How to parse and create XML file using JDOM2 parser in Java ?

JDOM parser uses similar approach as DOM parser but is easier to use. JDOM used proprietary Apache APIs, so it tie you to a specific implementation that can evolve in time or lose backwards compatibility.

Parse XML file using JDOM parser

<?xml version = "1.0"?>    
<employees>
    <employee id="123">
        <firstname>John</firstname>
        <lastname>Carter</lastname>
    </employee>
    <employee id="124">
        <firstname>Jay</firstname>
        <lastname>Joseph</lastname>
    </employee>
    <employee id="125">
        <firstname>James</firstname>
        <lastname>Hogg</lastname>
    </employee>
</employees>
	

//JDOM2 parser
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.List;

import org.jdom2.Document;
import org.jdom2.Element;
import org.jdom2.JDOMException;
import org.jdom2.input.SAXBuilder;

public class TestJDOM2 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
       
        SAXBuilder builder = new SAXBuilder();
        File xmlFile = new File("c:\\employees.xml");  
        
        try {

            Document document = (Document) builder.build(xmlFile);
            Element rootNode = document.getRootElement();
            System.out.println("Root: " + rootNode.getName());
            
            List<Element> list = rootNode.getChildren("employee");
        
            for (int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++) {
                Element node = (Element) list.get(i);
                System.out.println("id : " + node.getAttributeValue("id"));
                System.out.println("First Name : " + node.getChildText("firstname"));
                System.out.println("Last Name : " + node.getChildText("lastname"));
            }
            
        } catch (IOException  e) {
         e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (JDOMException  e) {
         e.printStackTrace();
        } 
    }
}
	

Output :

Root: employees
id : 123
First Name : John
Last Name : Carter
id : 124
First Name : Jay
Last Name : Joseph
id : 125
First Name : James
Last Name : Hogg
	

Create XML using JDOM2

JDOM parser uses similar approach as DOM parser but is easier to use. JDOM used proprietary Apache APIs, so it tie you to a specific implementation that can evolve in time or lose backwards compatibility.

You can create XML file using JDOM parser as following:

<?xml version = "1.0"?>    
<employees>
    <employee id="1">
        <firstname>Mark</firstname>
        <lastname>Carter</lastname>
    </employee>
    <employee id="2">
        <firstname>James</firstname>
        <lastname>Joseph</lastname>
    </employee>
    <employee id="3">
        <firstname>John</firstname>
        <lastname>Hogg</lastname>
    </employee>
</employees>
	

//JDOM2 parser
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.IOException;

import org.jdom2.Attribute;
import org.jdom2.Document;
import org.jdom2.Element;
import org.jdom2.output.Format;
import org.jdom2.output.XMLOutputter;

public class JDOM2FileWriter {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
       
        try {
            Element employees = new Element("employees");
            Document doc = new Document(employees);

            Element employee = new Element("employee");
            employee.setAttribute(new Attribute("id", "1"));
            employee.addContent(new Element("firstname").setText("Mark"));
            employee.addContent(new Element("lastname").setText("Carter"));

            doc.getRootElement().addContent(employee);

            Element employee2 = new Element("employee");
            employee2.setAttribute(new Attribute("id", "2"));
            employee2.addContent(new Element("firstname").setText("James"));
            employee2.addContent(new Element("lastname").setText("Joseph"));
  		
            doc.getRootElement().addContent(employee2);
  		
            Element employee3 = new Element("employee");
            employee3.setAttribute(new Attribute("id", "3"));
            employee3.addContent(new Element("firstname").setText("John"));
            employee3.addContent(new Element("lastname").setText("Hogg"));

            doc.getRootElement().addContent(employee3);

            XMLOutputter xmlOutput = new XMLOutputter();

            xmlOutput.setFormat(Format.getPrettyFormat());
            xmlOutput.output(doc, new FileWriter("c:\\employees.xml"));
            
        } catch (IOException  e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } 
    }
}