CharacterData

The CharacterData abstract interface represents a Node object that contains characters. This is an abstract interface, meaning there aren’t any objects of type CharacterData: it is implemented by other interfaces like Text, Comment, CDATASection, or ProcessingInstruction, which aren’t abstract.

Instance properties

This interface also inherits properties from its parents, Node and EventTarget.

• data
  • : A string representing the textual data contained in this object.
• length Read only
  • : Returns a number representing the size of the string contained in the object.
• nextElementSibling Read only
  • : Returns the first Element that follows this node, and is a sibling.
• previousElementSibling Read only
  • : Returns the first Element that precedes this node, and is a sibling.

Instance methods

This interface also inherits methods from its parents, Node and EventTarget.

• after()
  • : Inserts a set of Node objects or strings in the children list of the CharacterData’s parent, just after the CharacterData object.
• appendData()
  • : Appends the given string to the CharacterData.data string; when this method returns, data contains the concatenated string.
• before()
  • : Inserts a set of Node objects or strings in the children list of the CharacterData’s parent, just before the CharacterData object.
• deleteData()
  • : Removes the specified amount of characters, starting at the specified offset, from the CharacterData.data string; when this method returns, data contains the shortened string.
• insertData()
  • : Inserts the specified characters, at the specified offset, in the CharacterData.data string; when this method returns, data contains the modified string.
• remove()
  • : Removes the object from its parent children list.
• replaceData()
  • : Replaces the specified amount of characters, starting at the specified offset, with the specified string; when this method returns, data contains the modified string.
• replaceWith()
  • : Replaces the characters in the children list of its parent with a set of Node objects or strings.
• substringData()
  • : Returns a string containing the part of CharacterData.data of the specified length and starting at the specified offset.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• The DOM overview page.
• The concrete interfaces implemented it: Text, CDATASection, ProcessingInstruction, and Comment.