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<!--
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* domapi.html
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*
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* Authors: Jivka Bojilova
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* Copyright: 2000 Regents of the University of California and the
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* National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
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* For Details: http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/
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* Created: 2000 April 5
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* Version: 0.01
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* File Info: '$Id$'
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*
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* October Meeting SDSC, 2000
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-->
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<TITLE>Metacat</TITLE>
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="@docrooturl@default.css">
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<table width="100%">
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<tr>
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<td class="tablehead" colspan="2"><p class="label">Document Object
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Model (DOM)</p></td>
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<td class="tablehead" colspan="2" align="right">
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<a href="./xmltree.html">Back</a> | <a href="./metacattour.html">Home</a> |
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<a href="./metacat.html">Next</a>
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</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<P> The Document Object Model (DOM) is an
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application programming interface (API) that defines the logical structure
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of HTML and XML documents. It provides interfaces for accessing and
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manipulating of documents. With DOM, programmers can build documents,
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navigate their structure, and add, modify, or delete elements and content.
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Anything found in an HTML or XML document can be accessed, changed, deleted,
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or added using DOM. The DOM presents documents as a hierarchy of
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Node objects.
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<P> <img alt="tree representation of the DOM API" src="domapi.gif">
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<P> The name "Document Object Model" was chosen because it is an
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"object model" in the traditional object oriented design sense: documents
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are modeled using objects, and the model encompasses not only the structure
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of a document, but also the behavior of a document and the objects of which
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it is composed. In other words, the nodes in the above diagram do not
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represent a data structure, they represent objects, which have functions
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and identity. As an object model, the DOM identifies:<br>
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<ul>
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<li>the interfaces and objects used to represent and manipulate a document</li>
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<li>the semantics of these interfaces and objects - including both behavior
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and attributes </li>
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<li>the relationships and collaborations among these interfaces and
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objects</li>
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</ul>
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<P> The DOM specifies interfaces which may be used to manage XML or HTML
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documents. It is important to realize that these interfaces are an abstraction
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- much like "abstract base classes" in C++, they are a means of specifying a
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way to access and manipulate an application's internal representation of a
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document. Interfaces do not imply a particular concrete implementation.
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<b>Each DOM application is free to maintain documents in any convenient
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representation, as long as the interfaces shown in this specification are
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supported. </b>
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<P> The DOM is designed to be used with any programming language. In order
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to provide a precise, language-independent specification of the DOM
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interfaces, W3C have chosen to define the specifications in Object Management
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Group (OMG) IDL [OMGIDL]. They provide language bindings for Java [Java] and
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ECMAScript [ECMAScript] (an industry-standard scripting language based on
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JavaScript [JavaScript] and JScript [JScript]).
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<br>
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<a href="./xmltree.html">Back</a> | <a href="./metacattour.html">Home</a> |
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<a href="./metacat.html">Next</a>
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</BODY>
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</HTML>
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