Sometimes, we want to generate an XML document in-memory with JavaScript.

In this article, we’ll look at how to generate an XML document in-memory with JavaScript.

Generate an XML Document In-Memory with JavaScript

To generate an XML document in-memory with JavaScript, we can use varioud methods built into modern browsers.

For instance, we write:

const doc = document.implementation.createDocument(null, "report", null);

const submitterElement = doc.createElement("submitter");
const nameElement = doc.createElement("name");
const name = doc.createTextNode("John Doe");

nameElement.appendChild(name);
submitterElement.appendChild(nameElement);
doc.documentElement.appendChild(submitterElement);

console.log((new XMLSerializer()).serializeToString(doc))

We create an empty XML document with the document.implementation.createDocument method:

const doc = document.implementation.createDocument(null, "report", null);

Then we create a few nodes with the createElement method:

const submitterElement = doc.createElement("submitter");
const nameElement = doc.createElement("name");
const name = doc.createTextNode("John Doe");

Next, we call appendChild to append the name text node to the name element.

We append the nameElement to the submitterElement next.

And finally we append the submitterElement to the document root with:

nameElement.appendChild(name);
submitterElement.appendChild(nameElement);
doc.documentElement.appendChild(submitterElement);

Finally, we get the string version of the XML document and log it with:

console.log((new XMLSerializer()).serializeToString(doc))

Now we get:

<report>
   <submitter>
      <name>John Doe</name>
   </submitter>
</report>

logged into the console as a result.

Conclusion

To generate an XML document in-memory with JavaScript, we can use varioud methods built into modern browsers.