NAME

       XML::DOM::Document - An XML document node in XML::DOM

DESCRIPTION

       XML::DOM::Document extends XML::DOM::Node.

       It is the main root of the XML document structure as returned by XML::DOM::Parser::parse
       and XML::DOM::Parser::parsefile.

       Since elements, text nodes, comments, processing instructions, etc.  cannot exist outside
       the context of a Document, the Document interface also contains the factory methods needed
       to create these objects. The Node objects created have a getOwnerDocument method which
       associates them with the Document within whose context they were created.

       METHODS

       getDocumentElement
           This is a convenience method that allows direct access to the child node that is the
           root Element of the document.

       getDoctype
           The Document Type Declaration (see DocumentType) associated with this document. For
           HTML documents as well as XML documents without a document type declaration this
           returns undef. The DOM Level 1 does not support editing the Document Type Declaration.

           Not In DOM Spec: This implementation allows editing the doctype.  See
           XML::DOM::ignoreReadOnly for details.

       getImplementation
           The DOMImplementation object that handles this document. A DOM application may use
           objects from multiple implementations.

       createElement (tagName)
           Creates an element of the type specified. Note that the instance returned implements
           the Element interface, so attributes can be specified directly on the returned object.

           DOMExceptions:

           * INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR
               Raised if the tagName does not conform to the XML spec.

       createTextNode (data)
           Creates a Text node given the specified string.

       createComment (data)
           Creates a Comment node given the specified string.

       createCDATASection (data)
           Creates a CDATASection node given the specified string.

       createAttribute (name [, value [, specified ]])
           Creates an Attr of the given name. Note that the Attr instance can then be set on an
           Element using the setAttribute method.

           Not In DOM Spec: The DOM Spec does not allow passing the value or the specified
           property in this method. In this implementation they are optional.

           Parameters:
            value     The attribute's value. See Attr::setValue for details.
                         If the value is not supplied, the specified property is set to 0.
            specified Whether the attribute value was specified or whether the default
                         value was used. If not supplied, it's assumed to be 1.

           DOMExceptions:

           * INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR
               Raised if the name does not conform to the XML spec.

       createProcessingInstruction (target, data)
           Creates a ProcessingInstruction node given the specified name and data strings.

           Parameters:
            target  The target part of the processing instruction.
            data    The data for the node.

           DOMExceptions:

           * INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR
               Raised if the target does not conform to the XML spec.

       createDocumentFragment
           Creates an empty DocumentFragment object.

       createEntityReference (name)
           Creates an EntityReference object.

       Additional methods not in the DOM Spec

       getXMLDecl and setXMLDecl (xmlDecl)
           Returns the XMLDecl for this Document or undef if none was specified.  Note that
           XMLDecl is not part of the list of child nodes.

       setDoctype (doctype)
           Sets or replaces the DocumentType.  NOTE: Don't use appendChild or insertBefore to set
           the DocumentType.  Even though doctype will be part of the list of child nodes, it is
           handled specially.

       getDefaultAttrValue (elem, attr)
           Returns the default attribute value as a string or undef, if none is available.

           Parameters:
            elem    The element tagName.
            attr    The attribute name.

       getEntity (name)
           Returns the Entity with the specified name.

       createXMLDecl (version, encoding, standalone)
           Creates an XMLDecl object. All parameters may be undefined.

       createDocumentType (name, sysId, pubId)
           Creates a DocumentType object. SysId and pubId may be undefined.

       createNotation (name, base, sysId, pubId)
           Creates a new Notation object. Consider using XML::DOM::DocumentType::addNotation!

       createEntity (parameter, notationName, value, sysId, pubId, ndata)
           Creates an Entity object. Consider using XML::DOM::DocumentType::addEntity!

       createElementDecl (name, model)
           Creates an ElementDecl object.

           DOMExceptions:

           * INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR
               Raised if the element name (tagName) does not conform to the XML spec.

       createAttlistDecl (name)
           Creates an AttlistDecl object.

           DOMExceptions:

           * INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR
               Raised if the element name (tagName) does not conform to the XML spec.

       expandEntity (entity [, parameter])
           Expands the specified entity or parameter entity (if parameter=1) and returns its
           value as a string, or undef if the entity does not exist.  (The entity name should not
           contain the '%', '&' or ';' delimiters.)

       check ( [$checker] )
           Uses the specified XML::Checker to validate the document.  If no XML::Checker is
           supplied, a new XML::Checker is created.  See XML::Checker for details.

       check_sax ( [$checker] )
           Similar to check() except it uses the SAX interface to XML::Checker instead of the
           expat interface. This method may disappear or replace check() at some time.

       createChecker ()
           Creates an XML::Checker based on the document's DTD.  The $checker can be reused to
           check any elements within the document.  Create a new XML::Checker whenever the
           DOCTYPE section of the document is altered!