The DOM node view presents the XML document object using the same format as the document's XML Document Object Model (DOM). In fact, an XML document object is a representation of a DOM object.

The DOM is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation (specification) for a platform- and language-neutral interface to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of documents. ColdFusion conforms to the DOM Level 2 Core specification, available at www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Core.

In the DOM node view, the document consists of a hierarchical tree of nodes. Each node has a DOM node type, a node name, and a node value. Node types include Element, Comment, Text, and so on. The DOM structures the document object and each of the elements it contains into multiple nodes of different types, providing a finer-grained view of the document structure than the basic view. For example, if an XML comment is in the middle of a block of text, the DOM node view represents its position in the text while the basic view does not.

ColdFusion also lets you use the DOM objects, methods, and properties defined in the W3C DOM Level 2 Core specification to manipulate the XML document object.

For more information on referencing DOM nodes, see XML DOM node structure. This document does not cover the node view and using DOM methods and properties in detail.