NIST The "getLocalName()" method for a Node returns the local part of the qualified name of this node, and for nodes of any type other than ELEMENT_NODE and ATTRIBUTE_NODE and nodes created with a DOM Level 1 method, this is null. Retrieve the first employeeId node and get the first child of this node. Since the first child is Text node invoking the "getLocalName()" method will cause "null" to be returned. Mary Brady 2001-08-17