The Node object represents a single node in the document tree.
A node can be an element node, an attribute node, a text node, or any other of the node types explained in the Node Types chapter.
Notice that while all objects inherits the Node properties / methods for dealing with parents and children, not all objects can have parents or children. For example, Text nodes may not have children, and adding children to such nodes results in a DOM error.
IE: Internet Explorer, F: Firefox, O: Opera, W3C: World Wide Web Consortium (Internet Standard)
| Property | Description | IE | F | O | W3C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| baseURI | Returns the absolute base URI of a node | No | 1 | No | Yes |
| childNodes | Returns a NodeList of child nodes for a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| firstChild | Returns the first child of a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| lastChild | Returns the last child of a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| localName | Returns the local part of the name of a node | No | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| namespaceURI | Returns the namespace URI of a node | No | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| nextSibling | Returns the node immediately following a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| nodeName | Returns the name of a node, depending on its type | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| nodeType | Returns the type of a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| nodeValue | Sets or returns the value of a node, depending on its type | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| ownerDocument | Returns the root element (document object) for a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| parentNode | Returns the parent node of a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| prefix | Sets or returns the namespace prefix of a node | No | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| previousSibling | Returns the node immediately before a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| textContent | Sets or returns the textual content of a node and its descendants | No | 1 | No | Yes |
| text | Returns the text of a node and its descendants. IE-only property | 5 | No | No | No |
| xml | Returns the XML of a node and its descendants. IE-only property | 5 | No | No | No |
| Method | Description | IE | F | O | W3C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| appendChild() | Adds a new child node to the end of the list of children of a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| cloneNode() | Clones a node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| compareDocumentPosition() | Compares the document position of two nodes | No | 1 | No | Yes |
| getFeature(feature,version) | Returns a DOM object which implements the specialized APIs of the specified feature and version | No | Yes | ||
| 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 | No | Yes | ||
| hasAttributes() | Returns true if a node has any attributes, otherwise it returns false | No | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| hasChildNodes() | Returns true if a node has any child nodes, otherwise it returns false | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| insertBefore() | Inserts a new child node before an existing child node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| isDefaultNamespace(URI) | Returns whether the specified namespaceURI is the default | No | Yes | ||
| isEqualNode() | Checks if two nodes are equal | No | No | No | Yes |
| isSameNode() | Checks if two nodes are the same node | No | 1 | No | Yes |
| isSupported(feature,version) | Returns whether a specified feature is supported on a node | 9 | Yes | ||
| lookupNamespaceURI() | Returns the namespace URI matching a specified prefix | No | 1 | No | Yes |
| lookupPrefix() | Returns the prefix matching a specified namespace URI | No | 1 | No | Yes |
| normalize() | Puts all text nodes underneath a node (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 | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| removeChild() | Removes a child node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| replaceChild() | Replaces a child node | 5 | 1 | 9 | Yes |
| setUserData(key,data,handler) | Associates an object to a key on a node | No | Yes |
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