Create QDomNodes without QDomDocument

Question

Is it possible to create a QDomElement without having a QDomDocument available? For example, here is a function that is expected to build a node tree under the element parent:

void buildResponse (QDomDocument &doc, QDomElement &parent) {
    QDomElement child = doc.createElement("child");
    parent.appendChild(child);
}

The only reason I have to pass doc is to use it as a factory to create elements that the function adds under parent. In the application I'm working on now, it would simplify my implementation slightly if I didn't have to lug the QDomDocument around.

Is there a way to create nodes without having a document available?

Answer 1

You can drop document as parameter because each QDomNode has method ownerDocument(). QDomElement inherits QDomNode so it's also accessible from parent parameter. Check QDomNode documentation.

Answer 2

I needed to do something similar in my project, but I did not not have access to the parent document at all. I just wanted to return a QDomNode and add it to a parent tree in the calling method. I was migrating from libxml2 and changing this behavior required a large redesign of the code. So the above solution did not work for me.

I solved it instead by creating a temporary QDomDocument, then created the subtree using that. Back in the calling method, I have imported it to the parent document. Here is an example:

#include <QtXml>
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

QDomNode TestTree(void) {
    
    QDomDocument doc("testtree");
    QDomElement testtree=doc.createElement("testing");
    testtree.setAttribute("test","1");
    doc.appendChild(testtree);
    
    QDomElement testchild1 = doc.createElement("testje");
    testtree.appendChild(testchild1);
    
    QDomElement testchild2 = doc.createElement("testje");
    testtree.appendChild(testchild2);
    return testtree;
}

int main (int argc, char **argv) {
    
    QDomDocument doc("MyML");
    QDomElement root = doc.createElement("MyML");
    doc.appendChild(root);
    
    QDomElement tag = doc.createElement("Greeting");
    root.appendChild(tag);
    
    QDomText t = doc.createTextNode("Hello World");
    tag.appendChild(t);
    
    QDomNode testtree = TestTree();
    QDomNode testtree_copy=doc.importNode(testtree,true);
    root.appendChild(testtree_copy);
    
    QString xml = doc.toString();
    cout << qPrintable(xml) << endl;
    
    
}