The Document
method importNode()
creates a new copy of the specified Node
or DocumentFragment
from another document so that it can be inserted into the current Document
. It is not yet included in the document tree; to do that, you need to call a method such as appendChild()
or insertBefore()
.
Syntax
var node = document.importNode(externalNode, deep);
externalNode
- The new
Node
orDocumentFragment
to import into the current document. After importing, the new node'sparentNode
isnull
, since it has not yet been inserted into the document tree. deep
- A Boolean value which indicates whether or not to import the entire DOM subtree originating at
externalNode
. If this parameter istrue
, thenexternalNode
and all of its descendants are copied; iffalse
, then only the single node,externalNode
, is imported.
In the DOM4 specification, deep
is listed as an optional argument. If omitted, the method acts as if the value of deep
was true
, defaulting to using deep cloning as the default behavior. To create a shallow clone, deep
must be set to false
.
This behavior has been changed in the latest spec, and if omitted, the method will act as if the value of deep
was false
. Though It's still optional, you should always provide the deep
argument both for backward and forward compatibility. With Gecko 28.0 (Firefox 28 / Thunderbird 28 / SeaMonkey 2.25 / Firefox OS 1.3), the console warned developers not to omit the argument. Starting with Gecko 29.0 (Firefox 29 / Thunderbird 29 / SeaMonkey 2.26)), a shallow clone is defaulted instead of a deep clone.
Example
var iframe = document.getElementsByTagName("iframe")[0]; var oldNode = iframe.contentWindow.document.getElementById("myNode"); var newNode = document.importNode(oldNode, true); document.getElementById("container").appendChild(newNode);
Notes
The original node is not removed from the original document. The imported node is a clone of the original.
Nodes from external documents should be cloned using document.importNode()
(or adopted using document.adoptNode()
) before they
can be inserted into the current document. For more on the Node.ownerDocument
issues, see the
W3C DOM FAQ.
Firefox doesn't currently enforce this rule (it did for a while during the development of Firefox 3, but too many sites break when this rule is enforced). We encourage Web developers to fix their code to follow this rule for improved future compatibility.
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
DOM The definition of 'document.importNode()' in that specification. |
Living Standard | |
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification The definition of 'document.importNode()' in that specification. |
Obsolete | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DOM 2 version | (Yes) | (Yes) | 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) | 9.0 | 9.0 | (Yes) |
DOM 4 version ( deep optional) |
(Yes) | (Yes) | 10 (10) | No support | No support | Nightly build |
Feature | Android | Edge | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DOM 2 version | ? | (Yes) | 1.0 (1) | ? | ? | ? |
DOM 4 version ( deep optional) |
? | No support | 10.0 (10) | ? | ? | ? |