD-66515-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>ITU MODULE ASM</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00223</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999999.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>1.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>377.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>459.28</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>FD-65336-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>MAIN SYSTEM BOARD T23 (2647)</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00081</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999999.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>19.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>810.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>217.21</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>FD-64199-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>QST- CADET 100</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00271</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999999.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>1.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>136.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>813.76</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>FD-60065-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>SMART UPS 3000VA RM</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00791</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999999.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>1.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>3.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>201.73</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>3X-PBXGG-AA</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>ATI 7500 PCI GRAPHICS</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00173</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999999.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>1.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>32.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>7.50</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>12-56178-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>CARD GUIDE,SNAP-IN,LOW PROFILE,2.5 INCHE</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00309</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999998.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>15.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>71.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>51.23</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>30-51476-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>VHDI-CABLE WIDE 12 FT. DT-AB001-TQ</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
          <item>
               <ITEMNUM>00194</ITEMNUM>
               <POQTY>999999999.000</POQTY>
               <BOQTY>1.000</BOQTY>
               <GRQTY>147.000</GRQTY>
               <NETVAL>345.48</NETVAL>
               <PLANT>C240</PLANT>
               <MATNUM>29-33689-01</MATNUM>
               <MATDESC>PTR,IMP9,B/W,PAR/SER,110/240,R</MATDESC>
               <PONUMBER>6500022388</PONUMBER>
               <EKGRP>U17</EKGRP>
               <DISPO>N07</DISPO>
          </item>
     </LINE_ITEMS>
</ZTOP60_XML_TAG_STRUCTURE>
I wrote the following lines of code ..
FTI .. >> String strMsg =((javax.jms.TextMessage)msg).getText();
StrMsg is a string that represents an xml file .
DocumentBuilderFactory docfactory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
               DocumentBuilder builder = docfactory.newDocumentBuilder();
               Document doc = builder.parse(new InputSource(new StringReader(strMsg)));
               Element root = doc.getDocumentElement();
               System.out.println("The root is " + root);
               String strFileName = root+".xml" ;
               System.out.println("The file name is " + strFileName);
               File f = new File (strFileName);
               FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream( f );
               for ( int j =0 ; j < strMsg.length(); j++)
                    char c = strMsg.charAt(j);
                    fos.write((int)c);
I am getting the following error ...
The root is [ZTOP60_XML_TAG_STRUCTURE: null]
The file name is [ZTOP60_XML_TAG_STRUCTURE: null].xml
Whey the file name or root is with special character [ ] and null ..
I want just ZTOP60_XML_TAG_STRUCTURE.xml .
Can anyone help me .
thanks
mahesh