document.importNode

The Document object's importNode() method creates a copy of a Node or DocumentFragment from another document, to be inserted into the current document later.

The imported node is not yet included in the document tree. To include it, you need to call an insertion method such as appendChild() or insertBefore() with a node that is currently in the document tree.

Unlike document.adoptNode(), the original node is not removed from its original document. The imported node is a clone of the original.

Syntax

var node = document.importNode(externalNode, deep);

node

The copied node in the scope of the importing document. The new node's Node.parentNode is null, since it has not yet been inserted into the document tree.

externalNode

The external Node or DocumentFragment to import into the current document.

deep

A Boolean which controls whether or not to import the entire DOM subtree of the externalNode.

• If deep is set to true, then externalNode and all of its descendants are copied.
• If deep is set to false, then only externalNode is imported — the new node has no children.

Example

var iframe = document.querySelector("iframe");
var oldNode = iframe.contentWindow.document.getElementById("myNode");
var newNode = document.importNode(oldNode, true);
document.getElementById("container").appendChild(newNode);

Notes

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 compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

See also

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