Added the begin() export function.

src/XMLDocType.coffee

@@ -111,5 +111,5 @@ module.exports = class XMLDocType extends XMLNode
   ent: (name, value) -> @entity name, value
   pent: (name, value) -> @pEntity name, value
   not: (name, value) -> @notation name, value
-  up: () -> @root()
+  up: () -> @root() or @documentObject
 

src/XMLDocument.coffee

@@ -9,19 +9,7 @@ module.exports = class XMLDocument extends XMLNode
 
 
   # Initializes a new instance of `XMLDocument`
-  # and creates the XML prolog
   #
-  # `name` name of the root element
-  #
-  # `options.version` A version number string, e.g. 1.0
-  # `options.encoding` Encoding declaration, e.g. UTF-8
-  # `options.standalone` standalone document declaration: true or false
-  #
-  # `options.pubID` public identifier of the external subset
-  # `options.sysID` system identifier of the external subset
-  #
-  # `options.headless` whether XML declaration and doctype will be included:
-  #     true or false
   # `options.allowSurrogateChars` whether surrogates will be allowed: true or
   #     false
   # `options.skipNullAttributes` whether attributes with null values will be
@@ -38,12 +26,9 @@ module.exports = class XMLDocument extends XMLNode
   # `options.writer` the default XML writer to use for converting nodes to
   #     string. If the default writer is not set, the built-in XMLStringWriter
   #     will be used instead.
-  constructor: (name, options) ->
+  constructor: (options) ->
     super null
 
-    if not name?
-      throw new Error "Root element needs a name"
-
     options ?= {}
     if not options.writer then options.writer = new XMLStringWriter()
 
@@ -52,18 +37,6 @@ module.exports = class XMLDocument extends XMLNode
 
     @isDocument = true
 
-    root = @element name
-    root.isRoot = true
-    root.documentObject = @
-    @rootObject = root
-
-    # prolog
-    if not options.headless
-      @declaration options
-
-      if options.pubID? or options.sysID?
-        @doctype options
-
 
   # Ends the document and passes it to the given XML writer
   #

src/XMLElement.coffee

@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ module.exports = class XMLElement extends XMLNode
 
     @attribute attributes if attributes?
 
+    # set properties if this is the root node
+    if parent.isDocument
+      @isRoot = true
+      @documentObject = parent
+      parent.rootObject = @
+
 
   # Creates and returns a deep clone of `this`
   #

src/XMLNode.coffee

@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ module.exports = class XMLNode
     else
       doc.children.unshift xmldec
 
-    return doc.root()
+    return doc.root() or doc
 
 
   # Creates the document type declaration

src/index.coffee

@@ -33,8 +33,45 @@ XMLStreamWriter = require './XMLStreamWriter'
 #     string. If the default writer is not set, the built-in XMLStringWriter
 #     will be used instead.
 module.exports.create = (name, xmldec, doctype, options) ->
+  if not name?
+    throw new Error "Root element needs a name"
+
   options = Object.assign { }, xmldec, doctype, options
-  new XMLDocument(name, options).root()
+
+  # create the document node
+  doc = new XMLDocument(options)
+  # add the root node
+  root = doc.element name
+
+  # prolog
+  if not options.headless
+    doc.declaration options
+
+    if options.pubID? or options.sysID?
+      doc.doctype options
+
+  return root
+
+# Creates a new document and returns the document node for
+#
+# `options.allowSurrogateChars` whether surrogates will be allowed: true or
+#     false
+# `options.skipNullAttributes` whether attributes with null values will be
+#     ignored: true or false
+# `options.ignoreDecorators` whether decorator strings will be ignored when
+#     converting JS objects: true or false
+# `options.separateArrayItems` whether array items are created as separate
+#     nodes when passed as an object value: true or false
+# `options.noDoubleEncoding` whether existing html entities are encoded:
+#     true or false
+# `options.stringify` a set of functions to use for converting values to
+#     strings
+#
+# `options.writer` the default XML writer to use for converting nodes to
+#     string. If the default writer is not set, the built-in XMLStringWriter
+#     will be used instead.
+module.exports.begin = (options) ->
+  new XMLDocument(options)
 
 module.exports.stringWriter = (options) ->
   new XMLStringWriter(options)

test/basic/begin.coffee

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+suite 'Creating XML:', ->
+  test 'begin()', ->
+    eq(
+      doc({ headless: true }).ele('root', { att: 'val' }).ele('test').end()
+      '<root att="val"><test/></root>'
+    )
+
+  test 'begin() with prolog', ->
+    eq(
+      doc().dec().dtd().up().ele('root').end()
+      '<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE root><root/>'
+    )

test/common.coffee

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 global.builder = require('../src/index.coffee')
 global.xml = builder.create
+global.doc = builder.begin
 global.writer = builder.stringWriter
 global.eq = require('assert').strictEqual
 global.err = require('assert').throws