Cross-Browser Javascript XML Parsing

Question

Are there any cross-browser / cross-platform ways to parse XML files in Javascript?

Answer 1

Consider using jQuery.parseXML.

Note that old JQuery's code (pre 2.x) is essentially identical to one proposed in the accepted answer and can be found at http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.9.1.js, partial version below:

// Cross-browser xml parsing
parseXML: function( data ) {
    ...
    try {
        if ( window.DOMParser ) { // Standard
            tmp = new DOMParser();
            xml = tmp.parseFromString( data , "text/xml" );
        } else { // IE
            xml = new ActiveXObject( "Microsoft.XMLDOM" );
            xml.async = "false";
            xml.loadXML( data );
        }
    } catch( e ) {
        xml = undefined;
    }
    ...
}

Starting JQuery 2.x code changed to skip ActiveX branch, if you still need it - use older version of JQuery or inline ActiveX parsing. Partial code from http://code.jquery.com/jquery-2.0.0.js:

// Cross-browser xml parsing
parseXML: function( data ) {
    var xml, tmp;
    .....
    // Support: IE9
    try {
        tmp = new DOMParser();
        xml = tmp.parseFromString( data , "text/xml" );
    } catch ( e ) {
        xml = undefined;
    }
    .....
},