XML DOM: Element Object
The Element object represents an element in an XML document. Elements can contain attributes, other elements, or text. If an element contains text, the text is represented in a text-node.
note
Text is always stored in text nodes!
Since the Element object is also a Node, it inherits the properties and methods of the Node object.
Properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
attributes | Returns a NamedNodeMap of attributes for the element |
baseURI | Returns the absolute base URI of the element |
childNodes | Returns a NodeList of child nodes for the element |
firstChild | Returns the first child of the element |
lastChild | Returns the last child of the element |
localName | Returns the local part of the name of the element |
namespaceURI | Returns the namespace URI of the element |
nextSibling | Returns the node immediately following the element |
nodeName | Returns the name of the node, depending on its type |
nodeType | Returns the type of the node |
ownerDocument | Returns the root element (document object) for an element |
| `parentNode | Returns the parent node of the element |
prefix | Sets or returns the namespace prefix of the element |
previousSibling | Returns the node immediately before the element |
schemaTypeInfo | Returns the type information associated with the element |
tagName | Returns the name of the element |
textContent | Sets or returns the text content of the element and its descendants |
Methods
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
appendChild() | Adds a new child node to the end of the list of children of the node |
cloneNode() | Clones a node |
compareDocumentPosition() | Compares the document position of two nodes |
getAttribute() | Returns the value of an attribute |
getAttributeNS() | Returns the value of an attribute (with a namespace) |
getAttributeNode() | Returns an attribute node as an Attribute object |
getAttributeNodeNS() | Returns an attribute node (with a namespace) as an Attribute object |
getElementsByTagName() | Returns a NodeList of matching element nodes, and their children |
getElementsByTagNameNS() | Returns a NodeList of matching element nodes (with a namespace), and their children |
getFeature(feature,version) | Returns a DOM object which implements the specialized APIs of the specified feature and version |
getUserData(key) | Returns the object associated to a key on a this node. The object must first have been set to this node by calling setUserData with the same key |
hasAttribute() | Returns whether an element has any attributes matching a specified name |
hasAttributeNS() | Returns whether an element has any attributes matching a specified name and namespace |
hasAttributes() | Returns whether the element has any attributes |
hasChildNodes() | Returns whether the element has any child nodes |
insertBefore() | Inserts a new child node before an existing child node |
isDefaultNamespace(URI) | Returns whether the specified namespaceURI is the default |
isEqualNode() | Checks if two nodes are equal |
lookupNamespaceURI() | Returns the namespace URI matching a specified prefix |
lookupPrefix() | Returns the prefix matching a specified namespace URI |
normalize() | Puts all text nodes underneath this element (including attributes) into a "normal" form where only structure (e.g., elements, comments, processing instructions, CDATA sections, and entity references) separates Text nodes, i.e., there are neither adjacent Text nodes nor empty Text nodes |
removeAttribute() | Removes a specified attribute |
removeAttributeNS() | Removes a specified attribute (with a namespace) |
removeAttributeNode() | Removes a specified attribute node |
removeChild() | Removes a child node |
replaceChild() | Replaces a child node |
setUserData(key,data,handler) | Associates an object to a key on the element |
setAttribute() | Adds a new attribute |
setAttributeNS() | Adds a new attribute (with a namespace) |
setAttributeNode() | Adds a new attribute node |
setAttributeNodeNS(attrnode) | Adds a new attribute node (with a namespace) |
setIdAttribute(name,isId) | If the isId property of the Attribute object is true, this method declares the specified attribute to be a user-determined ID attribute |
setIdAttributeNS(uri,name,isId) | If the isId property of the Attribute object is true, this method declares the specified attribute (with a namespace) to be a user-determined ID attribute |
setIdAttributeNode(idAttr,isId) | If the isId property of the Attribute object is true, this method declares the specified attribute to be a user-determined ID attribute |