Tech Info - DOM-2 getElementById

W3C Core Reference. Part of the Document Interface.

getElementById Method

One of the three basic methods of getting a reference to a node using the DOM. Gets a reference to a node (always an element) which has an 'id="id-name"' attribute in its HTML definition (or more correctly has its id property set to 'id-name'.

Syntax

element = document.getElementById(id-name)

Related Stuff

getElementsByTagName

Parameters

Name	Descriptiono	Notes
id-name	defined by 'id=id-name' in the HTML or has been assigned an id attribute of 'id-name'.

Examples

// create some text
sometext = document.createTextNode("what a way to spend a life");
// stick them onto an existing object
existingobject = document.getElementById("one");
existingobject.appendChild(sometext);
// empty HTML paragraph fragment 
<p id='one'></>

// example using id attribute
// create a new paragraph element
newnode = document.createElement("p");
newnode.id = "newnode";
// a long time later
node = document.getElementById("newnode");
// do something with the node

The first example uses an existing HTML id attribute to get the reference to 'one' the second example sets the 'id' attribute by code and then uses this id to obtain a reference later.

Notes:

.

---

Problems, comments, suggestions, corrections (including broken links) or something to add? Please take the time from a busy life to 'mail us' (at top of screen), the webmaster (below) or info-support at zytrax. You will have a warm inner glow for the rest of the day.