Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; import org.w3c.dom.Element; import org.w3c.dom.Node; import org.w3c.dom.NodeList; public class Main { /** * Determine whether a single child is available of a particular type. * @return true if the specified child element is present * @throws Exception if the child is present multiple times. */ public static boolean hasChild(Element element, String child) throws Exception { NodeList nodes = element.getChildNodes(); Element ret = null; for (int i = 0; i < nodes.getLength(); i++) { Node childNode = nodes.item(i); if (childNode.getNodeName().equals(child) && childNode.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE) { if (ret != null) { throw new Exception("Child element '" + child + "' present multiple times"); } else { ret = (Element) childNode; } } } return ret != null; } }