--- a/j2ee.clientproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/clientproject/UpdateProjectImpl.java	
+++ a/j2ee.clientproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/clientproject/UpdateProjectImpl.java	
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ 
 import org.openide.DialogDisplayer;
 import org.openide.NotifyDescriptor;
 import org.openide.util.NbBundle;
+import org.openide.xml.XMLUtil;
 import org.w3c.dom.Comment;
 import org.w3c.dom.Document;
 import org.w3c.dom.Element;
@@ -147,7 +148,7 @@ 
             if (oldRoot != null) {
                 Document doc = oldRoot.getOwnerDocument();
                 Element newRoot = doc.createElementNS (AppClientProjectType.PROJECT_CONFIGURATION_NAMESPACE,"data"); //NOI18N
-                copyDocument (doc, oldRoot, newRoot);
+                XMLUtil.copyDocument (doc, oldRoot, newRoot, AppClientProjectType.PROJECT_CONFIGURATION_NAMESPACE);
                 Element sourceRoots = doc.createElementNS(AppClientProjectType.PROJECT_CONFIGURATION_NAMESPACE,"source-roots");  //NOI18N
                 Element root = doc.createElementNS (AppClientProjectType.PROJECT_CONFIGURATION_NAMESPACE,"root");   //NOI18N
                 root.setAttribute ("id","src.dir");   //NOI18N
@@ -164,7 +165,7 @@ 
                 if (oldRoot != null) {
                     Document doc = oldRoot.getOwnerDocument();
                     Element newRoot = doc.createElementNS (AppClientProjectType.PROJECT_CONFIGURATION_NAMESPACE,"data"); //NOI18N
-                    copyDocument (doc, oldRoot, newRoot);
+                    XMLUtil.copyDocument (doc, oldRoot, newRoot, AppClientProjectType.PROJECT_CONFIGURATION_NAMESPACE);
                     cachedElement = updateMinAntVersion (newRoot, doc);
                 }
             }
@@ -187,39 +188,6 @@ 
         return cachedProperties;
     }
 
-    private static void copyDocument (Document doc, Element from, Element to) {
-        NodeList nl = from.getChildNodes();
-        int length = nl.getLength();
-        for (int i=0; i< length; i++) {
-            Node node = nl.item (i);
-            Node newNode = null;
-            switch (node.getNodeType()) {
-                case Node.ELEMENT_NODE:
-                    Element oldElement = (Element) node;
-                    newNode = doc.createElementNS(AppClientProjectType.PROJECT_CONFIGURATION_NAMESPACE,oldElement.getTagName());
-                    NamedNodeMap m = oldElement.getAttributes();
-                    Element newElement = (Element) newNode;
-                    for (int index = 0; index < m.getLength(); index++) {
-                        Node attr = m.item(index);
-                          newElement.setAttribute(attr.getNodeName(), attr.getNodeValue());
-                    }
-                    copyDocument(doc,oldElement,newElement);
-                    break;
-                case Node.TEXT_NODE:
-                    Text oldText = (Text) node;
-                    newNode = doc.createTextNode(oldText.getData());
-                    break;
-                case Node.COMMENT_NODE:
-                    Comment oldComment = (Comment) node;
-                    newNode = doc.createComment(oldComment.getData());
-                    break;
-            }
-            if (newNode != null) {
-                to.appendChild (newNode);
-            }
-        }
-    }
-    
     private static Element updateMinAntVersion (final Element root, final Document doc) {
         NodeList list = root.getElementsByTagNameNS (AppClientProjectType.PROJECT_CONFIGURATION_NAMESPACE,MINIMUM_ANT_VERSION_ELEMENT);
         if (list.getLength() == 1) {
--- a/j2ee.clientproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/clientproject/classpath/ClassPathSupportCallbackImpl.java	
+++ a/j2ee.clientproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/clientproject/classpath/ClassPathSupportCallbackImpl.java	
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ 
 import org.netbeans.modules.java.api.common.classpath.ClassPathSupport.Item;
 import org.netbeans.modules.java.api.common.util.CommonProjectUtils;
 import org.netbeans.spi.project.support.ant.AntProjectHelper;
+import org.openide.xml.XMLUtil;
 import org.w3c.dom.Document;
 import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 import org.w3c.dom.Node;
@@ -91,7 +92,7 @@ 
         for ( int i = 0; i < libs.getLength(); i++ ) {
             Element item = (Element)libs.item( i );
             // appclient is different from other j2ee projects - it stores reference without ${ and }
-            String ref = "${"+findText( item )+"}";
+            String ref = "${"+XMLUtil.findText( item )+"}";
             libraries.add(ref); // NOI18N
             String dirs = item.getAttribute(ATTR_DIRS);
             if (Util.DESTINATION_DIRECTORY_ROOT.equals(dirs) ||
@@ -140,23 +141,6 @@ 
         return libraryElement;
     }
        
-    /**
-     * Extracts <b>the first</b> nested text from an element.
-     * Currently does not handle coalescing text nodes, CDATA sections, etc.
-     * @param parent a parent element
-     * @return the nested text, or null if none was found
-     */
-    private static String findText( Element parent ) {
-        NodeList l = parent.getChildNodes();
-        for ( int i = 0; i < l.getLength(); i++ ) {
-            if ( l.item(i).getNodeType() == Node.TEXT_NODE ) {
-                Text text = (Text)l.item( i );
-                return text.getNodeValue();
-            }
-        }
-        return null;
-    }
-
     public void readAdditionalProperties(List<Item> items, String projectXMLElement) {
         Map<String, String> destination = new HashMap<String, String>();
         List<String> l = getIncludedLibraries(antProjectHelper, projectXMLElement, destination);