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    Element.getAttributeNS()

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    getAttributeNS returns the string value of the attribute with the specified namespace and name. If the named attribute does not exist, the value returned will either be null or "" (the empty string); see Notes for details.

    Syntax

    attrVal = element.getAttributeNS(namespace, name)

    Parameters

    namespace
    The namespace in which to look for the specified attribute.
    name
    The name of the attribute to look for.

    Return value

    The string value of the specified attribute. If the attribute doesn't exist, the result is null.

    Note: Earlier versions of the DOM specification had this method described as returning an empty string for non-existent attributes, but it was not typically implemented this way since null makes more sense. The DOM4 specification now says this method should return null for non-existent attributes.

    Examples

    The following SVG document reads the value of the foo attribute in a custom namespace.

    <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
    xmlns:test="http://www.example.com/2014/test" width="40" height="40">

  <circle id="target" cx="12" cy="12" r="10" stroke="#444"
      stroke-width="2" fill="none" test:foo="Hello namespaced attribute!"/>

  <script type="text/javascript">
    var ns = 'http://www.example.com/2014/test';
    var circle = document.getElementById( 'target' );

    console.log( 'attribute test:foo: "' + circle.getAttributeNS( ns, 'foo' ) + '"' );
  </script>
</svg>

    In an HTML5 document the attribute has to be accessed with test:foo since namespaces are not supported.

    <!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
    xmlns:test="http://www.example.com/2014/test" width="40" height="40">
  <circle id="target" cx="12" cy="12" r="10" stroke="#444" stroke-width="2"
      fill="none" test:foo="Foo value"/>
</svg>

<script type="text/javascript">
  var ns = 'http://www.example.com/2014/test';
  var circle = document.getElementById( 'target' );
  console.log('Attribute value: ' + circle.getAttribute('test:foo'));
</script>

</body>
</html>

    Notes

    Namespaces are only supported in XML documents. HTML5 documents have to use getAttribute() instead.

    getAttributeNS() differs from getAttribute() in that it allows you to further specify the requested attribute as being part of a particular namespace, as in the example above, where the attribute is part of the fictional "specialspace" namespace on Mozilla.

    Prior to the DOM4 specification, this method was specified to return an empty string rather than null for non-existent attributes. However, most browsers instead returned null. Starting with DOM4, the specification now says to return null. However, some older browsers return an empty string. For that reason, you should use hasAttributeNS() to check for an attribute's existence prior to calling getAttributeNS() if it is possible that the requested attribute does not exist on the specified element.

    DOM methods dealing with element's attributes:

    Not namespace-aware, most commonly used methods Namespace-aware variants (DOM Level 2) DOM Level 1 methods for dealing with Attr nodes directly (seldom used) DOM Level 2 namespace-aware methods for dealing with Attr nodes directly (seldom used)
    setAttribute (DOM 1) setAttributeNS setAttributeNode setAttributeNodeNS
    getAttribute (DOM 1) getAttributeNS getAttributeNode getAttributeNodeNS
    hasAttribute (DOM 2) hasAttributeNS - -
    removeAttribute (DOM 1) removeAttributeNS removeAttributeNode -

    Specifications

    Specification Status Comment
    DOM
    The definition of 'Element.getAttributeNS()' in that specification.    		 Living Standard  
    Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification
    The definition of 'Element.getAttributeNS()' in that specification.    		 Recommendation Specifies that a NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR exception is thrown if the UA does not support the "XML" feature. Also specifies that null must be passed to have no namespace.
    Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification
    The definition of 'Element.getAttributeNS()' in that specification.    		 Recommendation Initial definition

    Browser compatibility

    Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
    Basic support (Yes) (Yes)[1] (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)
    Feature Android Chrome for Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
    Basic support (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)[1] (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)

    [1] Starting in Gecko 13.0 (Firefox 13.0 / Thunderbird 13.0 / SeaMonkey 2.10), null is always returned instead of the empty string, as per the DOM4 specification. Previously, there were cases in which an empty string could be returned.

    See also

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     Contributors to this page: Sebastianz, fscholz, Granjow, teoli, kscarfone, vishu_gawli, Sheppy, mattbasta, Mgjbot, Brettz9, Waldo, Nickolay, Jabez, Dria, JesseW, Callek
     Last updated by: Sebastianz,