Java Utililty Methods XML Node Parent

Element getFirstElement(Node element)
Gets the first element amongst children.

NodeList childNodes = element.getChildNodes();
for (int i = 0; i < childNodes.getLength(); i++) {
 Node item = childNodes.item(i);
 if (item instanceof Element) {
 return (Element) item;
return null;
...

Element getFirstElement(Node node, String namespace, String name)
Get the first element matched with the given namespace and name.

NodeList children = node.getChildNodes();
if (children == null)
 return null;
for (int i = 0; i < children.getLength(); i++) {
 try {
 Element child = (Element) children.item(i);
 if (name.equals(getElementLocalName(child)) && namespace.equals(getElementNamespaceURI(child))) {
 return child;
...

Node getFirstElement(Node xml)
get First Element

if (Node.DOCUMENT_NODE == xml.getNodeType()) {
 xml = xml.getFirstChild();
if (Optional.ofNullable(xml.getNamespaceURI()).orElse("").trim().equals("")) {
 throw new IllegalArgumentException("Namespace URI cannot be null!");
return xml;

Element getFirstElementByTagName(Node node, String tagName)
get First Element By Tag Name

ArrayList<Element> elements = getElementsByTagName(node, tagName);
if (!elements.isEmpty())
 return elements.get(0);
return null;

Element getFirstElementByTagName(Node node, String tagName)
get First Element By Tag Name

for (int i = 0; i < node.getChildNodes().getLength(); i++) {
 Node n = node.getChildNodes().item(i);
 if (n.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE && n.getNodeName().equals(tagName)) {
 return (Element) n;
return null;

Node getFirstElementWithTagName(Node node, String element)
Returns the first child element found with the specified tag name

if (node != null && element != null) {
 NodeList nl = node.getChildNodes();
 for (int i = 0; i < nl.getLength(); i++) {
 Node n = nl.item(i);
 if (n.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE && n.getNodeName().equals(element))
 return n;
return null;

Node getFirstNamedNode(Node node, String name)
get First Named Node

if (node.getNodeName().equalsIgnoreCase(name))
 return node;
else {
 NodeList list = node.getChildNodes();
 for (int i = 0, len = list.getLength(); i < len; i++) {
 Node n = getFirstNamedNode(list.item(i), name);
 if (n != null)
 return n;
...

Node getFirstNodeByName(Node root, String tagName)
get First Node By Name

NodeList nodes;
nodes = root.getChildNodes();
for (int i = 0; i < nodes.getLength(); i++) {
 Node n = nodes.item(i);
 if (n.getNodeName().equals(tagName)) {
 return n;
return null;

Node getFirstValidNode(Node node)
get First Valid Node

NodeList children = node.getChildNodes();
for (int i = 0; i < children.getLength(); i++) {
 if (isValidNode(children.item(i)))
 return children.item(i);
return null;

Element getParent(Element elem)
get Parent

Node parent = elem.getParentNode();
if (parent instanceof Element)
 return (Element) parent;
return null;