src/main/java/org/jboss/util/xml/DOMUtils.java
public static QName resolveQName(Element el, String qualifiedName)
    {
        QName qname;
        String prefix = "";
        String namespaceURI = "";
        String localPart = qualifiedName;

        int colIndex = qualifiedName.indexOf(":");
        if (colIndex > 0)
        {
            prefix = qualifiedName.substring(0, colIndex);
            localPart = qualifiedName.substring(colIndex + 1);

            if ("xmlns".equals(prefix))
            {
                namespaceURI = "URI:XML_PREDEFINED_NAMESPACE";
            }
            else
            {
                Element nsElement = el;
                while (namespaceURI.equals("") && nsElement != null)
                {
                    namespaceURI = nsElement.getAttribute("xmlns:" + prefix);
                    if (namespaceURI.equals(""))
                        nsElement = getParentElement(nsElement);
                }
            }

            if (namespaceURI.equals(""))
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot find namespace uri for: " + qualifiedName);
        }

        qname = new QName(namespaceURI, localPart, prefix);
        return qname;
    }
public static QName resolveQName(Element el, String qualifiedName)
    {
        QName qname;
        String prefix = "";
        String namespaceURI = "";
        String localPart = qualifiedName;

        int colIndex = qualifiedName.indexOf(":");
        if (colIndex > 0)
        {
            prefix = qualifiedName.substring(0, colIndex);
            localPart = qualifiedName.substring(colIndex + 1);

            if ("xmlns".equals(prefix))
            {
                namespaceURI = "URI:XML_PREDEFINED_NAMESPACE";
            }
            else
            {
                Element nsElement = el;
                while (namespaceURI.equals("") && nsElement != null)
                {
                    namespaceURI = nsElement.getAttribute("xmlns:" + prefix);
                    if (namespaceURI.equals(""))
                        nsElement = getParentElement(nsElement);
                }
            }

            if (namespaceURI.equals(""))
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot find namespace uri for: " + qualifiedName);
        }

        qname = new QName(namespaceURI, localPart, prefix);
        return qname;
    }
Transform the giveen qualified name into a QName
@param el
@param qualifiedName
@return the resolved name