A handle to a reference to an XML node. The X-noderef object is an ABL object that is a reference to any arbitrary node in an XML tree except a document node. You create the handle and assign it to a handle variable with the CREATE X-NODEREF statement.
An X-noderef object is not in a fully usable state until it has been associated with an X-document. Before this, you can only access its HANDLE, TYPE, PRIVATE-DATE, and UNIQUE-ID attributes without error. To avoid run-time errors, the following code shows one way to test the status of an X-noderef object:
A handle variable that references an X-noderef object. You can use this handle as a parameter or return-value for attributes and methods that provide access to the underlying XML node.
The value of the
UNIQUE-ID attribute on this handle is guaranteed to be unique only for the life cycle of the single XML document instance to which it belongs (the currently-associated
X-document object handle). Once the currently-associated x-document handle is deleted, any new XML document (referenced with a new X-document handle value) can re-use the UNIQUE-ID attribute values for the x-noderef objects of the deleted document. Thus, you can track the uniqueness of x-noderef object instances within an ABL session by remembering each pair of UNIQUE-ID attribute values from a given x-noderef object handle and its associated x-document object handle.
