LISTING 1: JavaScript to Retrieve Values from the Processing Instruction

// parse_pi_data returns a 2-dim array of
// pseudo attribute names and values

vals = parse_pi_data(piNode);	// assumes piNode is the PI

// the href attribute value is the second element in the array

alert("the href pseudo-attribute value is: " + vals[1][1]);


function parse_pi_data(data)
{
    pattrs = new Array();		// array to return

    pidata = data.split(" ");	//parse the string - assume space separated

    for (i = 0 ; i < pidata.length ; i++)
    {
      pattrs[i] = parse_pseudo_attr(pidata[i]);
    }
	return(pattrs);
}

function parse_pseudo_attr(attr)
{
	// use substring around '=' to parse name and value

    attrname = attr.substring(0,attr.indexOf("="));
    value = attr.substring(attr.indexOf("=") + 2,attr.length - 1);
    return(new Array(attrname,value));
}