parentNode

Summary

Retrieves the parent node in the document hierarchy.

Syntax

Note: This property is read-only.

var parentNode = node.parentNode;

Return Value

Returns an object of type DOM NodeDOM Node

The parent node of the node.

Examples

This example assigns the parentNode of a span object to a variable.

<script>
var oParent = document.getElementById("oSpan").parentNode;
</script>
:
<body>
<span ID="oSpan">A Span</span>
</body>

This example assigns the parentNode of a node, created with the createElement method, to a variable.

var oNode = document.createElement("B");
document.body.insertBefore(oNode);
// This returns document.body.
var oParent = oNode.parentNode;

This example demonstrates the difference between parentNode and parentElement when queried on the documents root element (<html>)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html id="root">

<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title>parentElement/parentNode</title>
</head>

<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
var root=document.getElementById('root');
try{document.write('typeof root.parentNode:'+ typeof(root.parentNode)+'<br/>');}catch(e){alert(e);}
try{document.write('root.parentNode.tagName:'+root.parentNode.tagName+'<br/>');}catch(e){alert(e);}
try{document.write('typeof root.parentElement:'+typeof(root.parentElement)+'<br/>');}catch(e){alert(e);}
try{document.write('root.parentElement.tagName:'+root.parentElement.tagName+'<br/>');}catch(e){alert(e);}
</script>
</body>

</html>

Usage

 Use to find the parent of a node (if any).

Notes

The topmost object returns null as its parent.

Related specifications

DOM Level 3 Core: Recommendation

Attributions

Mozilla Developer Network : [Node.parentNode Article]
Microsoft Developer Network: [parentNode Property Article]