javascriptDOM selectors document object

When selecting elements in my HTML page, I often find myself wondering why I always have to use the "document" keyword. For example:

//variable body

var content = document.getElementsByTagName("body"); 

Why can't I simply get all p tags from body like this?

var selector = content.querySelectorAll("p");

Instead of using

var selector = document.querySelectorAll("p");

Answer №1

Is it possible to use something like "get all p tags from body" in the next variable?

The reason you cannot use that is because `getElementsByTagName` returns a `NodeList`, not an element. It will work if you select only one element that matches:

var content = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];
// ------------------------------------------------^^^
var paragraphs = content.querySelectorAll("p");

However, it's simpler to just use `document.body` like this:

var paragraphs = document.body.querySelectorAll("p");

(In this specific scenario where `p` elements cannot exist outside of `body`, both methods are equivalent to `document.querySelectorAll`.)

If you specifically want all `p` elements that are direct children of `body`, then you can do:

var paragraphs = document.querySelectorAll("body > p");

Answer №2

Since the function getElementsByTagName fetches multiple elements instead of just one, you can modify the code like this;

var selector = content[0].querySelectorAll("p");

Answer №3

One reason for using

var content = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];
is that getElementsByTagName() returns an array.

Answer №4

It is not possible because the document.getElementsByTagName function returns a HTMLCollection.

According to its definition, a "HTMLCollection interface represents a general collection (similar to an array) of elements (in document order) and provides methods and properties for selecting from the list."

Therefore, in your scenario, you should use either

var content = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];
or simply document.body (preferred).

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