document.importNode

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 or DocumentFragment to import into the current document. After importing, the new node's parentNode is null, 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 is true, then externalNode and all of its descendants are copied; if false, then only the single node, externalNode, is imported.

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

Browser compatibility

See also

• document.adoptNode()
• Node.appendChild()
• Node.insertBefore()