DOMImplementation.createHTMLDocument()

This is an experimental technology
Because this technology's specification has not stabilized, check the compatibility table for usage in various browsers. Also note that the syntax and behavior of an experimental technology is subject to change in future versions of browsers as the specification changes.

The DOMImplementation.createHTMLDocument() method creates a new HTML Document.

Syntax

newDoc = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument(title);

Parameters

title  Optional (except in IE)
Is a DOMString containing the title to give the new HTML document.

Example

This example creates a new HTML document and inserts it into an <iframe> in the current document.

Here's the HTML for this example:

<body>
  <p>Click <a href="javascript:makeDocument()">here</a> to create a new document and insert it below.</p>
  <iframe id="theFrame" src="about:blank" />
</body>

The JavaScript implementation of the makeDocument() method follows:

function makeDocument() {
  var frame = document.getElementById("theFrame");
  var doc = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument("New Document");
  var p = doc.createElement("p");
  p.innerHTML = "This is a new paragraph.";
  try {
    doc.body.appendChild(p);
  } catch(e) {
    console.log(e);
  }
  // Copy the new HTML document into the frame
  var destDocument = frame.contentDocument;
  var srcNode = doc.documentElement;
  var newNode = destDocument.importNode(srcNode, true);
  destDocument.replaceChild(newNode, destDocument.documentElement);
}

The code in lines 4-12 handle creating the new HTML document and inserting some content into it. Line 4 uses createHTMLDocument() to construct a new HTML document whose <title> is "New Document". Lines 5 and 6 create a new paragraph element with some simple content, and then lines 8-12 handle inserting the new paragraph into the new document.

Line 16 pulls the contentDocument of the frame; this is the document into which we'll be injecting the new content. The next two lines handle importing the contents of our new document into the new document's context. Finally, line 20 actually replaces the contents of the frame with the new document's contents.

View Live Examples

The returned document is pre-constructed with the following HTML:

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<title>title</title>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
DOM
The definition of 'DOMImplementation.createHTMLDocument' in that specification.		 Living Standard Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Edge Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) 4.0 (2.0) [1] 9.0 (Yes) (Yes)
Feature Android Edge Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) 4.0 (2.0) [1] (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)

[1] The title parameter has only been made optional in Firefox 23.

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

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 Contributors to this page: chriszrc, JorisW, erikadoyle, teoli, bradleyayers, Prome, kscarfone, Sheppy, fscholz, ziyunfei, Jscher2000
 Last updated by: chriszrc,