MbElement (IBM Integration Bus Java Plugin Node API)

java.lang.Object
- com.ibm.broker.plugin.MbElement

```
public class MbElement
extends java.lang.Object
```
MbElement represents the syntax elements in the logical (hierarchical) view of the message. Methods are provided for navigating and modifying the hierarchy.
```
                           getParent()
                                ^
                                |
                         +-------------+
                         |             |  
 getPreviousSibling() <--|  MbElement  |--> getNextSibling()
                         |             |  
                         +-------------+
                            |       |
                            v       v
                getFirstChild()   getLastChild()
 
```
When creating a new message from scratch, it is important that the parser-owning folders (elements whose parent is the root element) are created using only the following methods passing in the parser name as the argument:
Children of these folders should be created with the other create methods only.
Warning: caching MbElement objects over multiple message flow invocations is unsupported because the internal state may be reset at the end of the current message invocation.

Field Summary

Fields
Modifier and Type	Field and Description
`static int`	`TYPE_NAME` A name element has associated with it a string, which is the name of the element.
`static int`	`TYPE_NAME_VALUE` A name-value element is an optimization of the case where a name element contains only a value element and nothing else.
`static int`	`TYPE_UNKNOWN` The element type is undefined.
`static int`	`TYPE_VALUE` A value element has a value associated with it.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_COMPLETE` VALIDATE_COMPLETE requests complete validation.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_CONTENT` VALIDATE_CONTENT requests validation of the message content.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_CONTENT_AND_VALUE` VALIDATE_CONTENT_AND_VALUE requests validation of the message content and values.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_DEFERRED` VALIDATE_DEFERRED requests deferred validation.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_EXCEPTION` VALIDATE_EXCEPTION requests validation failures are thrown as an exception.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_EXCEPTIONLIST` VALIDATE_EXCEPTIONLIST requests validation failures are sent to the ExceptionList.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_IMMEDIATE` VALIDATE_IMMEDIATE requests immediate validation.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_LOCAL_ERROR` VALIDATE_LOCAL_ERROR requests validation failures are logged.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_NONE` VALIDATE_NONE requests no validation is performed.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_ROOT_BITSTREAM` The Validation constants represent the allowed control options which are used when parsing or writing (between a bitstream and a structure in the logical view of the message).
`static int`	`VALIDATE_USERTRACE` VALIDATE_USERTRACE requests validation failures are logged to UserTrace.
`static int`	`VALIDATE_VALUE` VALIDATE_VALUE requests validation of the message values.
`static int`	`VALUE_STATE_INVALID` Returned by `getValueState()`.
`static int`	`VALUE_STATE_UNDEFINED` Returned by `getValueState()`.
`static int`	`VALUE_STATE_VALID` Returned by `getValueState()`.

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Concrete Methods Deprecated Methods
Modifier and Type	Method and Description
`void`	`addAfter(MbElement element)` Adds an unattached syntax element after this element.
`void`	`addAsFirstChild(MbElement element)` Adds an unattached syntax element as the first of this element.
`void`	`addAsLastChild(MbElement element)` Adds an unattached syntax element as the last of this element.
`void`	`addBefore(MbElement element)` Adds an unattached syntax element before this element.
`MbElement`	`copy()`
`void`	`copyElementTree(MbElement element)` Copies the element tree from the element passed as an argument to the current element.
`MbElement`	`createElementAfter(int type)` Creates a new syntax element and inserts it after this element.
`MbElement`	`createElementAfter(int type, java.lang.String name, java.lang.Object value)` Creates a new syntax element and inserts it after this element.
`MbElement`	`createElementAfter(java.lang.String parserName)` Creates a new syntax element, inserts it after this element, and associates it with the specified parser class name.
`MbElement`	`createElementAsFirstChild(int type)` Creates a new syntax element as the first child of this element.
`MbElement`	`createElementAsFirstChild(int type, java.lang.String name, java.lang.Object value)` Creates a new syntax element as the first child of this element.
`MbElement`	`createElementAsFirstChild(java.lang.String parserName)` Creates a new syntax element as the first child of this element, and associates it with the specified parser class name.
`MbElement`	`createElementAsLastChild(int type)` Creates a new syntax element as the last child of this element.
`MbElement`	`createElementAsLastChild(int type, java.lang.String name, java.lang.Object value)` Creates a new syntax element as the last child of this element.
`MbElement`	`createElementAsLastChild(java.lang.String parserName)` Creates a new syntax element as the last child of this element, and associates it with the specified parser class name.
`MbElement`	`createElementAsLastChildFromBitstream(byte[] bitstream, java.lang.String parserName, java.lang.String messageType, java.lang.String messageSet, java.lang.String messageFormat, int encoding, int ccsid, int options)` Creates a new syntax element tree as the last child of this element, and associates it with the specified parser.
`MbElement`	`createElementBefore(int type)` Creates a new syntax element and inserts it before this element.
`MbElement`	`createElementBefore(int type, java.lang.String name, java.lang.Object value)` Creates a new syntax element and inserts it before this element.
`MbElement`	`createElementBefore(java.lang.String parserName)` Creates a new syntax element, inserts it before this element, and associates it with the specified parser class name.
`void`	`delete()` Detaches and destroys a portion of a message tree, allowing its memory to be reused.
`void`	`detach()` Detaches this element from the syntax element tree.
`java.lang.Object`	`evaluateXPath(MbXPath xpath)` Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node.
`java.lang.Object`	`evaluateXPath(MbXPath xpath, MbXPathVariables xpathVariables)` Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node.
`java.lang.Object`	`evaluateXPath(java.lang.String expression)` Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node.
`java.lang.Object`	`evaluateXPath(java.lang.String expression, MbNamespaceBindings namespaceBindings)` Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node.
`java.lang.Object`	`evaluateXPath(java.lang.String expression, MbNamespaceBindings namespaceBindings, MbXPathVariables xpathVariables)` Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node.
`java.lang.Object`	`evaluateXPath(java.lang.String expression, MbXPathVariables xpathVariables)` Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node.
`MbElement[]`	`getAllElementsByPath(java.lang.String path)` Deprecated. Path selection should be done using the XPath 1.0 methods.
`org.w3c.dom.Node`	`getDOMNode()` Returns this MbElement as an instance of the org.w3c.dom.Node interface
`MbElement`	`getFirstChild()` Returns the syntax element representing the first child of this element.
`MbElement`	`getFirstElementByPath(java.lang.String path)` Gets the first element matching the path specification.
`MbElement`	`getLastChild()` Returns the syntax element representing the last child of this element.
`java.lang.String`	`getName()` Returns the name of the element.
`java.lang.String`	`getNamespace()` Returns the namespace URI of the element.
`MbElement`	`getNextSibling()` Returns the syntax element representing the next sibling (right sibling) of this element.
`MbElement`	`getParent()` Returns the syntax element representing the parent of this element.
`java.lang.String`	`getParserClassName()` Gets the name of the parser associated with the element.
`int`	`getParserContext()` Deprecated. `getSpecificType()` should be used instead.
`MbElement`	`getPreviousSibling()` Returns the syntax element representing the previous sibling (left sibling) of this element.
`int`	`getSpecificType()` Returns the full type information of this element including the parser specific type.
`int`	`getType()` Gets the generic type of the element.
`java.lang.Object`	`getValue()` Gets the value of the element as a java Object.
`java.lang.String`	`getValueAsString()` Gets the value of the element as a java String.
`int`	`getValueState()` Gets the state of the value of the element.
`boolean`	`is(MbElement comparisonElement)` is: Returns true if the MbElement actually refers to the same element in the logical message tree.
`boolean`	`isReadOnly()` Returns true if this element is part of the message that is read only.
`void`	`setName(java.lang.String name)` Sets the name of the element, any previous name is overwritten.
`void`	`setNamespace(java.lang.String namespace)` Sets the namespace URI of the element, any previous namespace is overwritten.
`void`	`setSpecificType(int type)` Sets the full type information for this element including the parser specific type.
`void`	`setValue(java.lang.Object value)` Sets the value of the element as a java Object.
`byte[]`	`toBitstream(java.lang.String messageType, java.lang.String messageSet, java.lang.String messageFormat, int encoding, int ccsid, int options)` Returns the bit stream representation of the element.
`java.lang.String`	`toString()` Returns a String representation of the MbElement.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail
- VALUE_STATE_UNDEFINED
```
public static final int VALUE_STATE_UNDEFINED
```
  Returned by getValueState(). Indicates the value is undefined.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALUE_STATE_VALID
```
public static final int VALUE_STATE_VALID
```
  Returned by getValueState(). Indicates the value is valid.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALUE_STATE_INVALID
```
public static final int VALUE_STATE_INVALID
```
  Returned by getValueState(). Indicates the value is invalid.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- TYPE_UNKNOWN
```
public static final int TYPE_UNKNOWN
```
  The element type is undefined.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- TYPE_NAME
```
public static final int TYPE_NAME
```
  A name element has associated with it a string, which is the name of the element.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- TYPE_VALUE
```
public static final int TYPE_VALUE
```
  A value element has a value associated with it.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
```
public static final int TYPE_NAME_VALUE
```
  A name-value element is an optimization of the case where a name element contains only a value element and nothing else. The element contains both a name and value.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_ROOT_BITSTREAM
```
public static final int VALIDATE_ROOT_BITSTREAM
```
  The Validation constants represent the allowed control options which are used when parsing or writing (between a bitstream and a structure in the logical view of the message). Only one option from each of the groups 1 - 4 can be specified, with the exception of ValidateValue and ValidateContent, which can be used together to obtain the content and value validation. If you do not specify an option within a group, the option with the zero value from that group is used. See the topic "Validation properties" in the Knowledge Center (topic: ac18870) for more details. VALIDATE_ROOT_BITSTREAM requests parsing or serializing of an entire message tree. This option belongs to Group 1: Bitstream Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_CONTENT_AND_VALUE
```
public static final int VALIDATE_CONTENT_AND_VALUE
```
  VALIDATE_CONTENT_AND_VALUE requests validation of the message content and values. This option belongs to Group 2: Validation Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_VALUE
```
public static final int VALIDATE_VALUE
```
  VALIDATE_VALUE requests validation of the message values. This option belongs to Group 2: Validation Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_CONTENT
```
public static final int VALIDATE_CONTENT
```
  VALIDATE_CONTENT requests validation of the message content. This option belongs to Group 2: Validation Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_NONE
```
public static final int VALIDATE_NONE
```
  VALIDATE_NONE requests no validation is performed. This option belongs to Group 2: Validation Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_EXCEPTIONLIST
```
public static final int VALIDATE_EXCEPTIONLIST
```
  VALIDATE_EXCEPTIONLIST requests validation failures are sent to the ExceptionList. This option belongs to Group 3: Validation Failure Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_EXCEPTION
```
public static final int VALIDATE_EXCEPTION
```
  VALIDATE_EXCEPTION requests validation failures are thrown as an exception. This option belongs to Group 3: Validation Failure Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_LOCAL_ERROR
```
public static final int VALIDATE_LOCAL_ERROR
```
  VALIDATE_LOCAL_ERROR requests validation failures are logged. This option belongs to Group 3: Validation Failure Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_USERTRACE
```
public static final int VALIDATE_USERTRACE
```
  VALIDATE_USERTRACE requests validation failures are logged to UserTrace. This option belongs to Group 3: Validation Failure Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_COMPLETE
```
public static final int VALIDATE_COMPLETE
```
  VALIDATE_COMPLETE requests complete validation. This option belongs to Group 4: Validation Timing Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_IMMEDIATE
```
public static final int VALIDATE_IMMEDIATE
```
  VALIDATE_IMMEDIATE requests immediate validation. This option belongs to Group 4: Validation Timing Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values
- VALIDATE_DEFERRED
```
public static final int VALIDATE_DEFERRED
```
  VALIDATE_DEFERRED requests deferred validation. This option belongs to Group 4: Validation Timing Options.
  
  See Also:
  
  Constant Field Values

Method Detail

isReadOnly
```
public boolean isReadOnly()
```
Returns true if this element is part of the message that is read only.

createElementAfter
```
public MbElement createElementAfter(int type)
                             throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element and inserts it after this element. The new element becomes the next sibling of this element and shares the same parent. Do not use this method when creating a message body folder (such as XML, XMLNS, MRM, MIME, BLOB). This method should be used only when the message body folder has been created. To create the message body folder, use createElementAfter(parserName)
Parameters:
type - The type of syntax element to be created. This must be either a valid specific type value for the associated parser or one of the following generic types:
- TYPE_NAME
- TYPE_VALUE
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementAfter
```
public MbElement createElementAfter(java.lang.String parserName)
                             throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element, inserts it after this element, and associates it with the specified parser class name. The new element becomes the next sibling of this element and shares the same parent.
The portion of the syntax element tree that is owned by the parser may only have its effective root at the first generation of elements (that is, as immediate children of root). The user-defined node interface does not restrict the ability to create a subtree that appears to be owned by a different parser. However, it is not possible to serialize these element trees into a bit stream when outputting a message.

Parameters:

parserName - The name of the parser class. The supplied parser constants give values for some of the IBM supplied parsers. For example, MbBLOB.PARSER_NAME.

Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementAfter
```
public MbElement createElementAfter(int type,
                                    java.lang.String name,
                                    java.lang.Object value)
                             throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element and inserts it after this element. The new element becomes the next sibling of this element and shares the same parent. Do not use this method when creating a message body folder (such as XML, XMLNS, MRM, MIME, BLOB). This method should be used only when the message body folder has been created. To create the message body folder, use createElementAfter(parserName)
Parameters:
type - The type of syntax element to be created. This must be either a valid specific type value for the associated parser or one of the following generic types:
- TYPE_NAME
- TYPE_VALUE
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
name - The name of the new element.
value - The value of the new element as a Java Object. This must be one of the types:
- MbDate
- MbTime
- MbTimestamp
- Boolean
- byte[]
- String
- Integer
- Double
- BitSet
Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementBefore
```
public MbElement createElementBefore(int type)
                              throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element and inserts it before this element. The new element becomes the previous sibling of this element and shares the same parent. Do not use this method when creating a message body folder (such as XML, XMLNS, MRM, MIME, BLOB). This method should be used only when the message body folder has been created. To create the message body folder, use createElementBefore(parserName)
Parameters:
type - The type of syntax element to be created. This must be either a valid specific type value for the associated parser or one of the following generic types:
- TYPE_NAME
- TYPE_VALUE
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementBefore
```
public MbElement createElementBefore(java.lang.String parserName)
                              throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element, inserts it before this element, and associates it with the specified parser class name. The new element becomes the previous sibling of this element and shares the same parent.
The portion of the syntax element tree that is owned by the parser may only have its effective root at the first generation of elements (that is, as immediate children of root). The user-defined node interface does not restrict the ability to create a subtree that appears to be owned by a different parser. However, it is not possible to serialize these element trees into a bit stream when outputting a message.

Parameters:

parserName - The name of the parser class. The supplied parser constants give values for some of the IBM supplied parsers. For example, MbBLOB.PARSER_NAME.

Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementBefore
```
public MbElement createElementBefore(int type,
                                     java.lang.String name,
                                     java.lang.Object value)
                              throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element and inserts it before this element. The new element becomes the previous sibling of this element and shares the same parent. Do not use this method when creating a message body folder (such as XML, XMLNS, MRM, MIME, BLOB). This method should be used only when the message body folder has been created. To create the message body folder, use createElementBefore(parserName)
Parameters:
type - The type of syntax element to be created. This must be either a valid specific type value for the associated parser or one of the following generic types:
- TYPE_NAME
- TYPE_VALUE
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
name - The name of the new element.
value - The value of the new element as a Java Object. This must be one of the types:
- MbDate
- MbTime
- MbTimestamp
- Boolean
- byte[]
- String
- Integer
- Double
- BitSet
Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementAsFirstChild
```
public MbElement createElementAsFirstChild(int type)
                                    throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element as the first child of this element. Do not use this method when creating a message body folder (such as XML, XMLNS, MRM, MIME, BLOB). This method should be used only when the message body folder has been created. To create the message body folder, use createElementAsFirstChild(parserName)
Parameters:
type - The type of syntax element to be created. This must be either a valid specific type value for the associated parser or one of the following generic types:
- TYPE_NAME
- TYPE_VALUE
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementAsFirstChild
```
public MbElement createElementAsFirstChild(java.lang.String parserName)
                                    throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element as the first child of this element, and associates it with the specified parser class name.
The portion of the syntax element tree that is owned by the parser may only have its effective root at the first generation of elements (that is, as immediate children of root). The user-defined node interface does not restrict the ability to create a subtree that appears to be owned by a different parser. However, it is not possible to serialize these element trees into a bit stream when outputting a message.

Parameters:

parserName - The name of the parser class. The supplied parser constants give values for some of the IBM supplied parsers. For example, MbBLOB.PARSER_NAME.

Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementAsFirstChild
```
public MbElement createElementAsFirstChild(int type,
                                           java.lang.String name,
                                           java.lang.Object value)
                                    throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element as the first child of this element. Do not use this method when creating a message body folder (such as XML, XMLNS, MRM, MIME, BLOB). This method should be used only when the message body folder has been created. To create the message body folder, use createElementAsFirstChild(parserName)
Parameters:
type - The type of syntax element to be created. This must be either a valid specific type value for the associated parser or one of the following generic types:
- TYPE_NAME
- TYPE_VALUE
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
name - The name of the new element.
value - The value of the new element as a Java Object. This must be one of the types:
- MbDate
- MbTime
- MbTimestamp
- Boolean
- byte[]
- String
- Integer
- Double
- BitSet
Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementAsLastChild
```
public MbElement createElementAsLastChild(int type)
                                   throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element as the last child of this element. Do not use this method when creating a message body folder (such as XML, XMLNS, MRM, MIME, BLOB). This method should be used only when the message body folder has been created. To create the message body folder, use createElementAsLastChild(parserName)
Parameters:
type - The type of syntax element to be created. This must be either a valid specific type value for the associated parser or one of the following generic types:
- TYPE_NAME
- TYPE_VALUE
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementAsLastChild
```
public MbElement createElementAsLastChild(java.lang.String parserName)
                                   throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element as the last child of this element, and associates it with the specified parser class name.
The portion of the syntax element tree that is owned by the parser may only have its effective root at the first generation of elements (that is, as immediate children of root). The user-defined node interface does not restrict the ability to create a subtree that appears to be owned by a different parser. However, it is not possible to serialize these element trees into a bit stream when outputting a message.

Parameters:

parserName - The name of the parser class. The supplied parser constants give values for some of the IBM supplied parsers. For example, MbBLOB.PARSER_NAME.

Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

createElementAsLastChild
```
public MbElement createElementAsLastChild(int type,
                                          java.lang.String name,
                                          java.lang.Object value)
                                   throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element as the last child of this element. Do not use this method when creating a message body folder (such as XML, XMLNS, MRM, MIME, BLOB). This method should be used only when the message body folder has been created. To create the message body folder, use createElementAsLastChild(parserName)
Parameters:
type - The type of syntax element to be created. This must be either a valid specific type value for the associated parser or one of the following generic types:
- TYPE_NAME
- TYPE_VALUE
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
name - The name of the new element.
value - The value of the new element as a Java Object. This must be one of the types:
- MbDate
- MbTime
- MbTimestamp
- Boolean
- byte[]
- String
- Integer
- Double
- BitSet
Returns:

The new element.

Throws:

MbException

getName
```
public java.lang.String getName()
                         throws MbException
```
Returns the name of the element.

Returns:

The name of the element.

Throws:

MbException

setName
```
public void setName(java.lang.String name)
             throws MbException
```
Sets the name of the element, any previous name is overwritten.

Parameters:

name - The new name of the element.

Throws:

MbException

getNamespace
```
public java.lang.String getNamespace()
                              throws MbException
```
Returns the namespace URI of the element.

Returns:

The namespace URI of the element.

Throws:

MbException

setNamespace
```
public void setNamespace(java.lang.String namespace)
                  throws MbException
```
Sets the namespace URI of the element, any previous namespace is overwritten.

Parameters:

namespace - The new namespace URI of the element.

Throws:

MbException

getType
```
public int getType()
            throws MbException
```
Gets the generic type of the element. Values are:
- TYPE_NAME
- TYPE_VALUE
- TYPE_NAME_VALUE
- TYPE_UNKNOWN
Returns:

Element type.

Throws:

MbException

getParserContext
```
public int getParserContext()
                     throws MbException
```
Deprecated. getSpecificType() should be used instead.

Gets parser specific information for this element. In the 'C' interface this is refered to as the Specific Type.

Returns:

Parser specific information for this element

Throws:

MbException

getSpecificType
```
public int getSpecificType()
                    throws MbException
```
Returns the full type information of this element including the parser specific type.

Returns:

The full parser specific type of this element

Throws:

MbException

setSpecificType
```
public void setSpecificType(int type)
                     throws MbException
```
Sets the full type information for this element including the parser specific type. Knowledge of type values for the parser is required to use this method. Type values for the generic XML parsers are given in the MbXML, MbXMLNS and MbXMLNSC classes.

Parameters:

type - The full parser specific type for this element

Throws:

MbException

getValue
```
public java.lang.Object getValue()
                          throws MbException
```
Gets the value of the element as a java Object. This can be one of the types:
- MbDate
- MbTime
- MbTimestamp
- Boolean
- byte[]
- String
- Integer 32-bit values.
- Long 64-bit values.
- Double
- BigDecimal
- BitSet
Returns:

Java object representing the value of the element.

Throws:

MbException

getValueAsString
```
public java.lang.String getValueAsString()
                                  throws MbException
```
Gets the value of the element as a java String.

Returns:

Java String representing the value of the element.

Throws:

MbException

setValue
```
public void setValue(java.lang.Object value)
              throws MbException
```
Sets the value of the element as a java Object. This can be one of the types:
- MbDate
- MbTime
- MbTimestamp
- Boolean
- byte[]
- String
- Integer 32-bit values.
- Long 64-bit values.
- Double
- BigDecimal
- BitSet
An exception is thrown if the Object is not one of these types. An exception is also thrown if a BigDecimal value with more than 31 significant figures is passed into this method. The user should use one of the BigDecimal's rounding modes if necessary to avoid this.
Parameters:

value - The java Object representing the value of the element.

Throws:

MbException

getValueState
```
public int getValueState()
                  throws MbException
```
Gets the state of the value of the element. Return values are:
- VALUE_STATE_UNDEFINED
- VALUE_STATE_VALID
- VALUE_STATE_INVALID
Returns:

The state of the value.

Throws:

MbException

getParserClassName
```
public java.lang.String getParserClassName()
                                    throws MbException
```
Gets the name of the parser associated with the element.

Returns:

The name of the parser, or null of there is no associated parser.

Throws:

MbException

getParent
```
public MbElement getParent()
                    throws MbException
```
Returns the syntax element representing the parent of this element.

Returns:

The parent MbElement

Throws:

MbException

getNextSibling
```
public MbElement getNextSibling()
                         throws MbException
```
Returns the syntax element representing the next sibling (right sibling) of this element.

Returns:

The next sibling MbElement.

Throws:

MbException

getPreviousSibling
```
public MbElement getPreviousSibling()
                             throws MbException
```
Returns the syntax element representing the previous sibling (left sibling) of this element.

Returns:

The previous sibling MbElement.

Throws:

MbException

getFirstChild
```
public MbElement getFirstChild()
                        throws MbException
```
Returns the syntax element representing the first child of this element.

Returns:

The first child of the element.

Throws:

MbException

getLastChild
```
public MbElement getLastChild()
                       throws MbException
```
Returns the syntax element representing the last child of this element.

Returns:

The last child of the element.

Throws:

MbException

evaluateXPath
```
public java.lang.Object evaluateXPath(java.lang.String expression)
                               throws MbException
```
Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node. The return type depends on the expression and can be one of:
- Boolean
- Double
- String
- java.util.List of MbElement objects representing an XPath 1.0 nodeset
Parameters:

expression - The XPath 1.0 expression.

Throws:

MbException - - An exception was thrown during the compilation of the expression.

evaluateXPath
```
public java.lang.Object evaluateXPath(java.lang.String expression,
                                      MbNamespaceBindings namespaceBindings)
                               throws MbException
```
Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node. The return type depends on the expression and can be one of:
- Boolean
- Double
- String
- java.util.List of MbElement objects representing an XPath 1.0 nodeset
If the expression contains location steps with namespace prefixes, the mapping of these prefixes to namespace URIs must be supplied. This is done with the namespaceBindings parameter. The MbNamespaceBindings object must have an entry for each prefix used in the XPath expression.
Parameters:

expression - The XPath 1.0 expression.

namespaceBindings - Associated object containing the namespace prefix to URI mappings for this expression.

Throws:

MbException - - An exception was thrown during the compilation of the expression.

evaluateXPath
```
public java.lang.Object evaluateXPath(java.lang.String expression,
                                      MbXPathVariables xpathVariables)
                               throws MbException
```
Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node. The return type depends on the expression and can be one of:
- Boolean
- Double
- String
- java.util.List of MbElement objects representing an XPath 1.0 nodeset
If the expression contains variable references, these variables must be assigned values. This is done with the xpathVariables parameter. The MbXPathVariables object must have an entry for each variable used in the XPath expression.
Parameters:

expression - The XPath 1.0 expression.

xpathVariables - Associated object containing the variable bindings for this expression.

Throws:

MbException - - An exception was thrown during the compilation of the expression.

evaluateXPath
```
public java.lang.Object evaluateXPath(java.lang.String expression,
                                      MbNamespaceBindings namespaceBindings,
                                      MbXPathVariables xpathVariables)
                               throws MbException
```
Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node. The return type depends on the expression and can be one of:
- Boolean
- Double
- String
- java.util.List of MbElement objects representing an XPath 1.0 nodeset
If the expression contains location steps with namespace prefixes, the mapping of these prefixes to namespace URIs must be supplied. This is done with the namespaceBindings parameter. The MbNamespaceBindings object must have an entry for each prefix used in the XPath expression.
If the expression contains variable references, these variables must be assigned values. This is done with the xpathVariables parameter. The MbXPathVariables object must have an entry for each variable used in the XPath expression.
Parameters:

expression - The XPath 1.0 expression.

namespaceBindings - Associated object containing the namespace prefix to URI mappings for this expression.

xpathVariables - Associated object containing the variable bindings for this expression.

Throws:

MbException - - An exception was thrown during the compilation of the expression.

evaluateXPath
```
public java.lang.Object evaluateXPath(MbXPath xpath)
                               throws MbException
```
Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node. The return type depends on the expression and can be one of:
- Boolean
- Double
- String
- java.util.List of MbElement objects representing an XPath 1.0 nodeset
Parameters:

xpath - The MbXPath object representing the XPath 1.0 expression.

Throws:

MbException - - An exception was thrown during the compilation of the expression.

evaluateXPath
```
public java.lang.Object evaluateXPath(MbXPath xpath,
                                      MbXPathVariables xpathVariables)
                               throws MbException
```
Evaluates the XPath 1.0 expression with the current element as the context node. The return type depends on the expression and can be one of:
- Boolean
- Double
- String
- java.util.List of MbElement objects representing an XPath 1.0 nodeset
If the expression contains variable references, these variables must be assigned values. This is done with the xpathVariables parameter. The MbXPathVariables object must have an entry for each variable used in the XPath expression.
Parameters:

xpath - The MbXPath object representing the XPath 1.0 expression.

xpathVariables - Associated object containing the variable bindings for this expression.

Throws:

MbException - - An exception was thrown during the compilation of the expression.

getFirstElementByPath
```
public MbElement getFirstElementByPath(java.lang.String path)
                                throws MbException
```
Gets the first element matching the path specification.
The format of the path specification is the same as that described in getAllElementsByPath except that the descendant separator ('//') is not supported. This method returns the first element matched by the path specification only and is intended for use when you know the exact unique path to an element in the tree. In this case, this method is far more efficient than calling getAllElementsByPath and selecting the first element from the array.
Example paths:

item select the first child element named 'item' of the current element.
/MQMD/ReplyToQ select the element representing the reply-to queue in the MQMD header.

Returns:

The element specified by the path

Throws:

MbException

getAllElementsByPath

public MbElement[] getAllElementsByPath(java.lang.String path)
                                 throws MbException

Deprecated. Path selection should be done using the XPath 1.0 methods.

Get all the elements matching the path specification

The path is a list of steps separated by a slash '/' character. Each step moves the selection pointer further into the element tree using the following rules:

name	selects all children of the current element whose name attribute is name.
*	selects all children of the current element.
.	selects the current element.
..	selects the parent of the current element.

The steps can also be separated by a double slash ('//'), which causes all descendants of the current node to be searched rather than just the children. Descendants are children, children of children and so on.

Paths are relative to the current element unless they start with a /, in which case they are absolute (that is, they are relative to the root element of the message).

Examples: (click on (xml...) to show the result on an XML message)

`item`	selects all the child elements named 'item' of the current element. (xml...)
`order/item`	selects all grandchildren named 'item' that have a parent named 'order'. (xml...)
`../item`	selects all siblings named 'item' (children of the parent). (xml...)
`order//item`	selects all 'item' descendants of all children named 'order'. (xml...)
`order/*`	selects all the children of all children named 'order'. (xml...)
`//item`	selects all elements named 'item' in the whole message. (xml...)
`.//item`	selects all elements named 'item' which are descendants of the current element. (xml...)
`/MQMD/ReplyToQ`	select the element representing the reply-to queue in the MQMD header.

Returns:: An array of all elements matched by the path specification.
Throws:: MbException

addAfter
```
public void addAfter(MbElement element)
              throws MbException
```
Adds an unattached syntax element after this element. The currently unattached syntax element, and any child elements it might possess, is connected to the syntax element tree after the target (this) element. The newly added element becomes the next sibling of this element. The target (this) element must be attached to a tree (that is, it must have a parent element).

Parameters:

element - The currently unattached element to be added.

Throws:

MbException

addBefore
```
public void addBefore(MbElement element)
               throws MbException
```
Adds an unattached syntax element before this element. The currently unattached syntax element, and any child elements it might possess, is connected to the syntax element tree before the target (this) element. The newly added element becomes the previous sibling of this element. The target (this) element must be attached to a tree (that is, it must have a parent element).

Parameters:

element - The currently unattached element to be added.

Throws:

MbException

addAsFirstChild
```
public void addAsFirstChild(MbElement element)
                     throws MbException
```
Adds an unattached syntax element as the first of this element. The currently unattached syntax element, and any child elements it might possess, is connected to the syntax element tree as the first child of the target (this) element. The target (this) element need not be attached.

Parameters:

element - The currently unattached element to be added.

Throws:

MbException

addAsLastChild
```
public void addAsLastChild(MbElement element)
                    throws MbException
```
Adds an unattached syntax element as the last of this element. The currently unattached syntax element, and any child elements it might possess, is connected to the syntax element tree as the last child of the target (this) element. The target (this) element need not be attached.

Parameters:

element - The currently unattached element to be added.

Throws:

MbException

copy

public MbElement copy()
               throws MbException

Throws:: MbException

copyElementTree
```
public void copyElementTree(MbElement element)
                     throws MbException
```
Copies the element tree from the element passed as an argument to the current element. Only the child elements of the source element are copied. Before the copy is performed, all existing child elements of the target (this) element are deleted, to be replaced by the child elements of the source element.

Parameters:

element - Source element for copy.

Throws:

MbException

detach
```
public void detach()
            throws MbException
```
Detaches this element from the syntax element tree. The element is detached from its parent and siblings, but any child elements are left attached. Calling detach on the root element of a message or an element that is already detached will have no effect.

Throws:

MbException

delete
```
public void delete()
            throws MbException
```
Detaches and destroys a portion of a message tree, allowing its memory to be reused. This method is particularly useful when handling very large messages.

Throws:

MbException

is
```
public boolean is(MbElement comparisonElement)
```
is: Returns true if the MbElement actually refers to the same element in the logical message tree.

Parameters:

comparisonElement - The element being compared.

Returns:

The boolean indicating if they are the same.

toBitstream
```
public byte[] toBitstream(java.lang.String messageType,
                          java.lang.String messageSet,
                          java.lang.String messageFormat,
                          int encoding,
                          int ccsid,
                          int options)
                   throws MbException
```
Returns the bit stream representation of the element. This method causes the parser associated with the element to serialize the element and all its children. This method can only be called on the message body, i.e. the last child of the message root.

Parameters:

messageType - The message type definition used to create the bit stream from the element tree. A value of null will cause this parameter to be ignored.

messageSet - The message set definition used to create the bit stream from the element tree. A value of null will cause this parameter to be ignored.

messageFormat - The message format definition used to create the bit stream from the element tree. A value of null will cause this parameter to be ignored.

encoding - The encoding to use when writing the bit stream. A special value of 0 may be supplied to indicate that the queue manager's encoding should be used.

ccsid - The coded character set identifier to use when writing the bit stream. A special value of 0 may be supplied to indicate that the queue manager's ccsid should be used. A ccsid of -1 indicates that the bit stream is to be generated using ccsid information contained in the subtree consisting of the field pointed to by the element and its children. Currently no parsers support this option.

options - This parameter controls the validation options used when creating the bitstream. A value of 0 means no validation is to be performed. For a list of valid options see the VALIDATE_* constants defined in MbElement.

Returns:

The message bit stream.

Throws:

MbException

createElementAsLastChildFromBitstream
```
public MbElement createElementAsLastChildFromBitstream(byte[] bitstream,
                                                       java.lang.String parserName,
                                                       java.lang.String messageType,
                                                       java.lang.String messageSet,
                                                       java.lang.String messageFormat,
                                                       int encoding,
                                                       int ccsid,
                                                       int options)
                                                throws MbException
```
Creates a new syntax element tree as the last child of this element, and associates it with the specified parser. The new syntax element tree is populated by parsing the specified bit stream. This method can only be used to create a message body i.e. last child of message root.

Parameters:

bitstream - The bit stream to be parsed and added to the element tree.

parserName - The name of the parser class to use to parse the bit stream. The same parser must be used to parse the whole bit stream.

messageType - The message type definition used to create the element tree from the bit stream. A value of null will cause this parameter to be ignored.

messageSet - The message set definition used to create the element tree from the bit stream. A value of null will cause this parameter to be ignored.

messageFormat - The message format definition used to create the element tree from the bit stream. A value of null will cause this parameter to be ignored.

encoding - The encoding to use when parsing the bit stream. A special value of 0 may be supplied to indicate that the queue manager's encoding should be used.

ccsid - The coded character set identifier to use when parsing the bit stream. This parameter is mandatory. A special value of 0 may be supplied to indicate that the queue manager's ccsid should be used.

options - This parameter controls the validation options used when parsing the bitstream. A value of 0 means no validation is to be performed. For a list of valid options see the VALIDATE_* constants defined in MbElement.

Throws:

MbException

getDOMNode
```
public org.w3c.dom.Node getDOMNode()
                            throws MbException
```
Returns this MbElement as an instance of the org.w3c.dom.Node interface

Throws:

MbException

toString
```
public java.lang.String toString()
```
Returns a String representation of the MbElement. This string is for debug use only; its format is not guaranteed to stay the same between releases.

Overrides:

toString in class java.lang.Object

Returns:

String representing the element.

`item`	select the first child element named 'item' of the current element.
`/MQMD/ReplyToQ`	select the element representing the reply-to queue in the MQMD header.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

VALUE_STATE_UNDEFINED

VALUE_STATE_VALID

VALUE_STATE_INVALID

TYPE_UNKNOWN

TYPE_NAME

TYPE_VALUE

TYPE_NAME_VALUE

VALIDATE_ROOT_BITSTREAM

VALIDATE_CONTENT_AND_VALUE

VALIDATE_VALUE

VALIDATE_CONTENT

VALIDATE_NONE

VALIDATE_EXCEPTIONLIST

VALIDATE_EXCEPTION

VALIDATE_LOCAL_ERROR

VALIDATE_USERTRACE

VALIDATE_COMPLETE

VALIDATE_IMMEDIATE

VALIDATE_DEFERRED

isReadOnly

createElementAfter

createElementAfter

createElementAfter

createElementBefore

createElementBefore

createElementBefore

createElementAsFirstChild

createElementAsFirstChild

createElementAsFirstChild

createElementAsLastChild

createElementAsLastChild

createElementAsLastChild

getName

setName

getNamespace

setNamespace

getType

getParserContext

getSpecificType

setSpecificType

getValue

getValueAsString

setValue

getValueState

getParserClassName

getParent

getNextSibling

getPreviousSibling

getFirstChild

getLastChild

evaluateXPath

evaluateXPath

evaluateXPath

evaluateXPath

evaluateXPath

evaluateXPath

getFirstElementByPath

getAllElementsByPath

addAfter

addBefore

addAsFirstChild

addAsLastChild

copy

copyElementTree

detach

delete

is

toBitstream

createElementAsLastChildFromBitstream

getDOMNode

toString