nodeType

Summary

Retrieves the type of the requested node.

Property of dom/Nodedom/Node

Syntax

Note: This property is read-only.

var nodeType = node.nodeType;

Return Value

Returns an object of type NumberNumber

One of the node type constants defined on Node, or null.

Node.ELEMENT_NODE =1

Node.ATTRIBUTE_NODE = 2

Node.TEXT_NODE = 3

Node.CDATA_SECTION_NODE = 4

Node.ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE = 5

Node.ENTITY_NODE = 6

Node.PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION_NODE = 7

Node.COMMENT_NODE = 8

Node.DOCUMENT_NODE = 9

Node.DOCUMENT_TYPE_NODE = 10

Node.DOCUMENT_FRAGMENT_NODE = 11

Node.NOTATION_NODE = 12

Examples

This example assigns the nodeType property of the body object to a variable.

var iType = document.body.nodeType;

This example assigns the nodeType property of a node created with the createElement method to a variable.

var oNode = document.createElement("B");
document.body.insertBefore(oNode);
var iType = oNode.nodeType;

This example users the node constants to return the nodeType description.

function getNodeTypeName(nType){
   switch (nType){
        case Node.ELEMENT_NODE:
            return 'ELEMENT_NODE';
        case Node.ATTRIBUTE_NODE:
            return 'ATTRIBUTE_NODE';
        case Node.TEXT_NODE:
            return 'TEXT_NODE';
        case Node.CDATA_SECTION_NODE:
            return 'CDATA_SECTION_NODE';
        case Node.ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE:
            return 'ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE';
        case Node.ENTITY_NODE:
            return 'ENTITY_NODE';
        case Node.PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION_NODE:
            return 'PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION_NODE';
        case Node.COMMENT_NODE:
            return 'COMMENT_NODE';
        case Node.DOCUMENT_NODE:
            return 'DOCUMENT_NODE';
        case Node.DOCUMENT_TYPE_NODE:
            return 'DOCUMENT_TYPE_NODE';
        case Node.DOCUMENT_FRAGMENT_NODE:
            return 'DOCUMENT_FRAGMENT_NODE';
        case Node.NOTATION_NODE:
            return 'NOTATION_NODE';
        default:
            return 'unknown nodeType:'+ntype;
      }
   }

Notes

If the node represents an attribute retrieved from the attributes collection, the nodeType returns null.

The proprietary <comment> element is recognized as a HTMLUnknown element in IE10 and higher and returns ELEMENT_NODE as its type.

Use the HTML comment block instead.

<-- this is a hidden comment tag -->

<comment> this is a legacy IE comment tag and will display on your web page… do not use or remove from your legacy pages</comment>

Related specifications

DOM Level 3 Core

Recommendation

Attributions

• Mozilla Developer Network : [Node.nodeType Article]

• Microsoft Developer Network: [nodeType Property Article]