using the setAttribute method with int value

Question

I am trying to pass a int value into the setAttribute method but I am getting an error that says

incompatible types int cannot be converted to string

How do I go about this problem without messing up my code?

I have tried to parse the string into a int

public class DAOxml implements DAOInterface {

    private Document doc;

    @Override
    public void addWatch(DTOwatch dtoWatch) {
        doc = getDOMDocument();
        Element root = doc.getDocumentElement();

        Element watch = doc.createElement("watch");
        watch.setAttribute("ID", dtoWatch.id);

        Element imageText = doc.createElement("imageText");
        imageText.setTextContent(dtoWatch.imageText);

        Element imageUrl = doc.createElement("imageUrl");
        imageUrl.setTextContent(dtoWatch.imageUrl);

        Element likes = doc.createElement("likes");
        likes.setTextContent(String.valueOf(dtoWatch.likes));

        Element dislikes = doc.createElement("dislikes");
        dislikes.setTextContent(String.valueOf(dtoWatch.dislikes));

        watch.appendChild(imageText);
        watch.appendChild(imageUrl);
        watch.appendChild(likes);
        watch.appendChild(dislikes);
        root.appendChild(watch);
        writeToXML(doc);
    }

    @Override
    public void deleteWatch(String ID) {
        doc = getDOMDocument();
        Element root = doc.getDocumentElement();
        NodeList nodeList = root.getElementsByTagName("watch");
        String sokID;

        for (int i = 0; i < nodeList.getLength(); i++) {
            Element watch = (Element) nodeList.item(i);
            if (watch.hasAttributes()) {
                sokID = watch.getAttribute("ID");
                if (sokID.equalsIgnoreCase(ID)) {
                    root.removeChild(watch);
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
        writeToXML(doc);
    }

    @Override
    public void updateWatch(DTOwatch dtoWatch) {
        doc = getDOMDocument();
        Element root = doc.getDocumentElement();
        NodeList nodeList = root.getElementsByTagName("mobil");
        String sokID;

        for (int i = 0; i < nodeList.getLength(); i++) {
            Element watch = (Element) nodeList.item(i);
            if (watch.hasAttributes()) {
                sokID = watch.getAttribute("ID");
                if (sokID.equalsIgnoreCase(dtoWatch.id)) {
                    watch.getElementsByTagName("imageText").item(0).setTextContent(dtoWatch.imageText);
                    watch.getElementsByTagName("imageUrl").item(0).setTextContent(dtoWatch.imageUrl);
                    watch.getElementsByTagName("likes").item(0).setTextContent(String.valueOf(dtoWatch.likes));
                    watch.getElementsByTagName("dislikes").item(0).setTextContent(String.valueOf(dtoWatch.dislikes));
                    break;

                }
            }
        }
        writeToXML(doc);
    }

    @Override
    public List<DTOwatch> getWatch() {
        List<DTOwatch> watch = new ArrayList<>();
        doc = getDOMDocument();
        Element root = doc.getDocumentElement();
        NodeList nodeList = root.getElementsByTagName("watch");
        System.out.println(nodeList.getLength());

        for (int i = 0; i < nodeList.getLength(); i++) {
            Element watch = (Element) nodeList.item(i);

            DTOwatch dtoWatch = new DTOwatch();
            if (watch.hasAttributes()) {
                String ID = watch.getAttribute("ID");
                dtoWatch.id = id;
            }

            dtoWatch.imageText = watch.getElementsByTagName("imageText").item(0).getTextContent();
            dtoWatch.imageUrl = watch.getElementsByTagName("imageUrl;").item(0).getTextContent();
            dtoWatch.likes = Integer.parseInt(watch.getElementsByTagName("likes").item(0).getTextContent());
            dtoWatch.dislikes = Integer.parseInt(watch.getElementsByTagName("dislikes").item(0).getTextContent());
            watch.add(dtoWatch);
        }
        return watch;
    }

    private Document getDOMDocument() {

        try {
            DocumentBuilderFactory dbf = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();

            DocumentBuilder db = dbf.newDocumentBuilder();

            doc = db.parse(new File("watch.xml"));
        } catch (SAXException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(DAOxml.class.getName() + ex.getMessage());
        } catch (IOException | ParserConfigurationException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(DAOxml.class.getName() + ex.getMessage());
        }

        return doc;
    }

    private void writeToXML(Document doc) {

        try {
            TransformerFactory transformerFactory = TransformerFactory.newInstance();

            Transformer transformer = transformerFactory.newTransformer();

            transformer.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.INDENT, "yes");
            transformer.setOutputProperty("{http://xml.apache.org/xslt}indent-amount", "2");

            DOMSource source = new DOMSource(doc);

            StreamResult result = new StreamResult(new File("watch.xml"));

            transformer.transform(source, result);

            StreamResult consoleResult = new StreamResult(System.out);
            transformer.transform(source, consoleResult);
        } catch (TransformerException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(DAOxml.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        }
    }

I expect to connect with my XML file and being able to add things to it through my gui that I am making with javafx

Answer 1

You could try to parse the int to a string via

    String newString = Integer.toString(<int>);

Answer 2

According to the Javadoc the setAttribute() method takes in two parameters: the attribute name and the attribute value. Both are string values. Now, this doesn't mean the XML schema sees them as string. The schema could define your attribute as a boolean, integer, or other. But the setter in Java will always take a String.

So you'll need to convert your int value into a String first by using String.valueOf(...) for instance.

        watch.setAttribute("ID", String.valueOf(dtoWatch.id));

Also, you probably want to use JAXB rather than manipulate XML directly in Java. JAXB will give you a nice abstraction over the XML structure and you will be able to convert to/from XML/Java easily. If you do that, then it will give you a set... method with the right datatype. Have a look at this tutorial to get started.