Do you need to merge the content of multiple XML files into one DOM? That would be a lot trickier. I'm working with a vendor product that reads all the XML files in a tree of directories in a specified order. You could configure the system in one file or a hundred. If any node path is duplicated, the last one in overwrites the old one. So you can have a "master" file that ships with the product and a "custom" file with only a few nodes to override the master values. Any of that sound like what you're doing?
A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of the idea. John Ciardi