The Document Object Model (DOM), Part 4: Table of Methods

The Document Object Model (DOM), Part 4 (3)

Manipulating Documents using Methods

The Document Object Model provides a set of methods that you can use to create, delete, insert, exchange, and replace nodes with. When using the DOM's methods, you need to think in the terms we have introduced in the last three columns, i.e. document trees and document nodes. The table below shows the DOM's methods. For each method, it shows the syntax by which you may use the method, its argument type, its description, and the value it returns. The terms object and node are completely interchangeable in this table. Any reference to an object may be viewed as a reference to a document tree node, and vice versa. In the following pages we'll cover in depth each of the methods below.

The outcome of cloneNode(deep) and removeNode(deep) depends on the value of deep. When deep is true, the cloneNode method clones a complete subtree rooted at the specified node. When deep is false, just the specified node is duplicated, having no children at all. Similarly, when deep is true, the removeNode method removes a complete subtree rooted at the specified node. When deep is false, just the specified node is removed and all its children become children of their former father's father (former grandfather).