HTML DOM Level 2 Reference: CharacterData

Object for accessing and processing character data in the DOM.

Browser/User Agent Support

IE Mozilla Netscape Opera Safari Netscapte
no 1.0+ no 7.0+ 1.0+ no

IE	Mozilla	Netscape	Opera	Safari	Netscapte
no	1.0+	no	7.0+	1.0+	no

Constructors

Constructor IE Mozilla Netscape Opera Safari Netscapte
CharacterData Constructor
Object for accessing and processing character data in the DOM.
no 1.0+ no 7.0+ 1.0+ no

Constructor	IE	Mozilla	Netscape	Opera	Safari	Netscapte
CharacterData Constructor Object for accessing and processing character data in the DOM.	no	1.0+	no	7.0+	1.0+	no

Properties

Property IE Mozilla Netscape Opera Safari Netscapte
data
Character data of the current node.
no 1.0+ no 7.0+ 1.0+ no

length
Length of the content of the data property or substringData method.
no 1.0+ no 7.0+ 1.0+ no

Property	IE	Mozilla	Netscape	Opera	Safari	Netscapte
data Character data of the current node.	no	1.0+	no	7.0+	1.0+	no

length Length of the content of the data property or substringData method.	no	1.0+	no	7.0+	1.0+	no

Methods

Method IE Mozilla Netscape Opera Safari Netscapte
appendData
Appends the specified string to the node text.
6.0+ 1.0+ no 7.0+ 1.0+ no

deleteData
Deletes the indicated range of text.
6.0+ 1.0+ no 7.0+ 1.0+ no

insertData
Inserts the supplied text at the indicated character offset
6.0+ 1.0+ no 7.0+ 1.0+ no

replaceData
Substitutes the indicated range of text with the supplied string
6.0+ 1.0+ no 8.0+ 1.0+ no

substringData
Returns the specified range of text.
6.0+ 1.0+ no 7.0+ 1.3+ no

Method	IE	Mozilla	Netscape	Opera	Safari	Netscapte
appendData Appends the specified string to the node text.	6.0+	1.0+	no	7.0+	1.0+	no

deleteData Deletes the indicated range of text.	6.0+	1.0+	no	7.0+	1.0+	no

insertData Inserts the supplied text at the indicated character offset	6.0+	1.0+	no	7.0+	1.0+	no

replaceData Substitutes the indicated range of text with the supplied string	6.0+	1.0+	no	8.0+	1.0+	no

substringData Returns the specified range of text.	6.0+	1.0+	no	7.0+	1.3+	no

Remarks

CharacterData provides a set of attributes and methods for accessing character data in the DOM. This object is always inherited by other objects that require this functionality, such as Text and CDATASection.

CDATASection methods manipulate text ranges and considers that the content of the node may be larger than the limits of the String object, so CDATASection methods all work with numeric character offsets and text ranges. You should already know the ranges that you will need before invoking these methods.

The content of this node is represented as UTF-16.

References

Comment | Text

Availability

HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Constructor Detail

CharacterData CharacterData()

Object for accessing and processing character data in the DOM.

Visibility: internal

Property Detail

String data

Character data of the current node.

Remarks: The data property does not have a size limitation, but data is subject to the limitations of the size of a String object. If the content data is too large, use substringData to retrieve the character data in chunks.
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Number length - read only

Length of the content of the data property or substringData method.

Remarks: Length of the content available from the data property or the substringData method. If the content of data is empty, the value of length will be zero.
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Method Detail

appendData(String arg) : void

Appends the specified string to the node text.

String arg String to append.

For examples, see the quirksmode test page:

http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/tests/data.html

Remarks

Appends the specified string to the end of the current character data content, which will then be available through the data property.

Throws

Raises a NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED error if the node is read-only.

Availability

HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

deleteData(Number offset, Number count) : void

Deletes the indicated range of text.

Number offset Character offset inside the content from which to start deleting.
Number count Number of characters to delete. If the range of characters is greater than the length of the content of the node, then all characters from offset to the end of the string are deleted.

For examples, see the quirksmode test page:

http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/tests/data.html

Remarks

Removes the specified range of characters from content of the node and shifts any remaining text downward. if the characters are successfully deleted, updates the properties of the node to indicate the new content and size.

Throws

Raises a NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED error if the node is read-only.

Raises an INDEX_SIZE_ERR error if either the offset or count is negative or if offset is greater than the length of the Text or Comment.

Availability

HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

insertData(Number offset, String arg) : void

Inserts the supplied text at the indicated character offset

Number offset Character offset inside the content at which to insert the new string.
String arg String to insert.

For examples, see the quirksmode test page:

http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/tests/data.html

Remarks

Performs the opposite of deleteData.

Throws

Raises a NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED error if the node is read-only.

Raises an INDEX_SIZE_ERR if either the offset or count is negative or if offset is greater than the length of the Text or Comment.

Availability

HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

replaceData(Number offset, Number count, String arg) : void

Substitutes the indicated range of text with the supplied string

Number offset Character offset inside the content at which to start the replacement.
Number count Number of characters to replace. If the range of characters is greater than the length of the content of the node, all characters from offset to the end of the string are replaced.
String arg Text string to replace the specified range.

For examples, see the quirksmode test page:

http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/tests/data.html

Remarks

Replaces a specific range of text within the content of the node with the supplied string. Equivilant to invoking deleteData, followed by insertData using the same offset.

Throws

Raises a NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED error if the node is read-only.

Raises an INDEX_SIZE_ERR error if either the offset or count is negative or if offset is greater than the length of the Text or Comment.

Availability

HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

substringData(Number offset, Number count) : static String

Returns the specified range of text.

Number offset The character offset inside the content to return.
Number count The number of characters to return.

For examples, see the quirksmode test page:

http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/tests/data.html

Remarks

Often used for extracting easily-processable regions of text, this method extracts a region of text from the node's content and returns it.

Throws

Throws a DOMException specifying NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED if the node is read-only. Throws an INDEX_SIZE_ERR

Throws a DOMException specifying INDEX_SIZE_ERR if either the offset or count is negative or if offset is greater than the length of the Text or Comment.

Availability

HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Number	offset	Character offset inside the content from which to start deleting.
Number	count	Number of characters to delete. If the range of characters is greater than the length of the content of the node, then all characters from offset to the end of the string are deleted.

Number	offset	Character offset inside the content at which to insert the new string.
String	arg	String to insert.

Number	offset	The character offset inside the content to return.
Number	count	The number of characters to return.

CharacterData : Node

Browser/User Agent Support

Constructors

Properties

Methods

Remarks

References

Availability

Constructor Detail

CharacterData CharacterData()

Property Detail

String data

Number length - read only

Method Detail

appendData(String arg) : void

deleteData(Number offset, Number count) : void

insertData(Number offset, String arg) : void

replaceData(Number offset, Number count, String arg) : void

substringData(Number offset, Number count) : static String