code: public static Vector<Element> readFeatureNodes(String templateFile){
  		Vector<Element> feaTypes = new Vector<Element>();
  		
  		try {
  			// Read feature template file........
  			DocumentBuilderFactory factory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
  			DocumentBuilder builder = factory.newDocumentBuilder();
  
  			InputStream feaTplStream = new FileInputStream(templateFile);
  			Document doc = builder.parse(feaTplStream);
  		
  			Element root = doc.getDocumentElement();
  			NodeList childrent = root.getChildNodes();
  			for (int i = 0; i < childrent.getLength(); i++)
  				if (childrent.item(i) instanceof Element) {
  					Element child = (Element) childrent.item(i);
  					feaTypes.add(child);
  				}
  		}
  		catch (Exception e){
  			System.out.println("Reading featuretemplate fail " + e.getMessage());
  			e.printStackTrace();			
  		}
  		
  		return feaTypes;		
  	}
docs: Read feature nodes.
  
  @param templateFile the template file
  @return the vector