<foreignObject>

The <foreignObject> SVG element allows for inclusion of a foreign XML namespace which has its graphical content drawn by a different user agent. The included foreign graphical content is subject to SVG transformations and compositing.

The contents of foreignObject are assumed to be from a different namespace. Any SVG elements within a foreignObject will not be drawn, except in the situation where a properly defined SVG subdocument with a proper xmlns attribute specification is embedded recursively. One situation where this can occur is when an SVG document fragment is embedded within another non-SVG document fragment, which in turn is embedded within an SVG document fragment (e.g., an SVG document fragment contains an XHTML document fragment which in turn contains yet another SVG document fragment).

Usually, a foreignObject will be used in conjunction with the <switch> element and the requiredExtensions attribute to provide proper checking for user agent support and provide an alternate rendering in case user agent support is not available.

Usage context

CategoriesNone
Permitted contentAny elements or character data

Example

<svg width="400px" height="300px" viewBox="0 0 400 300"
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <desc>This example uses the 'switch' element to provide a 
        fallback graphical representation of a paragraph, if 
        XHTML is not supported.</desc>
  <!-- The 'switch' element will process the first child element
       whose testing attributes evaluate to true.-->
  <switch>
    <!-- Process the embedded XHTML if the requiredExtensions attribute
         evaluates to true (i.e., the user agent supports XHTML
         embedded within SVG). -->
    <foreignObject width="100" height="50"
                   requiredExtensions="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
      <!-- XHTML content goes here -->
      <body xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
        <p>Here is a paragraph that requires word wrap</p>
      </body>
    </foreignObject>
    <!-- Else, process the following alternate SVG.
         Note that there are no testing attributes on the 'text' element.
         If no testing attributes are provided, it is as if there
         were testing attributes and they evaluated to true.-->
    <text font-size="10" font-family="Verdana">
      <tspan x="10" y="10">Here is a paragraph that</tspan>
      <tspan x="10" y="20">requires word wrap.</tspan>
    </text>
  </switch>
</svg>

Attributes

Global attributes

Specific attributes

DOM Interface

This element implements the SVGForeignObjectElement interface.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2
The definition of '<foreignObject>' in that specification.		 Candidate Recommendation  
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 (Second Edition)
The definition of '<foreignObject>' in that specification.		 Recommendation Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 1.0 1.9 No support 2.0 3.0
Feature Android Chrome for Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support ? 18.0 2.0 No support 2.0 3.0

The chart is based on these sources.

Document Tags and Contributors

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 Contributors to this page: Sebastianz, julienetie, kscarfone, Jeremie, trevorh, Manuel_Strehl, Sheppy
 Last updated by: Sebastianz,