{{APIRef("DOM")}}
A Node is an interface from which a number of DOM types inherit, and allows these various types to be treated (or tested) similarly.
The following interfaces all inherit from Node its methods and properties: {{domxref("Document")}}, {{domxref("Element")}}, {{domxref("CharacterData")}} (which {{domxref("Text")}}, {{domxref("Comment")}}, and {{domxref("CDATASection")}} inherit), {{domxref("ProcessingInstruction")}}, {{domxref("DocumentFragment")}}, {{domxref("DocumentType")}}, {{domxref("Notation")}}, {{domxref("Entity")}}, {{domxref("EntityReference")}}
These interfaces may return null in particular cases where the methods and properties are not relevant. They may throw an exception - for example when adding children to a node type for which no children can exist.
Properties
Inherits properties from its parents {{domxref("EventTarget")}}.[1]
- {{domxref("Node.baseURI")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns a {{domxref("DOMString")}} representing the base URL. The concept of base URL changes from one language to another; in HTML, it corresponds to the protocol, the domain name and the directory structure, that is all until the last
'/'. - {{domxref("Node.baseURIObject")}} {{Non-standard_inline()}} {{ Fx_minversion_inline("3") }}
- (Not available to web content.) The read-only {{ Interface("nsIURI") }} object representing the base URI for the element.
- {{domxref("Node.childNodes")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns a live {{domxref("NodeList")}} containing all the children of this node. {{domxref("NodeList")}} being live means that if the children of the
Nodechange, the {{domxref("NodeList")}} object is automatically updated. - {{domxref("Node.firstChild")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns a {{domxref("Node")}} representing the first direct child node of the node, or
nullif the node has no child. - {{domxref("Node.lastChild")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns a {{domxref("Node")}} representing the last direct child node of the node, or
nullif the node has no child. - {{domxref("Node.localName")}} {{obsolete_inline}}{{readonlyInline}}
- Returns a {{domxref("DOMString")}} representing the local part of the qualified name of an element.
Note: In Firefox 3.5 and earlier, the property upper-cases the local name for HTML elements (but not XHTML elements). In later versions, this does not happen, so the property is in lower case for both HTML and XHTML. {{gecko_minversion_inline("1.9.2")}}
- {{domxref("Node.namespaceURI")}} {{obsolete_inline}}{{readonlyInline}}
- The namespace URI of this node, or
nullif it is no namespace.Note: In Firefox 3.5 and earlier, HTML elements are in no namespace. In later versions, HTML elements are in the
https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/namespace in both HTML and XML trees. {{gecko_minversion_inline("1.9.2")}} - {{domxref("Node.nextSibling")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns a {{domxref("Node")}} representing the next node in the tree, or
nullif there isn't such node. - {{domxref("Node.nodeName")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns a {{domxref("DOMString")}} containing the name of the
Node. The structure of the name will differ with the name type. E.g. An {{domxref("HTMLElement")}} will contain the name of the corresponding tag, like'audio'for an {{domxref("HTMLAudioElement")}}, a {{domxref("Text")}} node will have the'#text'string, or a {{domxref("Document")}} node will have the'#document'string. - {{domxref("Node.nodePrincipal")}} {{Non-standard_inline()}}{{ Fx_minversion_inline("3") }}
- A {{ Interface("nsIPrincipal") }} representing the node principal.
- {{domxref("Node.nodeType")}}{{readonlyInline}}
- Returns an
unsigned shortrepresenting the type of the node. Possible values are:Name Value ELEMENT_NODE1ATTRIBUTE_NODE{{deprecated_inline()}}2TEXT_NODE3CDATA_SECTION_NODE{{deprecated_inline()}}4ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE{{deprecated_inline()}}5ENTITY_NODE{{deprecated_inline()}}6PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION_NODE7COMMENT_NODE8DOCUMENT_NODE9DOCUMENT_TYPE_NODE10DOCUMENT_FRAGMENT_NODE11NOTATION_NODE{{deprecated_inline()}}12 - {{domxref("Node.nodeValue")}}
- Returns / Sets the value of the current node
- {{domxref("Node.ownerDocument")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns the {{domxref("Document")}} that this node belongs to. If no document is associated with it, returns
null. - {{domxref("Node.parentNode")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns a {{domxref("Node")}} that is the parent of this node. If there is no such node, like if this node is the top of the tree or if doesn't participate in a tree, this property returns
null. - {{domxref("Node.parentElement")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns an {{domxref("Element")}} that is the parent of this node. If the node has no parent, or if that parent is not an {{domxref("Element")}}, this property returns
null. - {{domxref("Node.prefix")}} {{obsolete_inline}}{{readonlyInline}}
- Is a {{domxref("DOMString")}} representing the namespace prefix of the node, or
nullif no prefix is specified. - {{domxref("Node.previousSibling")}} {{readonlyInline}}
- Returns a {{domxref("Node")}} representing the previous node in the tree, or
nullif there isn't such node. - {{domxref("Node.rootNode")}} {{readOnlyInline}}
- Returns a {{domxref("Node")}} object representing the topmost node in the tree, or the current node if it's the topmost node in the tree. This is found by walking backward along {{domxref("Node.parentNode")}} until the top is reached.
- {{domxref("Node.textContent")}}
- Returns / Sets the textual content of an element and all its descendants.
Methods
Inherits methods from its parent, {{domxref("EventTarget")}}.[1]
- {{domxref("Node.appendChild()")}}
-
Adds the specified childNode argument as the last child to the current node.
If the argument referenced an existing node on the DOM gree, the node will be detached from its current position and attached at the new position. - {{domxref("Node.cloneNode()")}}
- Clone a {{domxref("Node")}}, and optionally, all of its contents. By default, it clones the content of the node.
- {{domxref("Node.compareDocumentPosition()")}}
- {{domxref("Node.contains()")}}
- {{domxref("Node.getFeature()")}} {{obsolete_inline}}
- {{domxref("Node.getUserData()")}} {{obsolete_inline}}
- Allows a user to get some {{domxref("DOMUserData")}} from the node.
- {{domxref("Node.hasAttributes()")}} {{obsolete_inline}}
- Returns a {{jsxref("Boolean")}} indicating if the element has any attributes, or not.
- {{domxref("Node.hasChildNodes()")}}
- Returns a {{jsxref("Boolean")}} indicating if the element has any child nodes, or not.
- {{domxref("Node.insertBefore()")}}
- Inserts the first {{domxref("Node")}} given in a parameter immediately before the second, child of this element, {{domxref("Node")}}.
- {{domxref("Node.isDefaultNamespace()")}}
- {{domxref("Node.isEqualNode()")}}
- Returns a {{jsxref("Boolean")}} which indicates whether or not two nodes are of the same type and all their defining data points match.
- {{domxref("Node.isSameNode()")}}
- Returns a {{jsxref("Boolean")}} value indicating whether or not the two nodes are the same (that is, they reference the same object).
- {{domxref("Node.isSupported()")}} {{obsolete_inline}}
- Returns a {{jsxref("Boolean")}} flag containing the result of a test whether the DOM implementation implements a specific feature and this feature is supported by the specific node.
- {{domxref("Node.lookupPrefix()")}}
- {{domxref("Node.lookupNamespaceURI()")}}
- {{domxref("Node.normalize()")}}
- Clean up all the text nodes under this element (merge adjacent, remove empty).
- {{domxref("Node.removeChild()")}}
- Removes a child node from the current element, which must be a child of the current node.
- {{domxref("Node.replaceChild()")}}
- Replaces one child {{domxref("Node")}} of the current one with the second one given in parameter.
- {{domxref("Node.setUserData()")}} {{obsolete_inline}}
- Allows a user to attach, or remove, {{domxref("DOMUserData")}} to the node.
Examples
Browse all child nodes
The following function recursively cycles all child nodes of a node and executes a callback function upon them (and upon the parent node itself).
function DOMComb (oParent, oCallback) {
if (oParent.hasChildNodes()) {
for (var oNode = oParent.firstChild; oNode; oNode = oNode.nextSibling) {
DOMComb(oNode, oCallback);
}
}
oCallback.call(oParent);
}
Syntax
DOMComb(parentNode, callbackFunction);
Description
Recursively cycle all child nodes of parentNode and parentNode itself and execute the callbackFunction upon them as this objects.
Parameters
Sample usage
The following example send to the console.log the text content of the body:
function printContent () {
if (this.nodeValue) { console.log(this.nodeValue); }
}
onload = function () {
DOMComb(document.body, printContent);
};
Remove all children nested within a node
Element.prototype.removeAll = function () {
while (this.firstChild) { this.removeChild(this.firstChild); }
return this;
};
Sample usage
/* ... an alternative to document.body.innerHTML = "" ... */ document.body.removeAll();
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| {{SpecName('DOM WHATWG', '#interface-node', 'Node')}} | {{Spec2('DOM WHATWG')}} | Removed the following properties: attributes, namespaceURI, prefix, and localName.Removed the following methods: isSupported(), hasAttributes(), getFeature(), setUserData(), and getUserData(). |
| {{SpecName('DOM3 Core', 'core.html#ID-1950641247', 'Node')}} | {{Spec2('DOM3 Core')}} | The methods insertBefore(), replaceChild(), removeChild(), and appendChild() returns one more kind of error (NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR) if called on a {{domxref("Document")}}.The normalize() method has been modified so that {{domxref("Text")}} node can also be normalized if the proper {{domxref("DOMConfiguration")}} flag is set.Added the following methods: compareDocumentPosition(), isSameNode(), lookupPrefix(), isDefaultNamespace(), lookupNamespaceURI(), isEqualNode(), getFeature(), setUserData(), and getUserData().Added the following properties: baseURI and textContent. |
| {{SpecName('DOM2 Core', 'core.html#ID-1950641247', 'Node')}} | {{Spec2('DOM2 Core')}} | The ownerDocument property was slightly modified so that {{domxref("DocumentFragment")}} also returns null.Added the following properties: namespaceURI, prefix, and localName.Added the following methods: normalize(), isSupported() and hasAttributes(). |
| {{SpecName('DOM1', 'level-one-core.html#ID-1950641247', 'Node')}} | {{Spec2('DOM1')}} | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
{{CompatibilityTable}}
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | {{CompatVersionUnknown}}[1] | {{CompatGeckoDesktop("1.0")}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}}[1] | {{CompatVersionUnknown}}[1] |
getFeature(){{obsolete_inline}} |
{{CompatNo}} | {{CompatGeckoDesktop("1.0")}} {{CompatNo}}{{CompatGeckoDesktop("7.0")}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} |
getUserData(), setUserData() and hasAttributes() {{deprecated_inline}} |
{{CompatNo}} | {{CompatGeckoDesktop("1.0")}} {{CompatNo}}{{CompatGeckoDesktop("22.0")}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} |
isSameNode() |
{{CompatNo}} | {{CompatGeckoDesktop("1.0")}} Removed in {{CompatGeckoDesktop("10")}} Returned in {{CompatGeckoDesktop("48")}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} |
isSupported() {{obsolete_inline}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatGeckoDesktop("1.0")}} {{CompatNo}}{{CompatGeckoDesktop("22.0")}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
attributes |
{{CompatNo}} | {{CompatGeckoDesktop("1.0")}} {{CompatNo}}{{CompatGeckoDesktop("22.0")}}[2] |
{{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} |
rootNode() |
{{CompatUnknown}} | CompatGeckoDesktop(48)}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
namespaceURI, localName, prefix {{obsolete_inline}} |
{{CompatVersionUnknown}} {{CompatNo}}46.0[3] |
{{CompatVersionUnknown}} {{CompatNo}}48.0[3] |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
| Feature | Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | {{CompatVersionUnknown}}[1] | {{CompatGeckoMobile("1.0")}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}}[1] | {{CompatVersionUnknown}}[1] |
getFeature(){{obsolete_inline}} |
{{CompatNo}} | {{CompatGeckoMobile("1.0")}} {{CompatNo}}{{CompatGeckoDesktop("7.0")}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} |
getUserData(), setUserData() and hasAttributes() {{deprecated_inline}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
isSameNode() |
{{CompatUnknown}} |
{{CompatGeckoDesktop("1.0")}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
isSupported() {{obsolete_inline}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
attributes |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
rootNode() |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatGeckoMobile(48)}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
namespaceURI, localName, prefix {{obsolete_inline}} |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} {{CompatNo}}48.0[3] |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
[1] WebKit and old versions of Blink incorrectly do not make Node inherit from {{domxref("EventTarget")}}.
[2] In Gecko 22.0 {{geckoRelease("22.0")}} the attributes property was moved to {{domxref("Element")}}.
[3] The properties were moved to the {{domxref("Element")}} and {{domxref("Attr")}} APIs according to the DOM4 standard.