public static string getElementType(string element)
{
int start = 0;
if (element.StartsWith ("<"))
start += 1;
else if(element.StartsWith("</"))
start += 2;
int end;
for (end = start; end < element.Length; end++) {
if (!Char.IsLetterOrDigit (element [end]))
break;
}
return element.Substring (start, end - start);
}