**Inheritance:**
java.lang.Object

**All Implemented Interfaces:**
java.lang.Iterable
```
public class NodeCollection implements Iterable
```

Represents a collection of nodes of a specific type.

To learn more, visit the [ Aspose.Words Document Object Model (DOM) ][Aspose.Words Document Object Model _DOM_] documentation article.

 **Remarks:** 

[NodeCollection](../../com.aspose.words/nodecollection/) does not own the nodes it contains, rather, is just a selection of nodes of the specified type, but the nodes are stored in the tree under their respective parent nodes.

[NodeCollection](../../com.aspose.words/nodecollection/) supports indexed access, iteration and provides add and remove methods.

The [NodeCollection](../../com.aspose.words/nodecollection/) collection is "live", i.e. changes to the children of the node object that it was created from are immediately reflected in the nodes returned by the [NodeCollection](../../com.aspose.words/nodecollection/) properties and methods.

[NodeCollection](../../com.aspose.words/nodecollection/) is returned by **M:Aspose.Words.CompositeNode.GetChildNodes(Aspose.Words.NodeType,System.Boolean)** and also serves as a base class for typed node collections such as [SectionCollection](../../com.aspose.words/sectioncollection/), [ParagraphCollection](../../com.aspose.words/paragraphcollection/) etc.

[NodeCollection](../../com.aspose.words/nodecollection/) can be "flat" and contain only immediate children of the node it was created from, or it can be "deep" and contain all descendant children.

 **Examples:** 

Shows how to replace all textbox shapes with image shapes.

```

 Document doc = new Document(getMyDir() + "Textboxes in drawing canvas.docx");

 List shapeList = Arrays.stream(doc.getChildNodes(NodeType.SHAPE, true).toArray())
         .filter(Shape.class::isInstance)
         .map(Shape.class::cast)
         .collect(Collectors.toList());

 Assert.assertEquals(3, IterableUtils.countMatches(shapeList, s -> s.getShapeType() == ShapeType.TEXT_BOX));
 Assert.assertEquals(1, IterableUtils.countMatches(shapeList, s -> s.getShapeType() == ShapeType.IMAGE));

 for (Shape shape : shapeList) {
     if (((shape.getShapeType()) == (ShapeType.TEXT_BOX))) {
         Shape replacementShape = new Shape(doc, ShapeType.IMAGE);
         replacementShape.getImageData().setImage(getImageDir() + "Logo.jpg");
         replacementShape.setLeft(shape.getLeft());
         replacementShape.setTop(shape.getTop());
         replacementShape.setWidth(shape.getWidth());
         replacementShape.setHeight(shape.getHeight());
         replacementShape.setRelativeHorizontalPosition(shape.getRelativeHorizontalPosition());
         replacementShape.setRelativeVerticalPosition(shape.getRelativeVerticalPosition());
         replacementShape.setHorizontalAlignment(shape.getHorizontalAlignment());
         replacementShape.setVerticalAlignment(shape.getVerticalAlignment());
         replacementShape.setWrapType(shape.getWrapType());
         replacementShape.setWrapSide(shape.getWrapSide());

         shape.getParentNode().insertAfter(replacementShape, shape);
         shape.remove();
     }
 }

 shapeList = Arrays.stream(doc.getChildNodes(NodeType.SHAPE, true).toArray())
         .filter(Shape.class::isInstance)
         .map(Shape.class::cast)
         .collect(Collectors.toList());

 Assert.assertEquals(0, IterableUtils.countMatches(shapeList, s -> s.getShapeType() == ShapeType.TEXT_BOX));
 Assert.assertEquals(4, IterableUtils.countMatches(shapeList, s -> s.getShapeType() == ShapeType.IMAGE));

 doc.save(getArtifactsDir() + "Shape.ReplaceTextboxesWithImages.docx");
 
```


[Aspose.Words Document Object Model _DOM_]: https://docs.aspose.com/words/java/aspose-words-document-object-model/
## Methods

| Method | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [add(Node node)](#add-com.aspose.words.Node) | Adds a node to the end of the collection. |
| [clear()](#clear) | Removes all nodes from this collection and from the document. |
| [contains(Node node)](#contains-com.aspose.words.Node) | Determines whether a node is in the collection. |
| [get(int index)](#get-int) | Retrieves a node at the given index. |
| [getContainer()](#getContainer) |  |
| [getCount()](#getCount) | Gets the number of nodes in the collection. |
| [getCurrentNode()](#getCurrentNode) |  |
| [getNextMatchingNode(Node curNode)](#getNextMatchingNode-com.aspose.words.Node) |  |
| [indexOf(Node node)](#indexOf-com.aspose.words.Node) | Returns the zero-based index of the specified node. |
| [insert(int index, Node node)](#insert-int-com.aspose.words.Node) | Inserts a node into the collection at the specified index. |
| [iterator()](#iterator) | Provides a simple "foreach" style iteration over the collection of nodes. |
| [remove(Node node)](#remove-com.aspose.words.Node) | Removes the node from the collection and from the document. |
| [removeAt(int index)](#removeAt-int) | Removes the node at the specified index from the collection and from the document. |
| [toArray()](#toArray) | Copies all nodes from the collection to a new array of nodes. |
### add(Node node) {#add-com.aspose.words.Node}
```
public void add(Node node)
```


Adds a node to the end of the collection.

**Parameters:**
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| node | [Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/) | The node to be added to the end of the collection. |

### clear() {#clear}
```
public void clear()
```


Removes all nodes from this collection and from the document.

 **Examples:** 

Shows how to remove all sections from a document.

```

 Document doc = new Document(getMyDir() + "Document.docx");

 // This document has one section with a few child nodes containing and displaying all the document's contents.
 Assert.assertEquals(doc.getSections().getCount(), 1);
 Assert.assertEquals(doc.getSections().get(0).getChildNodes(NodeType.ANY, true).getCount(), 17);
 Assert.assertEquals("Hello World!\r\rHello Word!\r\r\rHello World!", doc.getText().trim());

 // Clear the collection of sections, which will remove all of the document's children.
 doc.getSections().clear();

 Assert.assertEquals(0, doc.getChildNodes(NodeType.ANY, true).getCount());
 Assert.assertEquals("", doc.getText().trim());
 
```

### contains(Node node) {#contains-com.aspose.words.Node}
```
public boolean contains(Node node)
```


Determines whether a node is in the collection.

 **Remarks:** 

This method performs a linear search; therefore, the average execution time is proportional to [getCount()](../../com.aspose.words/nodecollection/\#getCount).

 **Examples:** 

Shows how to work with a NodeCollection.

```

 Document doc = new Document();
 DocumentBuilder builder = new DocumentBuilder(doc);

 // Add text to the document by inserting Runs using a DocumentBuilder.
 builder.write("Run 1. ");
 builder.write("Run 2. ");

 // Every invocation of the "Write()" method creates a new Run,
 // which then appears in the parent Paragraph's RunCollection.
 RunCollection runs = doc.getFirstSection().getBody().getFirstParagraph().getRuns();

 Assert.assertEquals(2, runs.getCount());

 // We can also insert a node into the RunCollection manually.
 Run newRun = new Run(doc, "Run 3. ");
 runs.insert(3, newRun);

 Assert.assertTrue(runs.contains(newRun));
 Assert.assertEquals("Run 1. Run 2. Run 3.", doc.getText().trim());

 // Access individual runs and remove them to remove their text from the document.
 Run run = runs.get(1);
 runs.remove(run);

 Assert.assertEquals("Run 1. Run 3.", doc.getText().trim());
 Assert.assertNotNull(run);
 Assert.assertFalse(runs.contains(run));
 
```

**Parameters:**
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| node | [Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/) | The node to locate. |

**Returns:**
boolean -  true  if item is found in the collection; otherwise,  false .
### get(int index) {#get-int}
```
public Node get(int index)
```


Retrieves a node at the given index.

 **Remarks:** 

The index is zero-based.

Negative indexes are allowed and indicate access from the back of the collection. For example -1 means the last item, -2 means the second before last and so on.

If index is greater than or equal to the number of items in the list, this returns a null reference.

If index is negative and its absolute value is greater than the number of items in the list, this returns a null reference.

 **Examples:** 

Shows how to traverse through a composite node's collection of child nodes.

```

 Document doc = new Document();

 // Add two runs and one shape as child nodes to the first paragraph of this document.
 Paragraph paragraph = (Paragraph) doc.getChild(NodeType.PARAGRAPH, 0, true);
 paragraph.appendChild(new Run(doc, "Hello world! "));

 Shape shape = new Shape(doc, ShapeType.RECTANGLE);
 shape.setWidth(200.0);
 shape.setHeight(200.0);
 // Note that the 'CustomNodeId' is not saved to an output file and exists only during the node lifetime.
 shape.setCustomNodeId(100);
 shape.setWrapType(WrapType.INLINE);
 paragraph.appendChild(shape);

 paragraph.appendChild(new Run(doc, "Hello again!"));

 // Iterate through the paragraph's collection of immediate children,
 // and print any runs or shapes that we find within.
 NodeCollection children = paragraph.getChildNodes(NodeType.ANY, false);

 Assert.assertEquals(3, paragraph.getChildNodes(NodeType.ANY, false).getCount());

 for (Node child : (Iterable) children)
     switch (child.getNodeType()) {
         case NodeType.RUN:
             System.out.println("Run contents:");
             System.out.println(MessageFormat.format("\t\"{0}\"", child.getText().trim()));
             break;
         case NodeType.SHAPE:
             Shape childShape = (Shape)child;
             System.out.println("Shape:");
             System.out.println(MessageFormat.format("\t{0}, {1}x{2}", childShape.getShapeType(), childShape.getWidth(), childShape.getHeight()));
             break;
     }
 
```

**Parameters:**
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| index | int | An index into the collection of nodes. |

**Returns:**
[Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/) - The corresponding [Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/) value.
### getContainer() {#getContainer}
```
public CompositeNode getContainer()
```




**Returns:**
[CompositeNode](../../com.aspose.words/compositenode/)
### getCount() {#getCount}
```
public int getCount()
```


Gets the number of nodes in the collection.

 **Examples:** 

Shows how to traverse through a composite node's collection of child nodes.

```

 Document doc = new Document();

 // Add two runs and one shape as child nodes to the first paragraph of this document.
 Paragraph paragraph = (Paragraph) doc.getChild(NodeType.PARAGRAPH, 0, true);
 paragraph.appendChild(new Run(doc, "Hello world! "));

 Shape shape = new Shape(doc, ShapeType.RECTANGLE);
 shape.setWidth(200.0);
 shape.setHeight(200.0);
 // Note that the 'CustomNodeId' is not saved to an output file and exists only during the node lifetime.
 shape.setCustomNodeId(100);
 shape.setWrapType(WrapType.INLINE);
 paragraph.appendChild(shape);

 paragraph.appendChild(new Run(doc, "Hello again!"));

 // Iterate through the paragraph's collection of immediate children,
 // and print any runs or shapes that we find within.
 NodeCollection children = paragraph.getChildNodes(NodeType.ANY, false);

 Assert.assertEquals(3, paragraph.getChildNodes(NodeType.ANY, false).getCount());

 for (Node child : (Iterable) children)
     switch (child.getNodeType()) {
         case NodeType.RUN:
             System.out.println("Run contents:");
             System.out.println(MessageFormat.format("\t\"{0}\"", child.getText().trim()));
             break;
         case NodeType.SHAPE:
             Shape childShape = (Shape)child;
             System.out.println("Shape:");
             System.out.println(MessageFormat.format("\t{0}, {1}x{2}", childShape.getShapeType(), childShape.getWidth(), childShape.getHeight()));
             break;
     }
 
```

Shows how to find out if a tables are nested.

```

 public void calculateDepthOfNestedTables() throws Exception {
     Document doc = new Document(getMyDir() + "Nested tables.docx");
     NodeCollection tables = doc.getChildNodes(NodeType.TABLE, true);
     for (int i = 0; i < tables.getCount(); i++) {
         Table table = (Table) tables.get(i);

         // Find out if any cells in the table have other tables as children.
         int count = getChildTableCount(table);
         System.out.print(MessageFormat.format("Table #{0} has {1} tables directly within its cells", i, count));

         // Find out if the table is nested inside another table, and, if so, at what depth.
         int tableDepth = getNestedDepthOfTable(table);

         if (tableDepth > 0)
             System.out.println(MessageFormat.format("Table #{0} is nested inside another table at depth of {1}", i, tableDepth));
         else
             System.out.println(MessageFormat.format("Table #{0} is a non nested table (is not a child of another table)", i));
     }
 }

 // Calculates what level a table is nested inside other tables.
 //
 // Returns An integer containing the level the table is nested at.
 // 0 = Table is not nested inside any other table
 // 1 = Table is nested within one parent table
 // 2 = Table is nested within two parent tables etc..
 private static int getNestedDepthOfTable(final Table table) {
     int depth = 0;
     Node parent = table.getAncestor(table.getNodeType());

     while (parent != null) {
         depth++;
         parent = parent.getAncestor(Table.class);
     }

     return depth;
 }

 // Determines if a table contains any immediate child table within its cells.
 // Does not recursively traverse through those tables to check for further tables.
 //
 // Returns true if at least one child cell contains a table.
 // Returns false if no cells in the table contains a table.
 private static int getChildTableCount(final Table table) {
     int childTableCount = 0;

     for (Row row : table.getRows()) {
         for (Cell cell : row.getCells()) {
             TableCollection childTables = cell.getTables();

             if (childTables.getCount() > 0) childTableCount++;
         }
     }

     return childTableCount;
 }
 
```

**Returns:**
int - The number of nodes in the collection.
### getCurrentNode() {#getCurrentNode}
```
public Node getCurrentNode()
```




**Returns:**
[Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/)
### getNextMatchingNode(Node curNode) {#getNextMatchingNode-com.aspose.words.Node}
```
public Node getNextMatchingNode(Node curNode)
```




**Parameters:**
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| curNode | [Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/) |  |

**Returns:**
[Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/)
### indexOf(Node node) {#indexOf-com.aspose.words.Node}
```
public int indexOf(Node node)
```


Returns the zero-based index of the specified node.

 **Remarks:** 

This method performs a linear search; therefore, the average execution time is proportional to [getCount()](../../com.aspose.words/nodecollection/\#getCount).

 **Examples:** 

Shows how to get the index of a node in a collection.

```

 Document doc = new Document(getMyDir() + "Tables.docx");

 Table table = doc.getFirstSection().getBody().getTables().get(0);
 NodeCollection allTables = doc.getChildNodes(NodeType.TABLE, true);

 Assert.assertEquals(0, allTables.indexOf(table));

 Row row = table.getRows().get(2);

 Assert.assertEquals(2, table.indexOf(row));

 Cell cell = row.getLastCell();

 Assert.assertEquals(4, row.indexOf(cell));
 
```

**Parameters:**
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| node | [Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/) | The node to locate. |

**Returns:**
int - The zero-based index of the node within the collection, if found; otherwise, -1.
### insert(int index, Node node) {#insert-int-com.aspose.words.Node}
```
public void insert(int index, Node node)
```


Inserts a node into the collection at the specified index.

**Parameters:**
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| index | int | The zero-based index of the node. Negative indexes are allowed and indicate access from the back of the list. For example -1 means the last node, -2 means the second before last and so on. |
| node | [Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/) | The node to insert. |

### iterator() {#iterator}
```
public Iterator iterator()
```


Provides a simple "foreach" style iteration over the collection of nodes.

**Returns:**
java.util.Iterator - An Iterator.
### remove(Node node) {#remove-com.aspose.words.Node}
```
public void remove(Node node)
```


Removes the node from the collection and from the document.

 **Examples:** 

Shows how to work with a NodeCollection.

```

 Document doc = new Document();
 DocumentBuilder builder = new DocumentBuilder(doc);

 // Add text to the document by inserting Runs using a DocumentBuilder.
 builder.write("Run 1. ");
 builder.write("Run 2. ");

 // Every invocation of the "Write()" method creates a new Run,
 // which then appears in the parent Paragraph's RunCollection.
 RunCollection runs = doc.getFirstSection().getBody().getFirstParagraph().getRuns();

 Assert.assertEquals(2, runs.getCount());

 // We can also insert a node into the RunCollection manually.
 Run newRun = new Run(doc, "Run 3. ");
 runs.insert(3, newRun);

 Assert.assertTrue(runs.contains(newRun));
 Assert.assertEquals("Run 1. Run 2. Run 3.", doc.getText().trim());

 // Access individual runs and remove them to remove their text from the document.
 Run run = runs.get(1);
 runs.remove(run);

 Assert.assertEquals("Run 1. Run 3.", doc.getText().trim());
 Assert.assertNotNull(run);
 Assert.assertFalse(runs.contains(run));
 
```

**Parameters:**
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| node | [Node](../../com.aspose.words/node/) | The node to remove. |

### removeAt(int index) {#removeAt-int}
```
public void removeAt(int index)
```


Removes the node at the specified index from the collection and from the document.

 **Examples:** 

Shows how to add and remove sections in a document.

```

 Document doc = new Document();
 DocumentBuilder builder = new DocumentBuilder(doc);

 builder.write("Section 1");
 builder.insertBreak(BreakType.SECTION_BREAK_NEW_PAGE);
 builder.write("Section 2");

 Assert.assertEquals("Section 1\fSection 2", doc.getText().trim());

 // Delete the first section from the document.
 doc.getSections().removeAt(0);

 Assert.assertEquals("Section 2", doc.getText().trim());

 // Append a copy of what is now the first section to the end of the document.
 int lastSectionIdx = doc.getSections().getCount() - 1;
 Section newSection = doc.getSections().get(lastSectionIdx).deepClone();
 doc.getSections().add(newSection);

 Assert.assertEquals("Section 2\fSection 2", doc.getText().trim());
 
```

**Parameters:**
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| index | int | The zero-based index of the node. Negative indexes are allowed and indicate access from the back of the list. For example -1 means the last node, -2 means the second before last and so on. |

### toArray() {#toArray}
```
public Node[] toArray()
```


Copies all nodes from the collection to a new array of nodes.

 **Remarks:** 

You should not be adding/removing nodes while iterating over a collection of nodes because it invalidates the iterator and requires refreshes for live collections.

To be able to add/remove nodes during iteration, use this method to copy nodes into a fixed-size array and then iterate over the array.

 **Examples:** 

Shows how to replace all textbox shapes with image shapes.

```

 Document doc = new Document(getMyDir() + "Textboxes in drawing canvas.docx");

 List shapeList = Arrays.stream(doc.getChildNodes(NodeType.SHAPE, true).toArray())
         .filter(Shape.class::isInstance)
         .map(Shape.class::cast)
         .collect(Collectors.toList());

 Assert.assertEquals(3, IterableUtils.countMatches(shapeList, s -> s.getShapeType() == ShapeType.TEXT_BOX));
 Assert.assertEquals(1, IterableUtils.countMatches(shapeList, s -> s.getShapeType() == ShapeType.IMAGE));

 for (Shape shape : shapeList) {
     if (((shape.getShapeType()) == (ShapeType.TEXT_BOX))) {
         Shape replacementShape = new Shape(doc, ShapeType.IMAGE);
         replacementShape.getImageData().setImage(getImageDir() + "Logo.jpg");
         replacementShape.setLeft(shape.getLeft());
         replacementShape.setTop(shape.getTop());
         replacementShape.setWidth(shape.getWidth());
         replacementShape.setHeight(shape.getHeight());
         replacementShape.setRelativeHorizontalPosition(shape.getRelativeHorizontalPosition());
         replacementShape.setRelativeVerticalPosition(shape.getRelativeVerticalPosition());
         replacementShape.setHorizontalAlignment(shape.getHorizontalAlignment());
         replacementShape.setVerticalAlignment(shape.getVerticalAlignment());
         replacementShape.setWrapType(shape.getWrapType());
         replacementShape.setWrapSide(shape.getWrapSide());

         shape.getParentNode().insertAfter(replacementShape, shape);
         shape.remove();
     }
 }

 shapeList = Arrays.stream(doc.getChildNodes(NodeType.SHAPE, true).toArray())
         .filter(Shape.class::isInstance)
         .map(Shape.class::cast)
         .collect(Collectors.toList());

 Assert.assertEquals(0, IterableUtils.countMatches(shapeList, s -> s.getShapeType() == ShapeType.TEXT_BOX));
 Assert.assertEquals(4, IterableUtils.countMatches(shapeList, s -> s.getShapeType() == ShapeType.IMAGE));

 doc.save(getArtifactsDir() + "Shape.ReplaceTextboxesWithImages.docx");
 
```

**Returns:**
com.aspose.words.Node[] - An array of nodes.