XML in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Name

compareDocumentPosition: other(3)

Synopsis

Compares the relative position of the node on which the method is invoked with the position of the other node. The return value is a bit mask that indicates the relative position between the two nodes in document order. The following table lists the bit mask members and their meanings:

Constant name	Value	Meaning
DOCUMENT_POSITION_DISCONNECTED	0x01	The two nodes are disconnected (do not share a common container ancestor) and cannot be compared.
DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING	0x02	The other node precedes the target node within the document.
DOCUMENT_POSITION_FOLLOWING	0x04	The other node follows the target node.
DOCUMENT_POSITION_CONTAINS	0x08	The other node contains the target node.
DOCUMENT_POSITION_CONTAINED_BY	0x010	The other node is contained by the target node.
DOCUMENT_POSITION_IMPLEMENTATION_SPECIFIC	0x020	The relative positions are implementation-specific, such as in the case of disconnected nodes.

Argument

other: Node

The other node to use in the position comparison.

Exception

NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR

Raised if the two nodes are from incompatible DOM implementations and their relative positions cannot be determined.

Java binding

public static final short DOCUMENT_POSITION_DISCONNECTED = 0x01; public static final short DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING = 0x02; public static final short DOCUMENT_POSITION_FOLLOWING = 0x04; public static final short DOCUMENT_POSITION_CONTAINS = 0x08; public static final short DOCUMENT_POSITION_CONTAINED_BY = 0x10; public static final short ...