Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; import org.w3c.dom.*; public class Main { /** * Gets data from an xml element node * @param e * @param returnOnNull * @return */ public static String getDataFromElement(Element e, String... returnOnNull) { assert returnOnNull.length <= 1; String nullValue = returnOnNull.length > 0 ? returnOnNull[0] : "?"; Node child = e.getFirstChild(); if (child instanceof CharacterData) { CharacterData cd = (CharacterData) child; return cd.getData(); } return nullValue; } }