JavaScript getAttribute not working

Question

var objects = document.getElementsByTagName('object');
for (var i=0, n=objects.length;i<n;i++) {
    objects[i].style.display='none';
    var swfurl;
    var j=0;
    while (objects[i].childNodes[j]) {
    if (objects[i].childNodes[j].getAttribute('name') == 'movie') {
            /* DO SOMETHING */ 
    }
    j++;
}
    var newelem = document.createElement('div');
    newelem.id = '678297901246983476'+i;
    objects[i].parentNode.insertBefore(newelem, objects[i]);
    new Gordon.Movie(swfurl, {id: '678297901246983476'+i, width: 500, height: 400});
}

It says that getAttribute is not a function of childNodes[j]. What's wrong? I don't see the point.

T.J. Crowder · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-21 10:23:56Z

8

Remember that childNodes includes text nodes (and comment nodes, if any, and processing instructions if any, etc.). Be sure to check the nodeType before trying to use methods that only Elements have.

Update: Here in 2018, you could use children instead, which only includes Element children. It's supported by all modern browsers, and by IE8-IE11. (There are some quirks in older IE, see the link for a polyfill to smooth them over.)

edited May 21, 2018 at 10:23

answered Jan 4, 2011 at 15:41

T.J. Crowder

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4 Comments

Andy E Over a year ago

dang, beat me to it. This is a common issue, since indenting and tidying HTML introduces text nodes that contain only white-space, with one of these text nodes being the first child of the parent element. You can also use children to get child elements only. +1

Tim Down Over a year ago

@Andy E: children isn't yet quite well-supported enough to use on the general web, I'd say.

Sebastian Simon Over a year ago

In 2018, using .children is fine.

T.J. Crowder Over a year ago

@Xufox - Indeed. Seven years. Yikes. How long have I been on this site? (rhetorical)

Tim Down · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-09 14:30:14Z

6

Check the nodeType property is 1 (meaning the node is an element) before calling element-specific methods such as getAttribute(). Also, forget getAttribute() and setAttribute(): you almost never need them, they're broken in IE and they don't do what you might think. Use equivalent DOM properties instead. In this case:

var child = objects[i].childNodes[j];
if (child.nodeType == 1 && child.name == 'movie') {
    /* DO SOMETHING */ 
}

edited Jan 9, 2011 at 14:30

answered Jan 4, 2011 at 16:37

Tim Down

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Comments

Nimantha · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-15 03:14:33Z

-5

What browser are you using ? If it's IE then you need to use readAttribute instead.

edited Nov 15, 2021 at 3:14

Nimantha

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answered Jan 4, 2011 at 15:44

volpav

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4 Comments

Andy E Over a year ago

This isn't correct at all. Internet Explorer has getAttribute, it just doesn't work properly pre IE 8. It should still work in this case.

volpav Over a year ago

Well I assumed he's not targeting only IE8 or above. But I kinda didn't know that it actually works in IE8 - I always used readAttribute for that kind of browser :-D

Andy E Over a year ago

there is no readAttribute method in any version of Internet Explorer. It's always been getAttribute. See for yourself: msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533053(v=VS.85).aspx

volpav Over a year ago

My bad, you're right. I probably mixed it up with the one available in the Prototype JS.

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