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(python2.1-lib.info)DOM objects

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DOM objects
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The definition of the DOM API for Python is given as part of the
`xml.dom' module documentation.  This section lists the differences
between the API and `xml.dom.minidom'.

`unlink()'
     Break internal references within the DOM so that it will be garbage
     collected on versions of Python without cyclic GC.  Even when
     cyclic GC is available, using this can make large amounts of
     memory available sooner, so calling this on DOM objects as soon as
     they are no longer needed is good practice.  This only needs to be
     called on the `Document' object, but may be called on child nodes
     to discard children of that node.

`writexml(writer)'
     Write XML to the writer object.  The writer should have a
     `write()' method which matches that of the file object interface.

`toxml()'
     Return the XML that the DOM represents as a string.

The following standard DOM methods have special considerations with
`xml.dom.minidom':

`cloneNode(deep)'
     Although this method was present in the version of
     `xml.dom.minidom' packaged with Python 2.0, it was seriously
     broken.  This has been corrected for subsequent releases.