Xml parsing using dom4j

Question

I have some XML in String format, and I want to use the DocumentHelper.parseText() method on that string to parse it to Document format.
I use it and it doesn't say anything about an error, however when I try to get "getelementroot()" and "getattributevalue" it gives me null.
The XML looks like this:
<Response status="1">
<ERROR code="1">Offer is not available. </ERROR>
<OFFER_ID>fPSC00010_PKG</OFFER_ID>
</Response>
I want to get the value of "status", i.e 1 in this case. So I do something like this:
Element e = doc.getRootElement();
String s = e.attributeValue("Status");
Have I misunderstood something or what?

Answer 1

Well I am not 100% sure why your code is causing a problem. I used dom4j 1 year ago.
But I can give you my code snippet, the difference there to your snippet is that I first retrieved an Iterator over the Root element. And as I think the root element in your case is not the "Response" element it is more like a pointer to the start of the document. I am sorry for my vague explanation,it's too long age.
But I am sure that you can use my example for your need effectively.
public XMLMetaReader( String fileName )
        Document document = null;
        try
            SAXReader reader = new SAXReader( true );
            document = reader.read( fileName );
            root = document.getRootElement();
            createDBTree();
        catch ( DocumentException e )
            e.printStackTrace();
    public Map getSourceTables()
        return sourceTables;
    /** Return all tables which are set in the currently connected Database. */
    private void createDBTree() throws DocumentException
        for ( Iterator iterator0 = root.elementIterator( "database" ); iterator0.hasNext(); )
            Element databaseNode = ( Element ) iterator0.next();
            database = databaseNode.attributeValue( "ID" );
            // iterate through child elements of root with element name "table"
            for ( Iterator iterator = databaseNode.elementIterator( "table" ); iterator.hasNext(); )
                Element tableNode = ( Element ) iterator.next();
                Table table = new Table( tableNode.attributeValue( "ID" ) );
                sourceTables.put( tableNode.attributeValue( "ID" ), table );
                // iterate through child elements of root with element name "field"
                for ( Iterator iterator2 = tableNode.elementIterator( "field" ); iterator2.hasNext(); )
                    Element fieldNode = ( Element ) iterator2.next();
                    Field field = new Field( fieldNode.attributeValue( "ID" ) );
                    field.setOriginalDomain( fieldNode.attributeValue( "datatype" ) );
                    if ( fieldNode.attributeValue( "default" ) != null )
                        String fieldValue = fieldNode.attributeValue( "default" );
                        if ( ( fieldValue ).equalsIgnoreCase( "NULL" ) )
                            field.setIsOriginalNullable( true );
                        else if ( ( fieldValue ).equalsIgnoreCase( "NOT NULL" ) )
                            field.setIsOriginalNullable( false );
                        else
                            field.setOriginalDefault( fieldValue );
                    table.addField( field );
                for ( Iterator iterator2 = tableNode.elementIterator( "primarykey" ); iterator2.hasNext(); )
                    Element primaryNode = ( Element ) iterator2.next();
                    for ( Iterator iterator3 = primaryNode.elementIterator( "key" ); iterator3.hasNext(); )
                        Element keyNode = ( Element ) iterator3.next();
                        table.addPrimaryKey( keyNode.attributeValue( "field" ) );
                        Field primaryField = table.getField( keyNode.attributeValue( "field" ) );
                        primaryField.setIsOriginalPrimary( true );
                for ( Iterator iterator2 = tableNode.elementIterator( "foreignkey" ); iterator2.hasNext(); )
                    Element foreignNode = ( Element ) iterator2.next();
                    ForeignKey foreignKey = new ForeignKey();
                    for ( Iterator iterator3 = foreignNode.elementIterator( "key" ); iterator3.hasNext(); )
                        Element keyNode = ( Element ) iterator3.next();
                        foreignKey.setOnField( keyNode.attributeValue( "field" ) );
                        System.out.println( keyNode.attributeValue( "field" ) );
                        foreignKey.setReferencedTable( keyNode.attributeValue( "references" ) );
                        System.out.println( keyNode.attributeValue( "references" ) );
                    for ( Iterator iterator3 = foreignNode.elementIterator( "onupdate" ); iterator3.hasNext(); )
                        Element onUpdateNode = ( Element ) iterator3.next();
                        foreignKey.setOnUpdate( onUpdateNode.attributeValue( "action" ) );
                    for ( Iterator iterator3 = foreignNode.elementIterator( "ondelete" ); iterator3.hasNext(); )
                        Element onDeleteNode = ( Element ) iterator3.next();
                        foreignKey.setOnDelete( onDeleteNode.attributeValue( "action" ) );
                    table.addForeignKey( foreignKey );
                for ( Iterator iterator2 = tableNode.elementIterator( "index" ); iterator2.hasNext(); )
                    Element indexNode = ( Element ) iterator2.next();
                    Index index = new Index( indexNode.attributeValue( "name" ) );
                    index.setIsUNIQUE( ( indexNode.attributeValue( "unique" ) ).equalsIgnoreCase( "true" )  );
                    index.setIsDESC( ( indexNode.attributeValue( "ASC" ) ).equalsIgnoreCase( "true" )  );
                    /* index.setTable( tableNode.attributeValue( "ID" ) ); */
                    for ( Iterator iterator3 = indexNode.elementIterator( "indexfield" ); iterator3.hasNext(); )
                        Element indexFieldElement = ( Element )iterator3.next();
                        int position = Integer.parseInt( indexFieldElement.attributeValue( "position" ) );
                        index.addField( indexFieldElement.attributeValue( "field" ), ( short ) position );
                    table.addIndex( index );
                for ( Iterator iterator2 = tableNode.elementIterator( "uniqueclause" ); iterator2.hasNext(); )
                    Element uniqueNode = ( Element ) iterator2.next();
                    UniqueConstraint uniqueConstraint = new UniqueConstraint();
                    for ( Iterator iterator3 = tableNode.elementIterator( "uniquefield" ); iterator3.hasNext(); )
                        Element uniqueFieldNode = ( Element ) iterator3.next();
                        uniqueConstraint.addField( uniqueFieldNode.attributeValue( "field" ) );
}Hope it helps.
Best regards
Tarik