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HTML DOM Document Object


HTML DOM Nodes

In the HTML DOM (Document Object Model), every element is a node:


Document Object

When a browser loads an HTML document, it becomes a Document Object.

The Document object is the root node of the HTML document.

The Document object allows us to access all elements in the HTML page from scripts.

Tip: The Document object is part of the Window object and can be accessed via the window.document property.


Browser Support

All major browsers support the Document object.


Document Object Properties and Methods

The following properties and methods can be used on the HTML document:

Property / Method Description
document.activeElement Returns the currently focused element
document.addEventListener() Adds an event handler to the document
document.adoptNode(node) Adopts a node from another document into the current document
document.anchors Returns a reference to all Anchor objects in the document
document.applets Returns a reference to all Applet objects in the document. Note: HTML5 no longer supports the <applet> element.
document.baseURI Returns the absolute base URI of the document
document.body Returns the body element of the document
document.close() Closes the output stream previously opened with document.open() and displays the selected data
document.cookie Sets or returns all cookies associated with the document
document.createAttribute() Creates an attribute node
document.createComment() Creates a comment node
document.createDocumentFragment() Creates an empty DocumentFragment object and returns it
document.createElement() Creates an element node
document.createTextNode() Creates a text node
document.doctype Returns the Document Type Declaration (DTD) associated with the document
document.documentElement Returns the root node of the document
document.documentMode Returns the mode used by the browser to render the document
document.documentURI Sets or returns the location of the document
document.domain Returns the domain name of the document
document.domConfig Obsolete. Returns the configuration used when normalizeDocument() is called
document.embeds Returns a collection of all embedded content (embed) in the document
document.forms Returns a reference to all Form objects in the document
document.getElementsByClassName() Returns a collection of elements with a specified class name, as a NodeList object
document.getElementById() Returns a reference to the first object with the specified id
document.getElementsByName() Returns a collection of objects with the specified name
document.getElementsByTagName() Returns a collection of objects with the specified tag name
document.images Returns a reference to all Image objects in the document
document.implementation Returns the DOMImplementation object that handles this document
document.importNode() Copies a node from another document into this document
document.inputEncoding Returns the encoding used for the document (at the time of parsing)
document.lastModified Returns the date and time the document was last modified
document.links Returns a reference to all Area and Link objects in the document
document.normalize() Removes empty text nodes and joins adjacent nodes
document.normalizeDocument() Removes empty text nodes and joins adjacent nodes
document.open() Opens a stream to collect output from document.write() or document.writeln() methods
document.querySelector() Returns the first element in the document that matches the specified CSS selector
document.querySelectorAll() Returns all elements in the document that match the specified CSS selector, as a NodeList object
document.readyState Returns the loading status of the document
document.referrer Returns the URL of the document that loaded the current document
document.removeEventListener() Removes an event handler from the document (added with addEventListener())
document.renameNode() Renames an element or attribute node
document.scripts Returns a collection of all script elements in the document
document.strictErrorChecking Sets or returns whether error checking is enforced
document.title Returns the title of the current document
document.URL Returns the complete URL of the document
document.write() Writes HTML expressions or JavaScript code to a document
document.writeln() Same as write(), but adds a newline character after each statement

Warning !!!

In the W3C DOM Core, the document object inherits all properties and methods from the node object.

Many properties and methods do not make sense in the context of a document.

HTML Document Object should avoid using these node object properties and methods:

Property / Method Reason to Avoid
document.attributes The document does not have this property
document.hasAttributes() The document does not have this property
document.nextSibling The document does not have a next node
document.nodeName This is usually #document
document.nodeType This is usually 9 (DOCUMENT_NODE)
document.nodeValue The document does not have a node value
document.ownerDocument The document does not have a master document
document.ownerElement The document does not have its own node
document.parentNode The document does not have a parent node
document.previousSibling The document does not have sibling nodes
document.textContent The document does not have text nodes
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