getElementById method

Returns a reference to the first object with the specified value of the ID or NAME attribute.

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification, Section 1.4

Syntax

var retval = document.getElementById(v);

Parameters

v [in]

Type: BSTR

A String that specifies the ID value. Case-insensitive.

Return value

Type: IHTMLElement

Returns the first object with the specified ID or null if there is no match.

Standards information

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification, Section 1.4

Remarks

If more than one element is found, getElementById returns the first object in the collection.

Windows Internet Explorer 8 and later. In IE8 Standards mode, getElementById performs a case-sensitive match on the ID attribute only. In IE7 Standards mode and previous modes, this method performs a case-insensitive match on both the ID and NAME attributes, which might produce unexpected results. For more information, see Defining Document Compatibility.

Internet Explorer 8 or later. An alternate implementation is available. For more information, see getElementById.

Examples

The following example uses getElementById to display the content of the first div element in a collection with the ID attribute value, oDiv1, when a button is clicked.

JavaScript


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>

<head>
  <title>Show First DIV Content</title>
  <meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type">
  <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8">
</head>

<body>
  <div id="oDiv1">Div #1</div>
  <div id="oDiv2">Div #2</div>
  <div id="oDiv3">Div #3</div>
  <input type="button" value="Show First DIV Content" onclick="fnGetId()"> 
  <script type="text/javascript">
    function fnGetId() {
      // Display the content of the first DIV element in the collection.
      var oVDiv=document.getElementById("oDiv1");
      alert("The content of the first DIV element is " + "\"" + oVDiv.innerHTML + "\".");
    }
  </script>
</body>

</html>