use element | SVGUseElement object

Creates a new instance of an object that has been defined with the defs element.

Scalable Vector Graphics: Document Structure, Section 5.11.8

DOM Information

Inheritance Hierarchy

Node

Element

SVGElement

SVGUseElement

Members

The SVGUseElement object has these types of members:

Events
Methods
Properties

Events

The SVGUseElement object has these events.

Event	Description
onload	Occurs when the browser has fully parsed the element and all of its descendants.

Methods

The SVGUseElement object has these methods.

Method	Description
getBBox	Gets the bounding box, in current user space, of the geometry of all contained graphics elements.
getCTM	Gets the transformation matrix that transforms from the current user units to the viewport coordinate system for the nearestViewportElement object.
getScreenCTM	Gets the transformation matrix from the current user units to the screen coordinate system.
getTransformToElement	Gets the transformation matrix that transforms from the user coordinate system on the current element to the user coordinate system on the specified target element.
hasExtension	Determines if the specified extension is supported.

Properties

The SVGUseElement object has these properties.

Property	Description
animatedInstanceRoot	Gets the animated root of the instance tree of a use element.
className	Gets the names of the classes that are assigned to this object.
clipPath	Sets or retrieves a reference to the SVG graphical object that will be used as the clipping path.
externalResourcesRequired	Gets a value that indicates whether referenced resources that are not in the current document are required to correctly render a given element.
farthestViewportElement	Gets a value that represents the farthest ancestor svg element.
focusable	Determines if an element can acquire keyboard focus (that is, receive keyboard events) and be a target for field-to-field navigation actions (such as when a user presses the Tab key).
height	Gets or sets the height of an element.
href	Gets an `xlink:href` attribute of an element.
instanceRoot	Gets the root of the instance tree of a use element.
mask	Sets or retrieves a value that indicates a SVG mask.
nearestViewportElement	Gets a value that indicates which element established the current viewport.
ownerSVGElement	Gets the nearest ancestor svg element.
pointerEvents	Sets or retrieves a value that specifies under what circumstances a given graphics element can be the target element for a pointer event in SVG. Starting with IE11, this property also has basic support for HTML elements (see "Remarks" section).
requiredExtensions	Gets a white space-delimited list of required language extensions.
requiredFeatures	Gets or sets a white space-delimited list of feature strings.
style	Gets a style object.
systemLanguage	Gets or sets a comma-separated list of language names.
transform	Gets the value of a transform attribute.
viewportElement	Gets the element that established the current viewport.
width	Defines the width of an element.
x	Gets or sets the x-coordinate value.
xmlbase	Gets or sets the `base` attribute on the element.
xmllang	Gets or sets a value that specifies the language that is used in the contents and attribute values of an element.
xmlspace	Gets or sets a value that indicates whether white space is preserved in character data.
y	Gets or sets the y-coordinate value.

Standards information

Scalable Vector Graphics: Document Structure, Section 5.11.8

Remarks

Microsoft Edge introduces support for referencing external resources with xlink:href in the use element. For example, you can now reference a shape defined in an external resource using the following example:

HTML


<use xlink:href="defs.svg#rect-2"></use>

Note In addition to the attributes, properties, events, methods, and styles listed above, SVG elements also inherit core HTML attributes, properties, events, methods, and styles.

For more information, see the SVG specification.

Examples

In the following code example, the use element is used to create three instances of a rectangle defined in a defs tag. Copy this sample to a text file and save it with the .html file extension. Run it in Internet Explorer 9 to see three instances of a rectangle.

It should look like this:

JavaScript



<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    
    <head>
    </head>
    
    <body>
        <svg>
            <defs>
                <rect id="myRect" width="50" height="50" />
            </defs>
            <use x="50" y="50" fill="red" xlink:href="#myRect" />
            <use x="75" y="75" fill="green" xlink:href="#myRect" />
            <use x="100" y="100" fill="blue" xlink:href="#myRect" />
        </svg>
    </body>
</html>