HTML DOM Level 2 Reference: Range

Represents a range of nodes within a document.

Browser/User Agent Support

IE Mozilla Netscape Opera Safari Netscapte
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

IE	Mozilla	Netscape	Opera	Safari	Netscapte
no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

Constructors

Constructor IE Mozilla Netscape Opera Safari Netscapte
Range Constructor
Represents a range of nodes within a document.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

Constructor	IE	Mozilla	Netscape	Opera	Safari	Netscapte
Range Constructor Represents a range of nodes within a document.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

Properties

Property IE Mozilla Netscape Opera Safari Netscapte
collapsed
If true, indicates that the range is collapsed.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

commonAncestorContainer
Deepest nested node in the document that contains both the start and end points of the range.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

endContainer
Document node that contains the end point of the range.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

endOffset
End position of the range in the endContainer.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

startContainer
Document node that contains the start point of the range.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

startOffset
Position of the start point of the range in the startContainer.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

Property	IE	Mozilla	Netscape	Opera	Safari	Netscapte
collapsed If true, indicates that the range is collapsed.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

commonAncestorContainer Deepest nested node in the document that contains both the start and end points of the range.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

endContainer Document node that contains the end point of the range.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

endOffset End position of the range in the endContainer.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

startContainer Document node that contains the start point of the range.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

startOffset Position of the start point of the range in the startContainer.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

Methods

Method IE Mozilla Netscape Opera Safari Netscapte
cloneContents
Creates a new DocumentFragment that contains a copy of the document contents for the specified Range.
no 1.0+ 7.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

cloneRange
Creates a copy of the specified Range.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

collapse
Collapses the Range.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

compareBoundaryPoints
Compares the specified set of boundary points.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

deleteContents
Deletes the contents of the document for the specified Range.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

detach
Stops the implementation of the range.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

extractContents
Extracts, deletes, and returns the contents of the Range as a DocumentFragment.
no 1.0+ 7.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

insertNode
Inserts the specified node at the starting point for the Range.
no 1.0+ 7.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

selectNode
Sets the boundary points of the Range to contain the node and its descendants.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

selectNodeContents
Sets the boundary points of the Range to contain the descendants of a node, but not the actual node.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

setEnd
Sets the end point of the Range as specified by node and offset.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

setEndAfter
Sets the end point of the range to immediately after the specified node.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

setEndBefore
Sets the end point of the range to immediately before the specified node.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

setStart
Sets the start point of the range to the specified position within the specified node.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

setStartAfter
Sets the start point of the range to immediately after the specified node.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

setStartBefore
Sets the start point of the range to immediately before the specified node.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

surroundContents
Inserts the specified node and makes it a parent to the nodes in the Range.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

toString
Returns the document contents of the Range as a plain text string.
no 1.0+ 6.0+ 9.0+ 1.0+ no

Method	IE	Mozilla	Netscape	Opera	Safari	Netscapte
cloneContents Creates a new DocumentFragment that contains a copy of the document contents for the specified Range.	no	1.0+	7.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

cloneRange Creates a copy of the specified Range.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

collapse Collapses the Range.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

compareBoundaryPoints Compares the specified set of boundary points.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

deleteContents Deletes the contents of the document for the specified Range.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

detach Stops the implementation of the range.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

extractContents Extracts, deletes, and returns the contents of the Range as a DocumentFragment.	no	1.0+	7.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

insertNode Inserts the specified node at the starting point for the Range.	no	1.0+	7.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

selectNode Sets the boundary points of the Range to contain the node and its descendants.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

selectNodeContents Sets the boundary points of the Range to contain the descendants of a node, but not the actual node.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

setEnd Sets the end point of the Range as specified by node and offset.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

setEndAfter Sets the end point of the range to immediately after the specified node.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

setEndBefore Sets the end point of the range to immediately before the specified node.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

setStart Sets the start point of the range to the specified position within the specified node.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

setStartAfter Sets the start point of the range to immediately after the specified node.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

setStartBefore Sets the start point of the range to immediately before the specified node.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

surroundContents Inserts the specified node and makes it a parent to the nodes in the Range.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

toString Returns the document contents of the Range as a plain text string.	no	1.0+	6.0+	9.0+	1.0+	no

References

Document.createRange | DocumentFragment

Availability

HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Constructor Detail

Range Range()

Represents a range of nodes within a document.

Visibility: internal

Property Detail

Boolean collapsed - read only

If true, indicates that the range is collapsed.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Node commonAncestorContainer - read only

Deepest nested node in the document that contains both the start and end points of the range.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Node endContainer - read only

Document node that contains the end point of the range.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Number endOffset - read only

End position of the range in the endContainer.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Node startContainer - read only

Document node that contains the start point of the range.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Number startOffset - read only

Position of the start point of the range in the startContainer.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Method Detail

cloneContents() : static DocumentFragment

Creates a new DocumentFragment that contains a copy of the document contents for the specified Range.

Remarks: Similar to extractContents, this method copies the contents of this Range into a new DocumentFragment but leaves the original intact.
See Also: DocumentFragment | Range.deleteContents | Range.extractContents
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

cloneRange() : static Range

Creates a copy of the specified Range.

Remarks: Creates a new Range whose boundaries are equal to the current Range.
See Also: Document.createRange
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

collapse(Boolean toStart) : void

Collapses the Range.

Boolean toStart If true, collapses the Range onto its start; otherwise it collapses on its end.

Remarks: Collapses the Range onto one of its boundary points (e.g. Start or End).
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

compareBoundaryPoints(Number how, Range sourceRange) : Number

Compares the specified set of boundary points.

Number how Code for how to compare the two boundary points of the range. 0 = START_TO_START, 1 = START_TO_END, 2 = END_TO_END, 3 = END_TO_START.
Range sourceRange Range to be compared to this range.

Remarks: Compare the boundary points of two Ranges in a document. Similar to the "<=>" compare operator in many languages, it returns -1, 0 or 1 depending on whether the boundary points of the Range is respectively before (-1), equal to (0) or after (1) the corresponding boundary points of the given Range.
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

deleteContents() : void

Deletes the contents of the document for the specified Range.

Remarks: Removes the contents of the Range from its containing Document (or DocumentFragment). Note that the affected nodes are not returned, but are simply silently removed.
See Also: Node.normalize | Range.cloneContents | Range.extractContents
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

detach() : void

Stops the implementation of the range.

Remarks: Called to indicate that this range is no longer in use, and can be cleaned up. Any subsequent calls to this range will raise a DOMException.
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

extractContents() : static DocumentFragment

Extracts, deletes, and returns the contents of the Range as a DocumentFragment.

Remarks: Moves the contents of the Range from it's containing Document (or DocumentFragment) into a new DocumentFragment.
See Also: DocumentFragment | Range.cloneContents | Range.deleteContents
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

insertNode(Node newNode) : void

Inserts the specified node at the starting point for the Range.

Node newNode Node to insert.

Remarks: Inserts a node into the containing Document or DocumentFragment at the start of the Range. If the container is a Text node, this will be split at the start of the Range (as if the Text node's splitText method was performed at the insertion point) and insertion will occur between the two resulting Text nodes. Adjacent Text nodes will not be merged. If the given node is a DocumentFragment node, its children will be inserted rather than the given node itself.
See Also: DocumentFragment | Node.normalize
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

selectNode(Node refNode) : void

Sets the boundary points of the Range to contain the node and its descendants.

Node refNode Node to select.

Remarks: Selects the specified node and its contents.
See Also: Range.selectNodeContents
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

selectNodeContents(Node refNode) : void

Sets the boundary points of the Range to contain the descendants of a node, but not the actual node.

Node refNode Node to select the contents of.

Remarks: Selects the contents of the specified node.
See Also: Range.selectNode
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

setEnd(Node refNode, Number offset) : void

Sets the end point of the Range as specified by node and offset.

Node refNode Node at the end of the range. Cannot be null.
Number offset Value to set the end of the offset at.

Remarks: Sets the end point of a Range.
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

setEndAfter(Node refNode) : void

Sets the end point of the range to immediately after the specified node.

Node refNode Node to set the end after.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

setEndBefore(Node refNode) : void

Sets the end point of the range to immediately before the specified node.

Node refNode Node to set the end before.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

setStart(Node refNode, Number offset) : void

Sets the start point of the range to the specified position within the specified node.

Node refNode Node for the start point of the range. Cannot be null.
Number offset Value to set the start of the offset from.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

setStartAfter(Node refNode) : void

Sets the start point of the range to immediately after the specified node.

Node refNode Node to set the start point after.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

setStartBefore(Node refNode) : void

Sets the start point of the range to immediately before the specified node.

Node refNode Node to set the start point before.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

surroundContents(Node newParent) : void

Inserts the specified node and makes it a parent to the nodes in the Range.

Node newParent Node to use as the new parent node.

Remarks: Reparents the contents of the Range to the given node and inserts the node at the position of the start of the Range.
Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

toString() : static String

Returns the document contents of the Range as a plain text string.

Availability: HTML DOM Level 2 | W3C

Number	how	Code for how to compare the two boundary points of the range. 0 = START_TO_START, 1 = START_TO_END, 2 = END_TO_END, 3 = END_TO_START.
Range	sourceRange	Range to be compared to this range.

Node	refNode	Node at the end of the range. Cannot be null.
Number	offset	Value to set the end of the offset at.

Node	refNode	Node for the start point of the range. Cannot be null.
Number	offset	Value to set the start of the offset from.

Range : Object