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JavaScript HTML DOM Document


The HTML DOM document object is the owner of all other objects in your web page.


The HTML DOM Document Object

The document object represents your web page.

If you want to access any element in an HTML page, you always start with accessing the document object.

Below are some examples of how you can use the document object to access and manipulate HTML.


Finding HTML Elements

Method Description
document.getElementById(id) Find an element by element id
document.getElementsByTagName(name) Find elements by tag name
document.getElementsByClassName(name) Find elements by class name

Changing HTML Elements

Method Description
element.innerHTML =  new html content Change the inner HTML of an element
element.attribute = new value Change the attribute value of an HTML element
element.setAttribute(attribute, value) Change the attribute value of an HTML element
element.style.property = new style Change the style of an HTML element

Adding and Deleting Elements

Method Description
document.createElement(element) Create an HTML element
document.removeChild(element) Remove an HTML element
document.appendChild(element) Add an HTML element
document.replaceChild(element) Replace an HTML element
document.write(text) Write into the HTML output stream

Adding Events Handlers

Method Description
document.getElementById(id).onclick = function(){code} Adding event handler code to an onclick event

Finding HTML Objects

The first HTML DOM Level 1 (1998), defined 11 HTML objects, object collections, and properties. These are still valid in HTML5.

Later, in HTML DOM Level 3, more objects, collections, and properties were added.

Property Description DOM
document.anchors Returns all <a> elements that have a name attribute 1
document.applets Returns all <applet> elements (Deprecated in HTML5) 1
document.baseURI Returns the absolute base URI of the document 3
document.body Returns the <body> element 1
document.cookie Returns the document's cookie 1
document.doctype Returns the document's doctype 3
document.documentElement Returns the <html> element 3
document.documentMode Returns the mode used by the browser 3
document.documentURI Returns the URI of the document 3
document.domain Returns the domain name of the document server 1
document.domConfig Obsolete. Returns the DOM configuration 3
document.embeds Returns all <embed> elements 3
document.forms Returns all <form> elements 1
document.head Returns the <head> element 3
document.images Returns all <img> elements 1
document.implementation Returns the DOM implementation 3
document.inputEncoding Returns the document's encoding (character set) 3
document.lastModified Returns the date and time the document was updated 3
document.links Returns all <area> and <a> elements that have a href attribute 1
document.readyState Returns the (loading) status of the document 3
document.referrer Returns the URI of the referrer (the linking document) 1
document.scripts Returns all <script> elements 3
document.strictErrorChecking Returns if error checking is enforced 3
document.title Returns the <title> element 1
document.URL Returns the complete URL of the document 1