NodeIterator

The NodeIterator interface represents an iterator over the members of a list of the nodes in a subtree of the DOM. The nodes will be returned in document order.

A NodeIterator can be created using the Document.createNodeIterator() method, as follows:

var nodeIterator = document.createNodeIterator(root, whatToShow, filter);

Properties

This interface doesn't inherit any property.

NodeIterator.root Read only
Returns a Node representing the root node as specified when the NodeIterator was created.
NodeIterator.whatToShow Read only
Returns an unsigned long being a bitmask made of constants describing the types of Node that must to be presented. Non-matching nodes are skipped, but their children may be included, if relevant. The possible values are:
Constant Numerical value Description
NodeFilter.SHOW_ALL -1 (that is the max value of unsigned long) Shows all nodes.
NodeFilter.SHOW_ATTRIBUTE 2 Shows attribute Attr nodes. This is meaningful only when creating a NodeIterator with an Attr node as its root; in this case, it means that the attribute node will appear in the first position of the iteration or traversal. Since attributes are never children of other nodes, they do not appear when traversing over the document tree.
NodeFilter.SHOW_CDATA_SECTION 8 Shows CDATASection nodes.
NodeFilter.SHOW_COMMENT 128 Shows Comment nodes.
NodeFilter.SHOW_DOCUMENT 256 Shows Document nodes.
NodeFilter.SHOW_DOCUMENT_FRAGMENT 1024 Shows DocumentFragment nodes.
NodeFilter.SHOW_DOCUMENT_TYPE 512 Shows DocumentType nodes.
NodeFilter.SHOW_ELEMENT 1 Shows Element nodes.
NodeFilter.SHOW_ENTITY 32 Shows Entity nodes. This is meaningful only when creating a NodeIterator with an Entity node as its root; in this case, it means that the Entity node will appear in the first position of the traversal. Since entities are not part of the document tree, they do not appear when traversing over the document tree.
NodeFilter.SHOW_ENTITY_REFERENCE 16 Shows EntityReference nodes.
NodeFilter.SHOW_NOTATION 2048 Shows Notation nodes. This is meaningful only when creating a NodeIterator with a Notation node as its root; in this case, it means that the Notation node will appear in the first position of the traversal. Since entities are not part of the document tree, they do not appear when traversing over the document tree.
NodeFilter.SHOW_PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION 64 Shows ProcessingInstruction nodes.
NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT 4 Shows Text nodes.
NodeIterator.filter Read only
Returns a NodeFilter used to select the relevant nodes.
NodeIterator.expandEntityReferences Read only
Is a Boolean indicating if, when discarding an EntityReference its whole sub-tree must be discarded at the same time.
NodeIterator.referenceNode Read only
Returns the Node to which the iterator is anchored.
NodeIterator.pointerBeforeReferenceNode Read only
Returns a Boolean flag that indicates whether the NodeIterator is anchored before, the flag being true, or after, the flag being false, the anchor node.

Methods

This interface doesn't inherit any method.

NodeIterator.detach()
This operation is a no-op. It doesn't do anything. Previously it was telling the engine that the NodeIterator was no more used, but this is now useless.
NodeIterator.previousNode()
Returns the previous Node in the document, or null if there are none.
NodeIterator.nextNode()
Returns the next Node in the document, or null if there are none.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
DOM
The definition of 'NodeIterator' in that specification.
Living Standard Added the referenceNode and pointerBeforeReferenceNode properties.
Removed the expandEntityReferences property.
The method detach() has been changed to be a no-op.
The methods previousNode() and nextNode() don't raise an exception any more.
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Traversal and Range Specification
The definition of 'NodeIterator' in that specification.
Recommendation Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 1.0 3.5 (1.9.1) 9.0 9.0 3.0
Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) 1.0 (1.9.1) (Yes) 9.0 3.0

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

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 Contributors to this page: jwhitlock, asashour, fscholz, Prome, teoli, kscarfone, Sheppy, Ms2ger, Brettz9, Nickolay
 Last updated by: jwhitlock,