Skip to main content

NodeByName

function NodeByName(const AName: UTF8String): TXMLNode;

Example​

procedure UpdateStatus(RootNode: TXMLNode);
var
  StatusNode: TXMLNode;
begin
  if RootNode = nil then Exit;

  StatusNode := RootNode.NodeByName('Status');
  if (StatusNode <> nil) and (StatusNode.ElementType = xeElement) then
    StatusNode.Value := 'Ready';
end;

Usage​

NodeByName returns the first immediate raw child whose name matches case-insensitively, without recursing or filtering to elements.

Additional Technical Info​

NodeByName scans the receiver's immediate raw child list in stored order and returns the first child whose virtual Name matches AName through NativeXML's case-insensitive UTF-8 comparison. It returns nil when there is no match.

The lookup is shallow: grandchildren are not visited. Use FindNode for recursive descendant search.

The lookup is also not element-only. Attributes normally appear first in a container's raw list, followed by other node types, so an attribute can win over a child element with the same case-insensitive name. Text and comment nodes expose kind-derived names such as Text and Comment. Verify ElementType, or use ElementCount and Elements for immediate elements.

XML names are case-sensitive, but this implementation is not: status can match Status. Documents containing names that differ only by case can therefore produce a result different from exact XML semantics. Duplicate exact names return only the first.

AName is a local/raw name. A leading slash has no FullPath meaning here. Namespace prefixes remain part of the literal Name, and no namespace URI resolution or schema validation occurs.

The result is a borrowed document-owned reference. Do not Free it, and do not retain it across clear, load or structural mutation without re-resolving it. Cost is linear in the immediate all-node count.

The example is source-reviewed only; no node was looked up or updated.

External references

Created 2026-07-15