Document.documentElement
returns the Element
that is the root element of the document
(for example, the <html>
element for HTML documents).
Syntax
var element = document.documentElement;
Example
var rootElement = document.documentElement; var firstTier = rootElement.childNodes; // firstTier is the NodeList of the direct children of the root element for (var i = 0; i < firstTier.length; i++) { // do something with each direct kid of the root element // as firstTier[i] }
Notes
HTML documents typically contain a single child node, <html>
, perhaps with a DOCTYPE declaration before it. XML documents often contain multiple child nodes: the root element, the DOCTYPE declaration, and processing instructions.
That's why you should use document.documentElement
rather than document.firstChild
to get the root element.
Specifications
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Last updated by:
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