docs: def getXML(self):
          """
          Return a XML representation of the current element.
          This function can be used for debugging purposes. It is also used by getXML in SVG
      
          @return:  the representation of the current element as an xml string
          """
          xml='<'+self._elementName+' '
          for key,value in list(self._attributes.items()):
              if value != None:
                  xml+=key+'="'+self.quote_attrib(str(value))+'" '
          if  len(self._subElements)==0: #self._textContent==None and
              xml+=' />\n'
          else:
              xml+=' >\n'
              #if self._textContent==None:
              for subelement in self._subElements:
                  s = subelement.getXML()
                  if type(s) != str:
                      s = str(s)
                  xml+=s
                 # xml+=str(subelement.getXML())
              #else:
              #if self._textContent!=None:
              #    xml+=self._textContent
              xml+='</'+self._elementName+'>\n'
          #print xml
          return xml