Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; import org.w3c.dom.Document; import org.w3c.dom.Element; import org.w3c.dom.NodeList; public class Main { public static Element getElementWithKeyFromObject(final Object xmlObject, final String key) { Element result = null; if (xmlObject instanceof Document) { result = getElementWithKeyFromDocument((Document) xmlObject, key); } else if (xmlObject instanceof Element) { result = getElementWithKeyFromElement((Element) xmlObject, key); } return result; } public static Element getElementWithKeyFromDocument(final Document document, final String key) { final NodeList nodeList = document.getElementsByTagName(key); Element result = null; if (nodeList.getLength() > 0) { result = (Element) nodeList.item(0); } return result; } public static Element getElementWithKeyFromElement(final Element element, final String key) { final NodeList nodeList = element.getElementsByTagName(key); Element result = null; if (nodeList.getLength() > 0) { result = (Element) nodeList.item(0); } return result; } }