question: public static Element find ( Node parent , String name ) { NodeList list = parent . getChildNodes ( ) ; for ( int i = 0 ; i < list . getLength ( ) ; i ++ ) { Node n = list . item ( i ) ; if ( n instanceof Element ) { Element e = ( Element ) n ; if ( name . equals ( e . getAttribute ( "id" ) ) ) { return e ; } } Element r = find ( n , name ) ; if ( r != null ) { return r ; } } return null ; }
target:  Find an element by its "id" attribute; null if no element is found. 