anchorNode property

Returns the element or node that contains the start of the selection.

HTML5 A vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML and XHTML, Section 7.6.1

Syntax

JavaScript	`p = object.anchorNode`

Property values

Type: Object

The start of a selection.

Standards information

HTML5 A vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML and XHTML, Section 7.6.1

Remarks

The Selection.baseNode alias for this property is only available in Microsoft Edge.

Returns null if not successful. This is not supported by Windows Internet Explorer 8 or earlier versions. AnchorNode returns the value of the startContainer attribute of the first Range object in the list. See focusNode to find the node that contains the end of a selection.

Examples

The following example shows the text that you select, and all the text contained in the anchorNode element.

C++


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
<!-- this example shows the text you selected, and all the text within the anchor node-->
    <title>AnchorNode Example</title>        
    <script type="text/javascript">         
      function getAnchorNode() {
        if (window.getSelection) {                      //only work if supported
           var selection = window.getSelection ();      //get the selection object     
           var anchorNodeProp = selection.anchorNode;   //get the node object        
           alert ( "Selected text: \n" + selection.toString() + "\nText related to the node: \n" + anchorNodeProp.toString());                                 
           }
      }                
    </script>
  </head>
<body>
<div onmouseup="getAnchorNode()">                       <!-- call this function when the mouse button is released -->
      <p>
        Select some text with your mouse within this field.
        When the left button is released, a dialog pops up with the anchor node.
      </p>  
      <p>
        This is some more text to try as well.
      </p>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>