NodeSelector | UssElement

The NodeSelector class is a specialized utility designed to parse and resolve CSS-like selectors for querying nodes within the DOM-like structure of UssElement. It is an integral part of the ElementNode::querySelector() and ElementNode::querySelectorAll() methods, enabling sophisticated node searches using selector strings.

This class accepts a starting node and a selector string, performing a detailed traversal and matching operation to return the appropriate results in the form of an ElementList.

Constructor

public NodeSelector::__construct(NodeInterface $node, string $selector)

Even though the constructor accepts a NodeInterface for safety, no action will be taken if the node is not an instance of ElementInterface

Parameters

node

The NodeInterface instance which represents the starting node for the query traversal. This node acts as the root context for the selector evaluation.

selector

A CSS-like selector string used to match nodes. Invalid or unsupported syntax will result to no matches.

Example

use Ucscode\UssElement\Parser\HtmlLoader;
use Ucscode\UssElement\Parser\NodeSelector;

// Sample HTML structure
$html = <<<HTML
<div id="container" class="wrapper">
  <span class="item">Hello</span>
  <span class="item">World</span>
</div>
HTML;

// Load the HTML and capture the DIV element
$rootNode = (new HtmlLoader($html))->getNodeList()->first();

// Perform a query
$selector = new NodeSelector($rootNode, '.item');
$result = $selector->getResult(); // ElementList Object

echo $result->count(); // 2
echo $result->first()->getInnerHtml(); // Hello
echo $result->get(1)->getInnerHtml(); // World

Advantages

Advantage	Description
Flexibility	Allows complex and detailed queries using CSS-like selectors.
Simplicity	Eliminates the need for custom traversal code.
Efficiency	Optimized for efficiently traversing the DOM structure.
Convenience	Returns results as an `ElementList`, making further manipulation straightforward.

Limitations

Limitation	Description
Advanced Selector Support	Advanced or edge-case CSS selector features may not be supported.
Performance	Performance may degrade with large DOM structures and complex selectors.
Error Handling	Limited error handling for invalid or unsupported selector strings.
Debugging	Debugging complex selectors can be challenging in deeply nested or ambiguous node structures.
Node Structure Dependency	Relies on the correctness of the underlying node structure for accurate matching.

Methods

getResult