Alphabetical Object Reference (Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference, 2nd Edition)

body NN 6 IE 4 DOM 1

The body object reflects the body element, which is distinct from the document object. The body object refers to just the element and its nested content. There can be only one body element in an HTML page, so both the IE and W3C DOMs provide a shortcut reference to the object, document.body. Event handlers listed here appear as attributes in the <body> tag, but in truth are document-level events (best referenced in property form as document.eventName). While IE for the Mac doesn't share the sets of client and scroll properties with all element objects, those properties are defined for the body object.

In its effort to institute the standards-compatible mode in IE 6 for Windows (see the DOCTYPE element in Chapter 8), Microsoft has rendered useless the old trick of using the body element's clientHeight and clientWidth properties to obtain the equivalent of Netscape's window.innerHeight and window.innerWidth properties. In standards-compatibility mode (where document.compatMode == "CSS1Compat"), you must use the html element's clientHeight and clientWidth properties to find these values. Use these effective reference shortcuts:

document.body.parentNode.clientHeight
document.body.parentNode.clientWidth

HTML Equivalent

<body>

Object Model Reference

[window.]document.body

Object-Specific Properties

`alink`	`background`	`bgColor`	`bgProperties`	`bottomMargin`
`leftMargin`	`link`	`noWrap`	`rightMargin`	`scroll`
`text`	`topMargin`	`vLink`

Object-Specific Methods

createTextRange( )

Object-Specific Event Handler Properties

Handler	IE Windows	IE Mac	NN	W3C DOM
`onafterprint`	5	n/a	n/a	n/a
`onbeforeprint`	5	n/a	n/a	n/a
`onbeforeunload`	4	n/a	n/a	n/a
`onload`	3	3.01	2	2
`onselect`	n/a	n/a	6	n/a
`onunload`	3	3.01	2	2

aLink NN 6 IE 4 DOM 1
Read/Write
Indicates a color of a hypertext link as it is being clicked. The color is applied to the link text or border around an image or object embedded within an a element. See also link and vLink properties for unvisited and visited link colors. The deprecated but backward-compatible version of this property is the alinkColor property of the document object.

Example

document.body.aLink = "green";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

#0000FF

background NN 6 IE 4 DOM 1
Read/Write
Provides the URL of the background image for the entire document. If you set a bgColor to the element as well, the color appears if the image fails to load; otherwise, the image overlays the color.

Example

document.body.background = "images/watermark.jpg";

Value

Complete or relative URL to the background image file.

Default

None.

bgColor NN 6 IE 4 DOM 1
Read/Write
Provides the background color of the element. Even if the bgcolor attribute or bgColor property is set with a plain-language color name, the returned value is always a hexadecimal triplet.

Example

document.body.bgColor = "yellow";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

Varies with browser and operating system.

bgProperties NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Specifies whether the background image remains in a fixed position or scrolls as a user scrolls the page. When the background image is set to remain in a fixed position, scrolled content flows past the background image very much like film credits roll past a background image on the screen.

Example

document.body.bgProperties = "fixed";

Value

An empty string (indicating the normal scrolling behavior) or the case-insensitive constant string fixed.

Default

Empty string.

bottomMargin NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Indicates the amount of blank space between the very end of content and the bottom of a scrollable page. The setting has no visual effect if the length of the content or size of the window does not cause the window to scroll. The default value is for the end of content to be flush with the end of the document, but in the Macintosh version of Internet Explorer, there is about a 10-pixel margin visible even when the property is set to zero. Larger sizes are reflected properly. This property offers somewhat of a shortcut or alternative to setting the marginBottom style sheet property for the body element object.

Example

document.body.bottomMargin = 20;

Value

An integer value (zero or greater) of the number of pixels of clear space at the bottom of the document.

Default

0

leftMargin NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Provides the width in pixels of the left margin of the body element in the browser window or frame. By default, the browser inserts a small margin to keep content from abutting the left edge of the window. Setting the property to an empty string is the same as setting it to zero.

Example

document.body.leftMargin = 16;

Value

Integer of pixel count.

Default

10 (Windows); 8 (Macintosh).

link NN 6 IE 4 DOM 1
Read/Write
Indicates the color of a hypertext link that has not been visited (that is, the URL of the link is not in the browser's cache). This is one of three states for a link: unvisited, active, and visited. The color is applied to the link text or border around an image or object embedded within an a element. This property has the same effect as setting the document object's linkColor property.

Example

document.body.link = "#00FF00";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

#0000FF

noWrap NN n/a IE 4 DOM 1
Read/Write
Specifies whether the browser should render the body content as wide as necessary to display a line of nonbreaking text on one line. Abuse of this attribute can force the user into a great deal of inconvenient horizontal scrolling of the page to view all of the content.

Example

document.body.noWrap = "true";

Value

Boolean value: true | false.

Default

false

rightMargin NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Provides the width in pixels of the right margin of the body element in the browser window or frame. By default, the browser inserts a small margin to keep content from abutting the right edge of the window (except on the Macintosh). Setting the property to an empty string is the same as setting it to zero.

Example

document.body.leftMargin = 16;

Value

Integer of pixel count.

Default

10 (Windows); 0 (Macintosh).

scroll NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Specifies whether the window (or frame) displays scrollbars when the content exceeds the window size. If your document specifies a standards-compatible DOCTYPE definition (see Chapter 8), the scroll property does not respond to changes for the body element. Nor does the html element object gain this property, as Microsoft's developer documentation purports.

Example
document.body.scroll = "no";
Value

Not exactly a Boolean value. Requires one of the following string values: yes | no | auto.

Default

yes

text NN 6 IE 4 DOM 1
Read/Write
Indicates the color of text for the entire document body. Equivalent to the foreground color.

Example

document.body.text = "darkred";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

Browser default (user customizable).

topMargin NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Provides the width in pixels of the top margin of the body element in the browser window or frame. By default, the browser inserts a small margin to keep content from abutting the top edge of the window. Setting the property to an empty string is the same as setting it to zero.

Example

document.body.topMargin = 16;

Value

Integer of pixel count.

Default

15 (Windows); 8 (Macintosh).

vLink NN 6 IE 4 DOM 1
Read/Write
Indicates the color of a hypertext link that has been visited recently. The color is applied to the link text or border around an image or object embedded within an a element. See also link and aLink properties for unvisited and clicked link colors. The deprecated but backward-compatible version of this property is the vlinkColor property of the document object.

Example

document.body.vLink = "gold";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

#551a8b (Navigator 4); #800080 (Internet Explorer 4 Windows); #006010 (Internet Explorer 4 Macintosh).

createTextRange( ) NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
Creates a TextRange object from the rendered text content of the current element. See the TextRange object for details.

Returned Value

TextRange object.

Parameters

None.

document NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1

The document object represents both the content viewed in the browser window or frame and the other content of the HTML file loaded into the window or frame. Thus, all information from the head portion of the file is also part of the document object. All references to elements must include a reference to the document object. The document object has no name other than its hard-wired object name: document.

For a browser with internal architecture based closely on the W3C DOM, this document object represents the HTMLDocument object—a special kind (internal subclass) of the core module's Document object, suited to holding HTML documents. In other words, the HTMLDocument object inherits the properties and methods of the core Document object (sharing facilities with XML documents) and gets additional properties and methods that apply only to HTML documents. Of course, there is the conceptual incongruity about whether an HTMLDocument is applicable to an XHTML document because such a document theoretically is an XML document. But, in practice, even an XHTML document becomes an HTML document for scripting purposes, and has all the HTMLDocument properties and methods available to it.

One more important practical side to a W3C DOM implementation (as evidenced by the Netscape 6 implementation) is that the document object internally implements document-level properties and methods from other DOM modules, such as views, events, and styles. Each of these modules defines an object (DocumentEvent, DocumentRange, DocumentStyle, and DocumentView) that provides a vital connection between the HTMLDocument and these add-on module features. Thus, it is the styleSheets property of the DocumentStyle object in the W3C DOM that the scriptable document object described here uses to reach the styleSheet objects and their rules. And the DocumentEvent object links in its createEvent( ) method that allows the scriptable document object to generate an event outside the normal user- or system-created events. All of these features become subsumed by the document object you reference and script in Netscape 6 and similar browsers. The precise source module for a particular feature is not important to the scripter—all you need to know is that the properties and methods belong to the scriptable document object.

Object Model Reference

[window.]document

Object-Specific Properties

`activeElement`	`alinkColor`	`anchors[ ]`	`applets[ ]`
`bgColor`	`body`	`charset`	`characterSet`
`compatMode`	`cookie`	`defaultCharset`	`defaultView`
`doctype`	`documentElement`	`domain`	`embeds[ ]`
`expando`	`fgColor`	`fileCreatedDate`	`fileModifiedDate`
`fileSize`	`fileUpdatedDate`	`forms[]`	`frames[]`
`height`	`ids[]`	`images[]`	`implementation`
`lastModified`	`layers[]`	`linkColor`	`links[]`
`location`	`media`	`mimeType`	`nameProp`
`namespaces[]`	`parentWindow`	`plugins[]`	`protocol`
`readyState`	`referrer`	`scripts[]`	`security`
`selection`	`styleSheets[]`	`tags[]`	`title`
`URL`	`URLUnencoded`	`vlinkColor`	`width`

Object-Specific Methods

`addBinding( )`	`captureEvents( )`
`clear( )`	`close( )`
`createAttribute( )`	`createAttributeNS( )`
`createCDATASection( )`	`createComment( )`
`createDocumentFragment( )`	`createElement( )`
`createElementNS( )`	`createEntityReference( )`
`createEvent( )`	`createEventObject( )`
`createNodeIterator( )`	`createProcessingInstruction( )`
`createRange( )`	`createStyleSheet( )`
`createTextNode( )`	`createTreeWalker( )`
`elementFromPoint( )`	`execCommand( )`
`getAnonymousElementByAttribute( )`	`getAnonymousNodes( )`
`getBindingParent( )`	`getElementById( )`
`getElementsByName( )`	`getSelection( )`
`handleEvent( )`	`hasFocus( )`
`importNode( )`	`loadBindingDocument( )`
`open( )`	`queryCommandEnabled( )`
`queryCommandIndeterm( )`	`queryCommandState( )`
`queryCommandSupported( )`	`queryCommandText( )`
`queryCommandValue( )`	`recalc( )`
`releaseEvents( )`	`removeBinding( )`
`routeEvent( )`	`write( )`
`writeln( )`

Object-Specific Event Handler Properties

Handler	NN	IE	DOM
`onselectionchange`	n/a	4	n/a
`onstop`	n/a	4	n/a

activeElement NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Refers to the object that is currently designated as the active element in the document. To learn more about the returned object, you'll need to examine the object's tagName, id, or other properties. Because buttons and other elements do not receive focus on the IE 4 for Macintosh, the returned value of this property may vary with operating system. While an element (especially a form control) that receives focus also becomes active, an element might be active, but due to other settings in newer IE versions, does not have focus. See the shared setActive( ) method.

Example

var currObj = document.activeElement;

Value

Element object reference.

Default

None.

alinkColor NN 2 IE 3 DOM n/a
Read/Write (IE)
Specifies the color of a hypertext link as it is being clicked. The color is applied to the link text or border around an image or object embedded within an a element. See also linkColor and vlinkColor properties for unvisited and visited link colors. Replaced in the W3C DOM by the aLink property of the body object, which is supported in IE 4 and later and in Netscape 6. Dynamically changed values for alinkColor are not reflected on the page in Navigator through Version 4.

Example

document.alinkColor = "green";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

#0000FF

anchors[ ] NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1
Returns an array of all anchor objects in the current document. This includes a elements that are designed as either anchors or combination anchors and links. Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order.

Example

var aCount = document.anchors.length;

Value

Array of anchor element objects.

Default

Array of length zero.

applets[ ] NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1
Returns an array of all Java applet objects in the current document. An applet must be started and running before it is counted as an object. Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order.

Example

var appletCount = document.applets.length

Value

Array of applet element objects.

Default

Array of length zero.

bgColor NN 2 IE 3 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Provides the background color of the document. Even if the bgcolor attribute or bgColor property is set with a plain-language color name, the returned value is always a hexadecimal triplet.
Setting the bgColor property of a document in Navigator 2 or 3 for Macintosh or Unix does not properly redraw the window. Window content is obscured by the new color on those platforms. For browsers that support the document.body object, use the bgColor property of that object instead.

Example

document.bgColor = "yellow";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

Varies with browser and operating system.

body NN 6 IE 4 DOM 1
Read-only
Returns a reference to the body object defined by the body element within the document. This property is used as a gateway to the body object's properties.

Example

document.body.leftMargin = 15;

Value

Object reference.

Default

The current body object.

charset NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Indicates the character encoding of the document's content. This property is dropped from IE 6 for Windows in favor of the document.defaultCharset property. For Netscape 6, use the document.characterSet property.

Example

if (document.charset == "csISO5427Cyrillic") { // process for Cyrillic charset }

Value

Case-insensitive alias from the character set registry (ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/character-sets).

Default

Determined by browser.

characterSet NN 6 IE n/a DOM n/a
Read-only
Indicates the character encoding of the document's content.

Example

if (document.characterSet == "ISO-8859-1") { // process for standard Latin character set }

Value

Case-insensitive alias from the character set registry (ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/character-sets).

Default

Determined by browser.

compatMode NN 7 IE 6 DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns the compatibility mode for the document, as controlled by the DOCTYPE element's content. See the DOCTYPE element discussion in Chapter 8 for details on how to force the browser to treat a document in either backward compatibility or standards compatibility mode for element positioning and other implementation details. Because the choice of mode can impact some style property results, you can use this property to branch between two calculations in a shared library so that they treat the current document correctly, regardless of mode.

Example
if (document.compatMode == "BackCompat") {
    // process as if IE 5.5 or earlier or Netscape "quirks" mode
}
Value

String constant: BackCompat | CSS1Compat.

Default

BackCompat

cookie NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1
Read/Write
Indicates the HTTP cookie associated with the domain of the document and stored on the client machine. The Netscape browsers group all cookie data together into a single file, while IE creates a separate file for each domain's cookie data. Reading and writing the cookie property are not parallel operations. Reading a cookie property returns a semicolon-delimited list of name/value pairs in the following format:
name=value
Up to 20 of these pairs can be stored in the cookie property for a given domain (regardless of the number of HTML documents used in that web site). A total of 4,000 characters can be stored in the cookie, but it is advisable to keep each name/value pair to less than 2,000 characters in length. It is up to your scripting code to parse the cookie property value for an individually named cookie's value.
Writing cookie property values allows more optional pairs of data associated with a single name/value pair. Cookie data must be a string, but you can deconstruct an array into a string via the Array.join( ) method for writing the cookie value, and then use String.split( ) to reconstruct the array after reading the cookie data. The format is as follows:
document.cookie = "name=value [; expires=timeInGMT] [; path=pathName] [; domain=domainName] [; secure]";
No matter how many optional subproperties you set per cookie, only the name/value pair may be retrieved. All cookie data written to the cookie property is maintained in the browser's memory until the browser quits. If an expiration date has been made part of the cookie data and that time has not yet expired, the cookie data is saved to the actual cookie file; otherwise, the cookie data is discarded. The browser automatically deletes cookie data that has expired when the browser next starts.

Example

var exp = new Date( ); var nowPlusOneWeek = exp.getTime( ) + (7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000); exp.setTime(nowPlusOneWeek); document.cookie = "userName=visitor; expires=" + exp.toGMTString( );

Value

Cookie data as string. See description.

Default

None.

defaultCharset NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Indicates the character encoding of the content of the document.

Example

var cset = document.defaultCharset;

Value

Case-insensitive alias from the character set registry (ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/character-sets).

Default

Determined by browser.

defaultView NN 6 IE n/a DOM 2
Read-only
Returns a reference to the W3C DOM abstract representation of a "viewer" that renders the document (the formal name for the object is AbstractView). In Netscape 6, this object equates to the window or frame object that contains the document. A script function that has access to a document object (such as via the element object's ownerDocument property) can obtain a valid reference to the document's window via this defaultView property. The document's view includes knowledge about cascaded style rules applied to each element. See Chapter 4 for an example of obtaining the effective style of an element with the help of the document.defaultView property and the getComputedStyle( ) method.
This is as close as the W3C DOM Level 2 comes to acknowledging the existence of a window object. More is to come in Level 3.

Example
var theWin = elemRef.ownerDocument.defaultView;
Value

Reference to a window object.

Default

The document's window.

doctype NN 6 IE 5(Mac) DOM 1
Read-only
Returns a reference to the DOCTYPE element object (the same as the W3C DOM abstract DocumentType node object). The property returns a reference value only if the DOCTYPE is specified in the document; otherwise the property returns null. As of Version 6, IE for Windows does not implement this property or node type. See the DocumentType object for properties available in various browsers. In a pure W3C DOM environment, the doctype property is inherited from the core document object, and is thus available to XML documents, as well.

Example

var docsType = document.doctype;

Value

Node reference.

Default

None.

documentElement NN 6 IE 5 DOM 1
Read-only
Returns a reference to the root element node of the document. For HTML documents, the reference is to the html element that encompasses the document's head and body elements. In a pure W3C DOM environment, the documentElement property is inherited from the core document object, and is thus available to XML documents, as well.

Example

var rootElem = document.documentElement;

Value

Element node reference.

Default

The current html element object.

domain NN 3 IE 4 DOM 1
Read/Write
Provides the hostname of the server that served up the document. If documents from different servers on the same domain must exchange content with each other, the domain properties of both documents must be set to the same domain to avoid security restrictions. Normally, if the hosts don't match, browser security disallows access to the other document's form data. This property allows, for example, a page from the www server to communicate with a page served up by a secure server.

Example

document.domain = "megaCorp.com";

Value

String of the domain name that two documents have in common (exclusive of the server name).

Default

None.

embeds[ ] NN 3 IE 4 DOM n/a
Returns an array of all embedded objects (embed elements) in the current document. Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order.

Example

var embedCount = document.embeds.length;

Value

Array of embed object references.

Default

Array of zero length.

expando NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Specifies whether scripts in the current document allow the creation and use of custom properties assigned to the document object. The extensible nature of JavaScript allows scripters to create a new object property by just assigning a value to it (as in document.stooge = "Curly"). This also means the document accepts incorrectly spelled property assignments, such as forgetting to set a middle letter of a long property name to uppercase (marginLeftColor). Such assignments are accepted without question, but the desired result is nowhere to be seen. If you don't intend to create custom properties, consider setting document.expando to false in an opening script statement as you author a page. This could help prevent spelling errors from causing bugs. The setting affects only scripts in the current document.

Example

document.expando = false;

Value

Boolean value: true | false.

Default

true

fgColor NN 2 IE 3 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Provides the foreground (text) color for the document. While you can change this property in all versions of Navigator, the text does not change dynamically in versions prior to 6. Still supported in current browsers, this property is replaced in IE 4 and Netscape 6 by document.body.text or style sheet settings.

Example

document.fgColor = "darkred";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

Browser default (usually black).

fileCreatedDate NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns a string of the date (but not the time) that the server (or local filesystem) reports the currently-loaded file was created. IE 4's value is a long date format, but starting with IE 5, the date information is formatted as mm/dd/yyyy. The value may be corrupted if the server supplies the data in a format that IE does not expect. Not implemented in IE Mac through Version 5.1.

Example

var dateObj = new Date(document.fileCreatedDate);

Value

Date string.

Default

None.

fileModifiedDate NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns a string of the date (but not the time) that the server (or local file system) reports the currently-loaded file was most recently modified. IE 4's value is a long date format, but starting with IE 5, the date information is formatted as mm/dd/yyyy. The value may be corrupted or incorrect if the server supplies the data in a format that IE does not expect. Not implemented in IE Mac through Version 5.1.

Example

var dateObj = new Date(document.fileModifiedDate);

Value

Date string.

Default

None.

fileSize NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns the number of bytes for the size of the currently-loaded document. IE for Windows returns this value as a string, while IE for Macintosh returns a number value (an important distinction if you need to perform math operations on the value).

Example

var byteCount = parseInt(document.fileSize, 10);

Value

Integer as string (Windows) or number (Mac).

Default

None.

fileUpdatedDate NN n/a IE 5.5(Win) DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns an empty string. Apparently not officially supported for the document object.

forms[ ] NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1
Read-only
Returns an array of all form objects (form elements) in the current document. Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order, but may also be accessed by using the form's name as a string index value.

Example

var elemCount = document.forms[0].elements.length;

Value

Array of form objects.

Default

Array of zero length.

frames[ ] NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns an array of all iframe objects (iframe element objects, not to be confused with window-like frame objects) in the current document. Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order. For cross-compatibility with IE 5 and later and Netscape 6, use document.getElementsByTagName("iframe") instead.

Example

var iframeCount = document.frames.length;

Value

Array of iframe objects.

Default

Array of zero length.

height, width NN 4 IE n/a DOM n/a
Read-only
Return the pixel dimensions of the entire rendered document. These values coincide with the offsetHeight and offsetWidth property values for the document.body object. Since neither property pairing is yet sanctioned by the W3C DOM, you might prefer the offset pair, because they are at least cross-browser compatible.

Example

var howTall = document.height;

Value

Number of pixels.

Default

Current document size.

ids[ ] NN |4| IE n/a DOM n/a
Read-only
Used with the Navigator 4-only JavaScript syntax of style sheets, the ids[] collection is part of a reference to a single ID and the style property assigned to it in the syntax form [document.]ids.idName.stylePropertyName. For a list of related properties, see the tags object listing in this chapter.

images[ ] NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1
Read-only
Returns an array of all img element objects (exclusive of pre-cached images loaded via the new Image( ) constructor) in the current document. Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order, and may be accessed by number or by string name. The presence of this property indicates support for live, swappable images.

Example

document.images["home"].src = "images/homeHilite.jpg";

Value

Array of img objects.

Default

Array of zero length.

implementation NN 6 IE 5(Mac)/6(Win) DOM 1
Read-only
Returns a reference to the W3C DOMImplementation object, which represents, to a limited degree, the environment that makes up the document container—the browser, for our purposes. Methods of the object let you see which DOM modules the browser reports supporting. This object is also a gateway to creating virtual W3C Document and DocumentType objects outside of the current document tree. Thus, in Netscape 6 you can use the document.implementation property as a start to generating a nonrendered document for external XML documents. See the DOMImplementation object for details about the methods and their browser support.

Example

var xDoc = document.implementation.createDocument("", "theXdoc", null);

Value

Reference to a DOMImplementation object.

Default

Current DOMImplementation object.

lastModified NN 2 IE 3 DOM n/a
Read-only
Provides the date and time (as a string) on which the server says the document file was last modified. Some servers don't supply this information at all or correctly. Non-Windows browsers also tend to have a rough time interpreting the information correctly. Only in recent browsers is the date string in a form suitable as a parameter for a Date object constructor.

Example

document.write(document.lastModified);

Value

String representation of a date and time.

Default

None.

layers[ ] NN |4| IE n/a DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns an array of all Navigator 4-only layer element objects in the current document. Also included in the array are references to other HTML elements with style sheets that set the element to be relative- or absolute-positioned (in which case, Navigator 4 treats those elements as layer objects). Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order, and may be accessed by number or by string name. As a dead-end feature implemented only in Navigator 4, the presence of this property indicates support for the unique referencing requirements for Netscape layers.

Example

if (document.layers) { // use document.layers[] syntax for references }

Value

Array of layer objects or their equivalent.

Default

Array of zero length.

linkColor NN 2 IE 3 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Indicates the color of a hypertext link that has not been visited (that is, the URL of the link is not in the browser's cache). This is one of three states for a link: unvisited, active, and visited. The color is applied to the link text or border around an image or object embedded within an a element. Changes to this property do not dynamically change the link color in Navigator 4 or earlier. Starting with IE 4 and Netscape 6, you should switch to using the W3C DOM alternative, document.body.link, or style sheets.

Example

document.link Color= "#00FF00";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

#0000FF

location NN <6 IE 3 DOM n/a
Read/Write
Indicates the URL of the current document. This property was deprecated because it may conflict with the window.location property. Netscape 6 drops support for this property entirely. Use either the document.URL property, or, better, the window.location.href property.

Example

document.location = "products/widget33.html";

Value

A full or relative URL as a string.

Default

Document URL.

media NN n/a IE 5.5(Win) DOM n/a
Read/Write
Returns a string indicating the output medium for which the content is formatted. The property returns an empty string as of IE 6, and throws a security error if you assign accepted string values (all, print, or screen) to it. Avoid using this property with the document object.

mimeType NN n/a IE 5(Win) DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns a string indicating the basic document type, but not in a MIME format. For an HTML document, the string returned changed starting with IE 5.5 to HTML Document. Do not confuse this document object property with the Netscape and IE/Mac navigator.mimeTypes property, which is an entirely different animal.

Example

var what = document.mimeType;

Value

String.

Default

"HTML Document"

nameProp NN n/a IE 6(Win) DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns a string containing the same data as document.title, including an empty string if no title element exists in the document. This property may not be officially supported for the document object.

Value

String.

Default

Empty string.

namespaces[ ] NN n/a IE 5.5(Win) DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns a collection of IE namespace objects implemented in the current document. A namespace object is a gateway to loading external behaviors. For more details, visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/behaviors/overview/elementb_ovw.asp.

Example
var IENSCount = document.namespaces.length;
Value

Array of namespace object references.

Default

Array of zero length.

parentWindow NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns a reference to the window object (which may be a frame in a frameset) that contains the current document. Use this reference to access the window's properties and methods directly. The returned value is the same as the window reference from the document.

Example

var siblingCount = document.parentWindow.frames.length;

Value

window or frame object reference.

Default

window object.

plugins[ ] NN 4 IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns an array of all embedded objects (embed elements) in the current document. Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order. Do not confuse this collection with the navigator.plugins collection in Netscape Navigator.

Example

var embedCount = document.plugins.length;

Value

Array of embed object references.

Default

Array of zero length.

protocol NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns a plain-language string describing the protocol used to load the current document. Unlike the location.protocol property's literal value (e.g., http: or file:), the document.protocol is human-readable (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol or File Protocol).

Example

if (document.protocol == "File Protocol") { // process for file access in IE }

Value

Plain-language string.

Default

Current document's protocol type.

readyState NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns the current download status of the document content. If a script (especially one initiated by a user event) can perform some actions while the document is still loading, but must avoid other actions until the entire page has loaded, this property provides intermediate information about the loading process. You would use its value in condition tests. The value of this property changes during loading as the loading state changes. Each change of the property value fires an onreadystatechange event.

Example

if (document.readyState == "loading") { // statements for alternate handling }

Value

One of the following values (as strings): complete | interactive | loading | uninitialized. Some elements may allow the user to interact with partial content, in which case the property may return interactive until all loading has completed.

Default

None.

referrer NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1
Read-only
Returns a string of the URL of the page from which the current page was accessed, provided the original page had a link to the current page. Many server logs capture this information as well. Scripts can see whether the visitor reached the current document from specific origins and perhaps present slightly different content on the page accordingly. If the visitor arrived by another method, such as typing the document URL into a browser dialog or by selecting a bookmark, the referrer property returns an empty string. Many versions of IE for Windows fail to report the correct referrer URL, often showing the URL of the current page instead.

Example

if (document.referrer) { document.write("<p>Thanks for following the link to our web site.</p>"); }

Value

String.

Default

None.

scripts[ ] NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns an array of all script objects (script elements) in the current document. Each script object may contain any number of functions. The scripts[] collection counts the number of actual <script> tags in the document. Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order.

Example

var scriptCount = document.scripts.length;

Value

Array of script element references.

Default

Array of zero length.

security NN n/a IE 5.5(Win) DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns a string describing the security policy in force for the current document.

Example

var secPolicy = document.security;

Value

String.

Default

"This type of document does not have a security certificate."

selection NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns a selection object. To work with text that has been selected by the user or script, you must convert the selection to a TextRange object. This is possible only in Internet Explorer for Win32. Access to the Netscape 6 selection is via the window.selection property.

Example

var range = document.selection.createRange( );

Value

Object reference.

Default

None.

styleSheets[ ] NN 6 IE 4 DOM 2
Read-only
Returns an array of all styleSheet objects in the current document. Each style object may contain any number of style sheet rules. The styleSheets[] collection counts the number of actual <style> tags in the document as well as <link> tags that load external style sheet files. Items in this array are indexed (zero-based) in source code order. An @import style sheet object is accessible via a styleSheet object's cssRule.styleSheet property. See the styleSheet object.

Example

for (var i = 0; i < document.styleSheets.length; i++) { // loop through each styleSheet object }

Value

Array of styleSheet object references.

Default

Array of zero length.

tags[ ] NN |4| IE n/a DOM n/a
Read-only
Used with the Navigator 4-only JavaScript syntax of style sheets, the tags[] collection is part of a reference to a single tag type and the style property assigned to it. For a list of properties, see the tags object listing in this chapter. Do not confuse this Navigator use of the tags[] collection with Internet Explorer's use of the tags[] collection that belongs to the all collection.

Example

document.tags.H1.color= "red";

Value

Array of Navigator 4 JavaScript Style Sheet tag object references.

Default

Array of zero length.

title NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1
Read/Write
Unlike the title property for objects that reflect HTML elements, the document.title property refers to the content of the title element defined in the head portion of a document. The title content appears in the browser's titlebar to help identify the document. This is also the content that goes into a bookmark listing for the page. Although the property is read/write, don't be surprised if a browser version does not alter the window titlebar in response.

Example

document.title = "Fred\'s Home Page";

Value

String.

Default

None.

URL NN 3 IE 4 DOM 1
Read/Write
Provides the URL of the current document. The value is the same as location.href. The document.URL property evolved as a replacement for document.location to avoid potential confusion (by scripters and JavaScript interpreter engines) between the location object and document.location property. To navigate to another page, it is safest (for cross-browser and backward compatibility) to assign a URL string value to the location.href property, rather than this document-centered property.

Example

document.URL = "http://www.megacorp.com";

Value

Complete or relative URL as a string.

Default

The current document's URL.

URLUnencoded NN n/a IE 5.5(Win) DOM n/a
Read-only
Returns the URL of the current document, but with any URL-encoded characters returned to their plain-language version (e.g., %20 is converted to a space character). The returned value is the same as if applying the JavaScript decodeURI( ) function to document.URL.

Example

var straightPath = document.URLUnencoded;

Value

Complete or relative URL as a string.

Default

The current document's URL.

vlinkColor NN 2 IE 3 DOM n/a
Read/Write (IE)
Color of a hypertext link that has been visited recently. The color is applied to the link text or border around an image or object embedded within an a element. See also alinkColor and linkColor properties for clicked and unvisited link colors. Changes to this property do not dynamically change the link color in Navigator 4 or earlier. Starting with IE 4 and Netscape 6, you should switch to using the W3C DOM alternative, document.body.vLink, or style sheets.

Example

document.vlinkColor = "gold";

Value

A hexadecimal triplet or plain-language color name. See Appendix A for acceptable plain-language color names.

Default

#551a8b (Navigator); #800080 (Internet Explorer Windows); #006010 (Internet Explorer Macintosh).

getAnonymousElementByAttribute( )

See height.

addBinding( ), getAnonymousElementByAttribute( ), getAnonymousNodes( ), getBindingParent( ), loadBindingDocument( ), removeBinding( ) NN 6 IE n/a DOM n/a
This series of Netscape 6 document object methods are part of a browser programming feature called Extensible Binding Language (XBL), an adjunct to the XML-based mechanism that the browser uses for generating user interface skins. To learn more about XBL, visit http://www.mozilla.org/docs/xul/xulnotes/xulnote_xbl.html.

captureEvents( ) NN 4 IE n/a DOM n/a
captureEvents(eventTypeList)
Instructs the browser to grab events of a specific type before they reach their intended target objects. The object invoking this method must then have event handlers defined for the given event types to process the event. Although this method is part of the Navigator 4 event model, it continues to be supported in Netscape 6, creating the equivalent of a W3C DOM capture-mode event listener for the document object. Continue to use this method if you must support Navigator 4, but migrate new code to the W3C DOM event listener syntax as described in Chapter 6.

Returned Value

None.

Parameters

eventTypeList

A comma-separated list of case-sensitive event types as derived from the available static Event object constants, such as Event.CLICK or Event.MOUSEMOVE.

clear( ) NN 2 IE 3 DOM n/a
Removes the current document from the window or frame, usually in preparation to open a new stream for writing new content. The document.write( ) and document.writeln( ) methods automatically invoke this method. Many bugs with the document.clear( ) method plagued earlier browser versions. Even today, it is best to let the document writing methods handle the job for you. The W3C DOM explicitly omits this method.

Returned Value

None.

Parameters

None.

close( ) NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1
Closes the document writing stream to a window or frame. If a script uses document.write( ) or document.writeln( ) to generate all-new content for a window or frame, you must append a document.close( ) method to make sure the entire content is written to the document. Omitting this method may cause some content not to be written. This method also prepares the window or frame for a brand new set of content with the next document writing method. Do not, however, use document.close( ) if you use the document writing methods to dynamically write content to a page while loading from the server.

Returned Value

None.

Parameters

None.

createAttribute( ) NN 6 IE 5(Mac)/6(Win) DOM 1
createAttribute("attributeName")
Generates in memory an instance of an attribute node (Attr object). A typical sequence is to create the attribute, assign a value to it via its nodeValue property, and then insert the Attr node into an element's attribute list via the element's setAttributeNode( ) method.

Returned Value

Attr node object reference.

Parameters

attributeName

A case-sensitive string of the attribute's name.

createAttributeNS( ) NN 6 IE n/a DOM 2
createAttributeNS("namespaceURI", "qualifiedName")
Generates in memory an instance of an attribute node (Attr object) whose name is defined in an external namespace. A typical sequence is to create the attribute, assign a value to it via its nodeValue property, and then insert the Attr node into an element's attribute list via the element's setAttributeNodeNS( ) method.

Returned Value

Attr node object reference.

Parameters

namespaceURI

URI string that will match a URI assigned to a label earlier in the document into which the attribute is eventually added.

qualifiedName

The full name for the attribute, consisting of the local name prefix (if any), a colon, and the local name.

createCDATASection( ) NN 6 IE 5(Mac) DOM 1
createCDATASection("data")
Generates in memory an instance of a character data section node (CDATASection object) in an XML (including XHTML) document. Not fully implemented as of Netscape 7.

Returned Value

CDATASection node object reference.

Parameters

data

String data that comprises the content of the section.

createComment( ) NN 6 IE 5(Mac)/6(Win) DOM 1
createComment("commentText")
Generates in memory an instance of a comment node (Comment object with a nodeValue of 8). A typical sequence is to create the Comment node, then insert it into the desired location of the document tree via any node's appendChild( ) or insertBefore( ) method. Only partially implemented in IE 5/Mac.

Returned Value

Comment node object reference.

Parameters

commentText

String containing the comment data.

createDocumentFragment( ) NN 6 IE 5(Mac)/6(Win) DOM 1
Generates in memory an instance of an empty document fragment node (DocumentFragment object). This node becomes an arbitrary holder for assembling a sequence of nodes that ultimately get appended or inserted into a document tree. See the DocumentFragment object for more details.

Returned Value

DocumentFragment node object reference.

Parameters

None.

createElement( ) NN 6 IE 4 DOM 1
createElement("tagName")
Generates in memory an instance of an element object associated with the tag passed as a parameter to the method. The method is limited to area, img, and option elements in IE 4; all elements are permitted in other supporting browsers. A newly created element has no attribute values assigned (except any default values assigned according to the DTD), nor is the element yet part of the document tree. Assign attributes (such as the type for an input element or id for any element), and append or insert the element into the document tree. This sequence is the W3C DOM approach to generating new content (in place of the innerHTML convenience properties implemented in IE and Netscape 6 browsers).

Returned Value

Element object reference.

Parameters

tagName

A string of the tag name of the new element: document.createElement("option"). IE also allows a complete start tag string, complete with angle brackets and attribute name/value pairs. Only the straight tag name is supported by the W3C DOM specification.

createElementNS( ) NN 6 IE n/a DOM 2
createElementNS("namespaceURI", "qualifiedName")
Generates in memory an instance of an element object associated with namespace, label, and tag passed as parts of the method's parameters. A newly created element has no attribute values assigned (except any default values assigned according to the DTD), nor is the element yet part of the document tree. Assign attributes (such as the type for an input element or id for any element), and append or insert the element into the document tree.

Returned Value

Element object reference.

Parameters

namespaceURI

URI string that will match a URI assigned to a label earlier in the document into which the attribute is eventually added.

qualifiedName

The full name for the attribute, consisting of the local name prefix (if any), a colon, and the local name.

createEntityReference( ) NN 6 IE 5(Mac) DOM 1
createEntityReference("entityName")
Generates in memory an instance of an entity reference node object in an XML document. Only partial support provided in IE 5/Mac and Netscape as of Version 7.

Returned Value

Entity reference node object reference.

Parameters

entityName

String value.

createEvent( ) NN 6 IE n/a DOM 2
createEvent("eventType")
Generates in memory an instance of a W3C DOM Event object of a particular event category. After the generic event is created, it must be initialized (via one of several initialization methods) as a particular event type, along with other properties appropriate for the event category. The following sequence creates a mousedown event and sends it to an element:
var evt = document.createEvent("MouseEvents"); evt.initEvent("mousedown", true, true); document.getElementById("myElement").dispatchEvent(evt);
Such an event might then be handed to an element (via the element's dispatchEvent( ) method) so that the element's event listener can process the event as if it had been generated by a user clicking the mouse button.

Returned Value

Event object object reference.

Parameters

eventType

String constant for one of the support event categories: HTMLEvents, KeyEvents (supported by Netscape 6, but not specified until DOM Level 3), MouseEvents, MutationEvents, or UIEvents.

createEventObject( ) NN n/a IE 5.5(Win) DOM n/a
createEventObject([existingEventObject])
Generates in memory an instance of an empty IE DOM event object. After the generic event is created, its properties can be stuffed with pertinent values to help the event be processed. Then the event acts as a parameter to an element's fireEvent( ) method, at which point the event type is associated with the event. The following sequence creates a mousedown event and sends it to an element:
var evt = document.createEventObject( ); document.getElementById("myElement").fireEvent("onmousedown", evt);
You can also use an existing event object as a model for a script-generated event. Pass the current event object as a parameter to the createEventObject( ) method, and modify the properties of the new object as you see fit.

Returned Value

event object reference.

Parameters

existingEventObject

Reference to an event object either generated by the user or script. The new event assumes all properties of the existing event object.

createNodeIterator( ) NN n/a IE n/a DOM 2
createNodeIterator(rootNode, whatToShow, filterFunction, entityRefExpansion)
Generates in memory an instance of a NodeIterator object. This method has the same set of parameters as the createTreeWalker( ) method, which is implemented in Netscape 7.

Returned Value

NodeIterator object reference.

Parameters

rootNode

Reference to a node in the document tree that becomes the first node in the NodeIterator object's list of nodes.

whatToShow

Integer value corresponding to one of several built-in filters that allow nodes of a single type to be included in the NodeIterator object returned by the method. The NodeFilter object contains constants that should be used as plain-language substitutes for this value:

NodeFilter.SHOW_ALL

NodeFilter.SHOW_ATTRIBUTE

NodeFilter.SHOW_CDATA_SECTION

NodeFilter.SHOW_COMMENT

NodeFilter.SHOW_DOCUMENT

NodeFilter.SHOW_DOCUMENT_FRAGMENT

NodeFilter.SHOW_DOCUMENT_TYPE

NodeFilter.SHOW_ELEMENT

NodeFilter.SHOW_ENTITY

NodeFilter.SHOW_ENTITY_REFERENCE

NodeFilter.SHOW_NOTATION

NodeFilter.SHOW_PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION

NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT

filterFunction

Reference to a user function that can further filter nodes that are included in the NodeIterator object. The function has a single parameter (a reference to a node to test, invoked automatically by the NodeIterator object). The value returned by the function determines whether the node being tested is to be included in the list of nodes. Returned values are integers, but the NodeFilter object provides three constants you should use as plain-language substitutes:

NodeFilter.FILTER_ACCEPT

NodeFilter.FILTER_REJECT

NodeFilter.FILTER_SKIP

Because a NodeIterator object does not maintain its list of nodes as a hierarchy, the values NodeFilter.FILTER_REJECT and NodeFilter.FILTER_SKIP pass over a node without any effect on child nodes. See the TreeWalker object for an example of this kind of function.

entityRefExpansion

Boolean value that controls whether the content of entity reference nodes (found predominantly in XML documents) should be treated as hierarchical nodes (true) or not (false).

createProcessingInstruction( ) NN 6 IE 5(Mac) DOM 1
createProcessingInstruction("target", "data")
Generates in memory an instance of a processing instruction node object in an XML document. Only partial support provided in IE 5/Mac and Netscape as of Version 7.

Returned Value

Processing instruction node object reference.

Parameters

target

String value.

data

String value.

createRange( ) NN 6 IE n/a DOM 2
Creates a blank Range object, whose boundary points are collapsed to the point before the first character of the rendered body text. The method returns a reference to that Range object, which you then use to adjust its boundary points, invoke its methods, and so on. See the Range object for details of its language features.

Returned Value

W3C DOM Range object reference.

Parameters

None.

createStyleSheet( ) NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
createStyleSheet(["url"[, index]])
This method performs the same actions in IE for Windows and Macintosh, but their returned values differ. Moreover, the specific actions in the document tree depend upon the parameters passed with the method. When no parameters are included, the method inserts a blank style element into the document tree. This style element, however, is not reflected in the document.styleSheets collection until you add one or more style rules to the object. But if you specify a URL to an external .css file as the first parameter, the method creates and inserts a link element into the document's head section, bringing the external style rules to life immediately.
IE for Windows always returns a reference to a styleSheet object; IE for Macintosh returns a reference to the newly inserted element, which will be a style or link element, depending on the parameter makeup. The inserted style element reference is of little help for adding a rule because you can't reference the styleSheet object. For cross-operating-system compatibility, it's best to use this method only for external style sheets.

Returned Value

styleSheet object reference (Windows); style or link element object reference (IE 5 and later for Macintosh).

Parameters

url

A string of the URL of an external .css style sheet definition file.

index

Optional zero-based integer that indicates where among the styleSheets[] collection this new style sheet should be inserted. Default behavior is to append to the end of the collection, but this may affect cascading rules for your document. See Chapter 3.

createTextNode( ) NN 6 IE 5 DOM 1
createTextNode("text")
Generates in memory an instance of a text node (W3C DOM Text object) whose nodeValue consists of the untagged text content passed as a parameter. A newly created text node is not yet part of the document tree. Append or insert the node into the document tree or document fragment being assembled for later document insertion. This sequence is the W3C DOM approach to generating new content (in place of the innerText convenience property implemented in IE browsers).

Returned Value

Text node object reference.

Parameters

text

A string of characters to be rendered as content when inserted into the document tree.

createTreeWalker( ) NN 7 IE n/a DOM 2
createTreeWalker(rootNode, whatToShow, filterFunction, entityRefExpansion)
Generates in memory an instance of a TreeWalker object.

Returned Value

TreeWalker object reference.

Parameters

rootNode

Reference to a node in the document tree that becomes the first node in the TreeWalker object's list of nodes.

whatToShow

Integer value corresponding to one of several built-in filters that allow nodes of a single type to be included in the TreeWalker object returned by the method. The NodeFilter object contains constants that should be used as plain-language substitutes for this value:

NodeFilter.SHOW_ALL

NodeFilter.SHOW_ATTRIBUTE

NodeFilter.SHOW_CDATA_SECTION

NodeFilter.SHOW_COMMENT

NodeFilter.SHOW_DOCUMENT

NodeFilter.SHOW_DOCUMENT_FRAGMENT

NodeFilter.SHOW_DOCUMENT_TYPE

NodeFilter.SHOW_ELEMENT

NodeFilter.SHOW_ENTITY

NodeFilter.SHOW_ENTITY_REFERENCE

NodeFilter.SHOW_NOTATION

NodeFilter.SHOW_PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION

NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT

filterFunction

Reference to a user function that can further filter nodes that are included in the TreeWalker object. The function has a single parameter (a reference to a node to test, invoked automatically by the TreeWalker object). The value returned by the function determines whether the node being tested is to be included in the list of nodes. Returned values are integers, but the NodeFilter object provides three constants you should use as plain-language substitutes:

NodeFilter.FILTER_ACCEPT

NodeFilter.FILTER_REJECT

NodeFilter.FILTER_SKIP

With a return value of NodeFilter.FILTER_SKIP, descendant nodes of the skipped node may still qualify as members of the TreeWalker node list (provided they survive other filtering). A return value of NodeFilter.FILTER_REJECT removes both the node under test and its descendants from consideration as members of the TreeWalker object. See the TreeWalker object for an example of this kind of function.

entityRefExpansion

Boolean value that controls whether the content of entity reference nodes (found predominantly in XML documents) should be treated as hierarchical nodes (true) or not (false).

elementFromPoint( ) NN n/a IE 4 DOM n/a
elementFromPoint(x, y)
Returns a reference to the object directly underneath the pixel coordinates specified by the x (horizontal) and y (vertical) parameters. For an element to be recognized, it must be capable of responding to mouse events. Also, if more than one element is positioned in the same location, the element with the highest zIndex value or, given equal zIndex values, the element that comes last in the source code order is the one returned.

Returned Value

Element object reference.

Parameters

x

Horizontal pixel measure relative to the left edge of the window or frame.

y

Vertical pixel measure relative to the top edge of the window or frame.

execCommand( ) NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
execCommand("commandName"[, UIFlag[, value]])
Available only in the Win32 platforms for IE, the execCommand( ) method executes the named command. Most commands require that a TextRange object be created first for an insertion point. See Appendix D for a list of commands.

Returned Value

Boolean value: true if command was successful; false if unsuccessful.

Parameters

commandName

A case-insensitive string value of the command name. See Appendix D.

UIFlag

Optional Boolean value: true to display any user interface triggered by the command (if any); false to prevent such display.

value

A parameter value for the command.

getAnonymousElementByAttribute( )

See addBinding( ).

getAnonymousNodes
See addBinding( ).

getBindingParent
See addBinding( ).

getElementById( ) NN 6 IE 5 DOM 1
getElementById("elementID")
Returns a reference to an element node from the document tree whose id attribute value matches the parameter value. If there is no match, the method returns null. This method, although a chore to type while observing its case-sensitive name, is the gateway for scripts in W3C DOM-capable browsers to communicate with element objects.

Returned Value

Reference to element node object.

Parameters

elementID

String of the desired element's ID.

getElementsByName( ) NN 6 IE 5 DOM 1
getElementsByName("elementName")
Returns an array of references to all element nodes from the document tree whose name attribute value matches the parameter value. If there is no match, the method returns null. When an element supports both the name and id attribute, IE for Windows includes an element in the returned array even if only the id attribute is set to the parameter value. IE for Macintosh and Netscape 6 match only elements that have name attributes explicitly set to the parameter value.

Returned Value

Array of references to element node object.

Parameters

elementName

String of the desired element's name.

getSelection( ) NN 4 IE n/a DOM n/a
In Navigator 4, this method captures the current text selection in the document. The method is deprecated in Netscape 6 in favor of the window.getSelection( ) method (which returns a sophisticated selection object, rather than just text). Invoking from the document object displays a warning in the JavaScript Console window, but does not throw a full-fledged exception. The IE equivalent is reading the selection property.

Returned Value

String.

Parameters

None.

handleEvent( ) NN |4| IE n/a DOM n/a
handleEvent(event)
Instructs the document object to accept and process the Navigator 4-only event whose specifications are passed as the parameter to the method. The object must have an event handler for the event type to process the event.

Returned Value

None.

Parameters

event

A Navigator 4 event object.

hasFocus( ) NN n/a IE 6 DOM n/a
Returns Boolean true if the document or any element in the document has focus. A background process, such as a function invoked through setTimeout( ) can find out if the document's window is currently the front window on the Desktop.

Returned Value

Boolean value: true | false.

Parameters

None.

importNode( ) NN 6 IE n/a DOM 2
importNode(nodeReference, deepBoolean)
Imports a node object from another loaded document into the current document, but not yet into the document tree. In many ways, importNode( ) works like cloneNode( ), but it assumes that the source node may exist in an entirely different document tree context (especially in an XML document). W3C DOM rules for this method govern what properties and attributes of the source node make the journey and what happens to them upon their arrival. For example, an Attr node loses its ownerElement (i.e., its value becomes null) when imported from an element in one document into a fragment-like state in the new document—until the attribute gets added to an element in the new document. Nodes of Document and DocumentType types are not importable.
The importNode( ) method does not assume the responsibility of persistence between documents. That's where, for instance, a JavaScript variable comes into play. As with cloneNode( ), the importNode( ) method does not disturb the source node.

Returned Value

Reference to the imported copy of the node object.

Parameters

nodeReference

Reference to a node in a different loaded document (including a nonrendered document loaded into the browser by way of the document.implementation.createDocument( ) method).

deepBoolean

Boolean value that controls whether the copy includes all nested nodes (true) or only the current node (false). Required, but applicable primarily to element nodes.

loadBindingDocument
See addBinding( ).

open( ) NN 2 IE 3 DOM 1
open(["MIMEType"][, "replace"])
Opens the output stream for writing to the current window or frame. If document.clear( ) has not already been invoked, it is automatically invoked in response to the document.open( ) method. Early version bugs may lead you to use document.write( ) and document.writeln( ) to take care of this method more reliably for you.

Returned Value

None.

Parameters

MIMEType

Advises the browser of the MIME type of the data to be written in subsequent statements. Navigator supports "text/html" | "text/plain" | "image/gif" | "image/jpeg" | "image/xbm" | "plugIn". Only "text/html" is supported in Internet Explorer.

replace

The presence of this parameter directs the browser to replace the entry in the history list for the current document with the document about to be written.

queryCommandEnabled( ) NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
queryCommandEnabled("commandName")
Specifies whether the command can be invoked in light of the current state of the document or selection. Available only in the Win32 platform for IE 4.

Returned Value

Boolean value: true if enabled; false if not.

Parameters

commandName

A case-insensitive string value of the command name. See Appendix D.

queryCommandIndeterm( ) NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
queryCommandIndeterm("commandName")
Specifies whether the command is in an indeterminate state. Available only in the Win32 platform for IE 4.

Returned Value

Boolean value: true | false.

Parameters

commandName

A case-insensitive string value of the command name. See Appendix D.

queryCommandState( ) NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
queryCommandState("commandName")
Determines the current state of the named command. Available only in the Win32 platform for IE 4.

Returned Value

true if the command has been completed; false if the command has not completed; null if the state cannot be accurately determined.

Parameters

commandName

A case-insensitive string value of the command name. See Appendix D.

queryCommandSupported( ) NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
queryCommandSupported("commandName")
Determines whether the named command is supported by the document object. Available only in the Win32 platform for IE 4.

Returned Value

Boolean value: true | false.

Parameters

commandName

A case-insensitive string value of the command name. See Appendix D.

queryCommandText( ) NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
queryCommandText("commandName")
Returns text associated with the command. Available only in the Win32 platform for IE 4.

Returned Value

String.

Parameters

commandName

A case-insensitive string value of the command name. See Appendix D.

queryCommandValue( ) NN n/a IE 4(Win) DOM n/a
queryCommandValue("commandName")
Returns the value associated with the command, such as the name font of the selection. Available only in the Win32 platform for IE 4.

Returned Value

Depends on the command.

Parameters

commandName

A case-insensitive string value of the command name. See Appendix D.

recalc( ) NN n/a IE 5(Win) DOM n/a
recalc([allBoolean])
Forces the recalculation of expressions assigned to element attributes via the setExpression( ) method. Needed only when automatic recalculation isn't triggered by user action, but affected values might have changed.

Returned Value

None.

Parameters

allBoolean

When set to true, forces all dynamic attribute expressions in the document to recalculate. The default false lets browser decide which expressions are affected by changes since the last manual or automatic recalculation.

releaseEvents( ) NN 4 IE n/a DOM n/a
releaseEvents(eventTypeList)
The opposite of document.captureEvents( ), this method turns off event capture at the document level for one or more specific events named in the parameter list. In Netscape 6, it performs the same action as the W3C DOM removeEventListener( ) method on the document object. See Chapter 6.

Returned Value

None.

Parameters

eventTypeList

A comma-separated list of case-sensitive event types as derived from the available Event object constants, such as Event.CLICK or Event.MOUSEMOVE.

removeBinding
See addBinding( ).

routeEvent( ) NN 4 IE n/a DOM n/a
routeEvent(event)
Used inside an event handler function, this method directs Navigator 4 to let the event pass to its intended target object. The method does not cause an error in Netscape 6, but it does not perform any action.

Returned Value

None.

Parameters

event

A Navigator 4 event object

write( ), writeln( ) NN 2 IE 3 DOM n/a
write("string1"[, ..."stringN"]) writeln("string1"[, ..."stringN"])
When invoked as the page loads, these methods can dynamically add content to the page. When invoked after the page has loaded, a single method invocation clears the current document, opens a new output stream, and writes the content to the window or frame. A document.close( ) method is required afterward. Because the first document.write( ) or document.writeln( ) method destroys the current document, do not use two or more writing statements to create a new document. Instead, load the content into one variable and pass that variable as the parameter to a single document.write( ) or document.writeln( ) method.
Using document.write( ) for <script> tags is tricky in Navigator because it typically interprets the writing of the end script tag as meaning the end of the script doing the writing. You should have success, however, if you split the end script tag into string sections:
document.write("<" + "/script>");
If you include the "hide script" comment trick, write it this way:
document.write("//--" + ">");
The difference between the two methods is that document.writeln( ) adds a carriage return to the source code it writes to the document. This is not reflected in the rendered content, but can make reading the dynamic source code easier in browser versions that support dynamic content source viewing (Navigator 4 does so as a wysiwyg: URL in the source view window).

Returned Value

None.

Parameters

string

Any string value, including HTML tags.

9.6. Alphabetical Object Reference

HTML Equivalent

Object Model Reference

Object-Specific Properties

Object-Specific Methods

Object-Specific Event Handler Properties

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