How to output data in xml?

search and output data from an XML file using JavaScript

• I've got a set of data, which are names of places and their location which are saved in an XML file as follows: <row> <cell>name</cell> <cell>location</cell> </row> The data was extracted from a spreadsheet and then saved out into XML format. Now in the XML file there are thousands of rows, in this first instance we're looking at 5k+. Is it possible for me to search through this XML file using JavaScript, based on user input and then display this output on an HTML page? I also have to support IE6 (this is a BIG issue) I'm a total noob with regards to XML but can do a bit of JavaScript and JQuery! Is there an easier way to do this? I don't have the option of using a server side language nor can I use a database (weak I know). Thanks in advance.

• Answer:

  If you have the XML as a string then you should be able to wrap it into a jQuery object like so: var $myXML = $(myXMLString); Now you can use the jQuery methods for traversal and searching. For example, search for 'smith' in your cells: var $matches = $myXML.find("cell:contains('smith')"); //'smith' being your user input Your XML doesn't appear to have any metadata, so we can't limit the search to a particular field. If your cells had a 'fieldname' for example: <row> <cell fieldname='name'>name</cell> <cell fieldname='location'>location</cell> </row> then you could use this: var $matches = $myXML.find("cell[fieldname='name']:contains(smith)"); See an example at http://jsfiddle.net/JMeYu/ EDIT I've made this a little more sophisticated: var $myXML = $(myXMLString); var $rowMatches = $myXML.filter(function(){ var $cellMatches = $(this).find("cell:contains('smith')"); return $cellMatches.length > 0; }); alert($rowMatches.length); (Also at http://jsfiddle.net/JMeYu/1/) Now in your $rowMatches you will have the rows that match your query. The filter function contains a filter for your name. You can try turning this into an array using the $.makeArray() function, or you could iterate over the collection using the .each() function on the collection. Either way, you should be able to access the other fields in the row.